Life Below 20°: Finding Juan Valdez

High above the coffee farm

We found Juan

As a small kid, I remember TV commercials for Colombian coffee that featured a character named Juan Valdez and his donkey Conchita. It turns out that the original actor was Cuban, and Valdez is not a particularly common last name here in Colombia. I learned this fact and many more from Andres, a friendly gentleman who runs an adventure tour company out of the city of Medellin, where I spent the first several days of my holiday break.

Medellin is large and hilly, surrounded by mountains. The airport is located 45 minutes away in a beautiful green area called Rionegro.

City view from the Jardin Botanico. Unlike American cities,
the poorer you are, the farther you live up the hill

Mojito!

A favorite cafe

Street performer from Japan,
making his way around the globe

Walking around Medellin’s Poblado neighborhood, from park to plaza, was especially fun at the holidays as the people there have an almost abnormal fondness for Christmas lights.

Giant lighted ornaments and strings of colored bulbs hang from trees and balconies and nets of lights twinkle like stars overhead. I made this holiday detour with friend Christy who had wanted to see the city’s famous riverside Christmas light extravaganza, visited by people from all over the country and sponsored by, who else, the electric company.

First, we had a fun day at the botanic gardens (flowers and mariposas galore) and planetarium.

The craziest hibiscus color I've ever seen

Look out, I'm doing science!

Kalo leaves

Beautiful mariposa enclosure in the gardens

Maracuya (lilikoi) desert. SO ono!

After dark, we visited the light display, set up along the river for well over a mile. Giant wire structures held thousands upon thousands of lights, electric candles hung in strings across the river, and thousands of people walked along the paths enjoying the vendors' wares and every kind of Colombian treat.

We paused periodically along the way for lighted displays and a complete rendition of Bethlehem and the nativity. Of course, there was also a treat stop. I had a giant hand-pulled marshmallow dipped in milo (like Ovaltine) powder.

Yes, her job is to wipe the sweat from the candy-puller's arms and brow.

The highlight of my time there was the tour with Andres, Christy, and a guy named Mark (a friend of friends) from Boulder. Andres picked us up in a big SUV, which was awesome to ride in after busses and tiny taxis, and off we headed to the coffee and ranching region south of Medellin. The city is the northern apex of Colombia’s “Coffee Triangle,” a region of rolling hills and mountains with rich volcanic soil perfect for growing coffee. Sound familiar? Yeah, like Hawai’i, except landlocked.

Caracara and the funny-looking humped cattle.

Cerro Pyramid

Typical rural town

Roadside holiday decorations...the dummies get burned at New Year's to represent burning away old troubles

We stopped at the finca or country home, of Andres’s parents, a beautiful place just 45 minutes out of the city.

The finca's caretaker and Andres

We continued on to the coffee town of Concordia, had a traditional lunch and then got a long inside look at a real coffee farm, not just a touristy tasting stop.

Beautiful view at lunch

Almuerzo tipico

Lots of cute dogs this trip!

Coffee town of Concordia in the distance

Up on the farm

We rode in trucks, watched the pickers weigh-in, and saw the process from green to roast. This was not totally new to me, having spent time on my grandparent’s and other coffee farms in Kona, but I was struck again at just how labor intensive the process of growing and processing our morning cup o’ joe really is. The picking is back-breaking. The farm we visited, relatively small and prosperous, is proud that they can pay a good picker $16 a day. The going rate is $12.

The pictures of the area say more than my words ever can, so enjoy the views of the verdant high mountains as one approaches the equator and life on the farm.
A hui hou until next time!