colombia trip: coffee-growing region

We left Bogota for the coffee-growing region before dawn on new years day. It is always surreal traveling on January 1st. Not many people do so in Colombia due to a combination of hangovers and unsafe roads (too many drunk drivers). We drove to the airport at a time when people were still up partying and got to the city of Armenia early in the morning when people were still up partying (or passed out by the side of the road). We drove past several street parties on our way to our hotel-farm and it was around 10:00 am.

We stayed on a farm outside Armenia which looked much more inviting and clean in photos. Still, it was great to travel around the stunningly green departments of Quindio and Risaralda. We went to the botanical gardens on the first day and for a long walk in the forest, and then got to hang out with a big group of butterflies. We had lunch in a traditional restaurant by the side of the road and became friends with a Spanish family with whom we traveled the rest of the week.

B did great during the whole time we were there! I don't think he even noticed the hotel was a disaster. He slept whenever he was sleepy, ate whatever we gave him, and was perfectly content during the long rides. This was the first long trip in which we didn't take a stroller so we were a bit worried, but he was a total champ.

I wouldn't necessarily say our time in the coffee-growing region was relaxing (we were on our feet from 7am to 10pm every day), but it was great to get out, explore, learn, and take in all the beauty around us. Plus, there was no wifi anywhere so it was a good and much needed (yet hard) break from the online world.