- Horse ride to the Santa Rita waterfall
- Hike to Finca Don Elias and take a coffee tour there
Today is a ride on the program Cascada Santa Rita. The trail turns out to be pretty steep downhill and muddy, but the horses are sure-footed. Nevertheless, we are pretty shaken on the narrow path. Guide Oscar only speaks Spanish, but communication is still quite good. Every now and then Niki and my horse compete for the leadership position. Through wonderful green farmland, where cows graze, coffee, bananas, oranges and much more is grown, you feel Brook along which we cross several times. After a good hour we reach the waterfall. The last few meters are on foot dense tropical forest. A few local day trippers swim in the pool below the falls.
We take a few pictures before we go back. Riding uphill is much more pleasant, even if the horses work up a sweat. After this nice excursion for only 13 CHF we take a lunch break.
We eat something small in the hotel restaurant. Around 2 p.m. we get back on our socks. This time we hike towards the visitable cafe fincaswhere we one Coffee tour want to do with one of the local farming families.
Again and again, light rain and dry sections alternate. After one and a half hours of hiking on the country road with some hills and viewpoints, we reach the Finca Don Elias. The English-language tour is unfortunately not available, but we also get the worst part in Spanish.
We wander through that Plantation with coffee bushes of different ages. After every 20 years the berries become smaller and therefore less profitable, which is why new bushes are planted. In the middle of the plantation there are always banana, plantain, mango and orange trees as well as manioc bushes, which Keep the soil fertile and protect the coffee plants from pests. Which is all the more important in organic farming and the associated avoidance of pesticides. Annually here on the finca almost 70 kilograms of coffee processed and sold.
We learn how the pulp is separated from the core, everything is sun-dried, the shell around the bean is separated. The coffee bean is then roasted, giving it its own characteristic color and taste. Part of the production is now still being ground. Of course we can then try a coffee. Tastes good, but industrially processed coffee is definitely of higher quality. After all, that is Roasting process the alpha and omega, to get the best possible taste out of the beans. According to our Central European taste, this is mostly coffee, which is roasted and prepared in the Italian style.
Coffee is one of Colombia's major exports, with the country being the world's third largest producer represents.
We march back to Salento, check out some souvenir shops and try a local specialty. Back at the hotel we treat ourselves to a shower, then we go to eat. After a corn and cheese bag on the street, the big appetite is already satisfied, so that we only share a salad and listen to the folk music.
