Our stay in Bogota this time is brief and today Christi and I are off to Armenia in the Zona Cafetera. The Zona Cafetrea is the major coffee growing region in Colombia. It’s one of those destinations which take an hour to reach by plane and 16 tortuous hours by bus. The reason being the Zona Cafetera is on the eastern side of the Andes (while Bogota is located on the western slopes). Indeed at 8,500 feet above sea level, Bogota is at a similar elevation to Quito (Ecuador) – another sign that we’ve come full circle on this tour of South America.
There are dark clouds and abundant rain at Bogota airport, delaying our departure to Armenia. The flight itself is not for the faint hearted. We encounter strong turbulence over the Andes, which buffet our little Avianca plane quite mercilessly. Fasten those seat belts and hold on tight! We learn later that many of the roads snaking through the Andes are largely impassable at the moment due to the ongoing flooding and flying is the only reliable transport option. Reliable, maybe, but certainly not fun!
Armenia is much more tropical (and consequently hotter and more humid) than Bogota. A complimentary car meets us at the airport and Christi and I are taken on a 30-minute drive through ever worsening roads to the rustic and idyllic Hacienda Bambusa. We’ve loosed the purse strings again as our true desire for luxury living shines forth. Indeed, there seems more staff than guests here. Our room is a little bare, but the bed is very comfortable. There is also a surprisingly large closet and endless hot water. We have a wrap-around deck with comfy chairs and beautiful views of lawns, gardens and a swimming pool stretching out to lush verdant mountains. The Hacienda is in the middle of a working plantation and banana, coco, oranges and ginger are among the crops cultivated. There is also abundant, colorful birdlife such as macaws, ibis, and egrets. We arrange a few expensive excursions and then mostly relax on our deck, watching the monsoon. For once, though, the rain doesn’t matter. Dinner is of course sumptuous. It appears that having lots of money (which we really don’t) can make your life easier and better!
Blog post by Roderick Phillips, author of Weary Heart – a gut wrenching, heart-wrenching, laugh-wrenching tale.
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