My Colombian Travels to Pereira

Colombia is well-known for its amazing coffee & few weeks ago I was lucky enough to visit some of Colombia's coffee bean regions located in the west of Colombia.  We drove from Bogotá to our first destination, Ibagué, which took about three hours, then on to Armania & Pereira which took about another four hours.  In total it takes approximately seven hours to travel from Bogotá to Pereira.

How my adventure started

My travels started off in Ibagué, a city located on the Andes which is the capital of the region Tolima.  There I enjoyed the traditional dish from this region, tamal.  Tamal is a mix of chicken, pork belly, pork ribs, carrots, potatoes, peas, rice, boiled egg, spices & smashed corn, wrapped with plantain leaves.  In Tolima it is traditional to eat this dish with arepas & hot chocolate (although I ate mine for dinner).  I've eaten tamal many times but the experience of eating one from this region was something different.  It was a little spicy, something that is different to eating them in Bogotá, in Bogotá, they aren't spicy.

After spending the night in Ibagué, we traveled further west to the city Armenia in the Quindio region.  Here I visited a coffee theme park, Parque del Café.  The park is full of rides & attractions.  There is also I a chance to learn about the coffee bean process from germinating the seeds to the drying process to the transportation to other countries.  I was surprised to learn that the coffee beans are actually roasted by the consumer once they have been shipped to that country.  This is because each country has their own unique tastes & prepared style of coffee bean roasting.  I guess you learn something every day!

I spent most of my trip in Pereira, in the region of Risaralda.  Driving into Pereira was beautiful & breathtaking.  All I could see were coffee bean plants for miles & miles.  Here, I visited the small town, Santa Rosa & local zoo, Bioparque Ukumarí to name a few things.  Bioparque Ulkumarí is home to main animals & is also a veterinary clinic to treat animals that live in this area.

   

My experience of visiting this part of Colombia is one that I will remember for a long time.  I hope to travel to some other parts of Colombia later this year so keep checking my blog for more posts.

If you enjoyed this post please leave a comment & don't forget to follow my blog too!!!