Retreat in the Coffee Region

We arrived in Manazales and checked into the Pit Stop Hostel, which had an amazing view of the surrounding coffee country.  http://www.pitstophostel.com/  We were told by the bus driver that the trip from Cali would only take about 2.5 hours, so we bought some Pringles and apples to hold us over. HOWEVER, it should be noted that Colombians, along with many other South Americans, are notorious under/over exaggerators. The bus ride ended up taking about 4 hours and by the time we arrived in Manazales we were starving. We headed straight for the grocery store and bought things to make delicious fajitas. We also indulged in some ice cream for the way back. We then made dinner and watched some movies in the TV room of the hostel with some other backpackers. After dinner we went down to the hostel bar and had a few drinks with a bartender from London and a teacher from California. After a few shots of nasty licorice flavored Aguardiente (produced in Manazales), we relaxed in the hostel hot tub, watched another movie, and then went to bed.

The next day we woke up and booked a tour of a local coffee finca. We had breakfast and then arranged for someone from the farm to come pick us up. After a sketchy ride in the back of a covered jeep truck thing, we arrived. We, 3 French, and 1 Aussy were lead through the coffee process by a guide who "spoke english". He showed us all the stages the coffee plants go through, let us taste some of the ripe beans, and then showed us how the coffee was washed and dried. We learned that Colombia's coffee exports are only second to Brazil. For some reason Brazil can produce coffee all year round with multiple crops while Colombia only has two major harvests. After the tour we went back to the house and got to taste some of the finca's espresso. Once we had had our fix of Colombia's finest, we decided we were bored and really wanted to get to Medellin. So, we went back to the hostel, ate lunch, and got on a bus to the once notorious drug producing capital of South America.