Pat's Photo Gallery

Colombia's Colonial Jewels & the Coffee Triangle
with pre-trip to Bolivia: La Paz & Lake Titicaca
January 31 - February 19, 2019

Part Two, Page Three: Colombia - Coffee Triangle

The Coffee Triangle is a region of Colombia that
lies at the western end of the Andes Mountains and
is famous for producing excellent coffee.

sunset
Sunset from my room at our hotel in Circasia, part
of the Coffee Triangle area

sunset

bird
Bird singing to me outside my room

main square

A man relaxing with his dogs in a small town in the Coffee Triangle.
People gather in the main plazas of small towns.

coffee triangle
Pat with a young woman and her son. Ken from
Williamsburg on the right. We were in the town
of Montenegro on Valentine's Day. The woman
wanted a photo with her son, then graciously let
us take several photos with them.

willys
Jeep Willys
Willys are used in the area to get around. Here is Chuck from
Denver standing in one as we were getting ready to ride in
them to go visit a local school. It's how the kids get to school
from their homes in the countryside and how many get around.
When World War II ended, hundreds of Willys originally
manufactured for soldiers lay unused. These practical 4×4 vehicles
soon found their way to Colombia where they proved indispensable
when it came to negotiating the country’s tough and unpredictable terrain.
Willys also turned out to have the quality
of being able to carry far more than anyone ever thought possible.

hitchhiker
View of a dog hitchhiking with his owner through a small town,
on our way to a local school. I've never ever seen anything
like this before.

hitchhiker
Another view of the hitchhiking dog

school kids
El Laurel School. It receives support from the Grand Circle Foundation.
These were 3rd and 4th grade kids. We played this game with
them. It was so much fun, we hated to stop. The idea was to
carefully pull out one of the rectangular blocks without the
tower falling. On one side of the block was a picture of something
(like a cow) and its Spanish name. On the opposite side was a picture of the
same thing written in English. The kids helped us with the Spanish
pronounciation. We helped them with the English pronunciation.

school kids
From age 1 onwards, children are offered comunity daycare and
nursery schools sponsored by the National Institute for Family Welfare.
At age 6 they enroll at elementary school.
Standards in rural areas compare badly with city ones
where teachers are far better qualified. Secondary education
is divided to 4 years of compulsory basic secondary education,
grades 6 to 9, and 2-year non-compulsory stage known as
Middle Vocational Education, grades 10 and 11.
Vocational Education offers different specializations,
and is mostly available in urban areas. College education
is basically available only to wealthy familities in urban areas.

coffee plantation
Owner of a coffee plantation we visited, where
we learned about coffee production and picked
some coffee beans after being taught which
ones were ready for picking (the red ones)
and which ones not to remove (green ones).

lunch
Having lunch at the family owned coffee plantation,
called Hacienda Santa Ana. Coffee production in
Colombia has a reputation as producing mild, well-
balanced coffee beans. Colombia's average annual
coffee production of 11.5 million bags is the 3rd
highest in the world, after Brazil and Vietnam.

bird
There were some beautiful birds flying around the plantation.

bird

bird
The wife of the owner who joined us for, of
course, coffee after lunch.

bird
Bird protecting a nest you can't see back at the place
we stayed for 3 nights in the Coffee Triangle area

typical home
Typical farm home in the area

bird of paradise
Bird of paradise growing along a country road

country side view
Coffee trees and other plants. The landscape
in this area is beautiful.

sunset
Another sunset at our Estrella Del Monte Hotel in Circasia,
Colombia, the second night we were there.
We saw sunsets like this all 3 nights we stayed there,
while visiting the Coffee Triangle area.

Salento
Here is a local barista in the 19th century village of
Salento doing "latte art," making decorative
patterns in the foam on espresso drinks. This guy
had taken first place in a national contest.

latte art
A result of his art work.

latte art
We all tried to do the art work, but the results were
not quite as impressive. We did do a good job of drinking
the espresso.

Corcora Valley
We did a hike in Corcora National Park, which
has the tallest palm trees in the world.

local
A local with his child

horses
Seen while on our hike

Corcora Valley

Corcora National Park

Corcora Valley
From a viewpoint on our hike looking into the Corcora Valley

horsebackriding
You can also do horsebackriding in this area.
This young girl was with her Colombian family
seeing the area on horseback.

Colombia girl
Another Colombian child with her family, walking the area

avocado field
Avocado trees (above) and coffee trees below
in the Corcora Valley.
Colombia is becoming a huge exporter of avocadoes.

Salento
Back in Salento looking at a church from the main square.

sunset
Our final sunset view before leaving the next
day to fly to Cartagena on the coast.

horse farm
Before heading to Cartagena, we stopped at a horse
farm to see native Colombian horse breeds.

horse
This was a show horse

farmland
View of part of Coffee Triangle area from the
horse ranch

colt
A young colt sticking his tongue out at me

Link to Part Two, Page Four - Cartagena, Colombia

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