Jun 25, 2012 - Coffee - good coffee

Three nights at Hacienda Venecia a coffee plantation near Manizales OMG so beautiful so quiet and the coffee made by the staff on a simple machine even I could drink black the flavour was magnificent. Apparently Colombia exports all of its good coffee it's easier to get good Colombian coffee in Adelaide than it is in Colombia - but the hacienda keeps enough to please its clients. The grounds are as you will see in the photos - the drive down to the hacienda on the other hand was really interesting - a very narrow dirt road with a number of...

Jan 22, 2010 - Café con leche

On part de Medellin dans un monospace de 7 places pour Manizales, dans la "Zone du café". Voyage de 5 heures assez pénible avec un chauffeur - pilote de Formule 1. De la gare routière de Manizales, on prend le Cable aero, un télécabine qui relie le bas de la ville au centre, perché dans les hauteurs. On a une vue magnifique sur les montagnes andines environnantes, et on discute avec les habitants, très fiers de ce nouveau moyen de transport inauguré il y a 3 mois. Autre ambiance que le métro parisien! Manizales nous a tout de suite plu,...

Sep 29, 2009 - Manizales and the Eje Cafetera

WoooHoo! Coffee time!A not so quick trip from Cali got us to Manizales in about 8 hours. When we got there we weren´t really prepared or anything. We got the cab driver to take us to the only hostel listed in the Lonely Planet guide book. Which turned out to be full...so we had them inform us where the new one was located two blocks away.Our general lack of organization lead us to inquire at the hostel about how to take a tour at a nearby coffee plantation. How can you come to Colombia without seeing where the best coffee in the world come...

Jul 22, 2007 - Manizales

Manizales is a town situated up in the mountains in the Zona Cafetera region in Columbia. Some people use it as a base to explore some of the surrounding towns. We found it a little dirty, and as a couple of the locals pointed out, unsafe at night. At one point, when we were in search of some cake for our 15th wedding anniversary, a young girl caught up with us to tell us not to walk in that area at night. She actually walked with us for about 4 blocks to find a pastry shop, then advised us to get a cab for the return to the hotel. Also,...