A Second Coffee Farm and Nature Preserve with Mark

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Mark and I had one extra day to play with, so we decided to stay longer in Salento and visit another coffee farm...because why not? It was only $3! But first, we would go to Kasaguadua Nature Preserve for a morning tour.

We arrived at the preserve at 9am and were instantly enthralled. Seriously, it was one of my highlights of Salento! There were 5 of us and our guide Carlos was excellent. Carlos is one of the two men responsible for revitalizing the old forest in the preserve. He is building a research facility within the preserve for future scientists and even tourists for a hands-on experience. He was so passionate about the project and he knew absolutely everything about nature. He explained the history of the wax palms and how the area had been influenced by man and animal over the years...I was fascinated! The 3 hour tour flew by, and Carlos just asked for a small donation at the end. I will highly recommend the tour to future travelers!

Because 4 of us would be continuing down the path towards the coffee farm around noon, Carlos called a nearby home and had a lunch set up for us. Once that was done, we walked another 30 minutes to Ocaso Finca. I have to say, this coffee farm had a much nicer set up than Don Elias, although it lacked the homey feel. We wandered the lovely grounds as we waited for our tour to start and enjoyed free wifi!

The tour was very hands-on. In fact, we all donned small baskets and had to pick a few coffee beans! The production of that farm appeared to be larger than Don Elias, and we were able to enter a tiny mill (?) where the beans were being sorted and processed. The final stage included instructions on how to properly prepare a cup of coffee and of course, a free cup to enjoy :) Mark and I once again bought a small bag for ourselves. I was dreading walking back to town, but luckily there were several people to share a jeepney-taxi!

That evening we had another very traditional dinner of trucha (different sauces this time) and more bandeja paisa for Mark. We found a restaurant where we could watch the Copa America and had a few beers. Once again, we were exhausted and went to bed early!

The next morning, we caught a small series of busses to head back to Pereira for our flight to Bogota!





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