Coffee region in ColombiaI arrived into Pereira on an early flight and was quickly met by Cesar and Rosa, my guide for the day. Cesar drove us through the valley, explaining the history of the agriculture and specifically the coffee farms. The valley is heavily populated, but is surrounded by coffee and banana plantations along the hillsides. The whole coffee region was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 2011. To say that Colombians are proud of their coffee would be a huge understatement.
We stopped at a roadside coffee shop - similar to our roadside Starbucks, only much more low-key. They had espresso, cappuccino and cafe con leche. No flavors, no frills, just delicious Colombian coffee. And delicious it was. It was creamy, a little sweet and full of flavor. I generally like my coffee dark roasted, but I would learn over the next few days to appreciate the flavor of the lighter Colombian roast.
Cesar dropped Rosa and me off at the Finca del Colina, my home for the night, where we sat down for lunch. Originally built as a family home with additional buildings for the workers, the main buildings now served as hotel rooms, kitchen and a dining patio. The grounds were beautiful. I was definitely in the tropics! There were citrus trees in the yard, flowers everywhere and a large heliconia garden just down the hill. The farm still produces coffee, and we had the opportunity to explore the fields and the drying and production areas. We wandered through the heliconia gardens and ate fresh fruit from the trees growing throughout the property.
The rest of our group arrived in the late afternoon, and the owners of the finch joined us for dinner. My first day in the Colombian coffee region was a success! I was looking forward to many more cups of coffee and delicious local food.
Excellent travel advice and service
This is my second experience working with Adventure Life. I’m sold. Jess Heuermann is an experienced traveler and provides a lot of useful information when planning a trip. These are the questions I like to ask at the outset - What’s it like to go here, there, what would you suggest, what do people report, can we add any additional side trips? Jess took the time to answer my questions and seek additional information to share with me. Petchie Colina is outstanding in helping with travel logistics and final preparations. Adventure Life has excellent guides and offers private guides and small group adventures. We enjoyed the opportunity to talk with the guides and drivers to learn more about their countries, cultures and histories. A highlight was having the guides pick local restaurants where we could share meals together. Highly recommend.
Claire Cordon
5 days ago
Our six-day tour in Iceland went smoothly with one exception. We had asked for two rooms each night. Somehow we were booked with one room with three beds. It could not be fixed at the first hotel in Reykjavik because the hotel was fully booked. Once informed of the problem, however, Adventure Life rebooked for two rooms for the remainder of the trip. As an 85-year-old traveler, I appreciated that one could participate at different physical levels at many of the stops. Iceland is a great place to visit but on the expensive side.
Mary Warren
6 days ago
Jess was very easy going and answered all our questions. It’s not easy dealing with 6 people at once but she did an outstanding job!
Diane Foster
1 week ago
Kassandra and the Adventure Life team have been incredible! Kassandra was very knowledgeable and attentive to our asks while making sure we kept within our budget. This was our first experience with a travel agent and we were blown away by the booking/initial exploration service. We will use Adventure Life again.