To be honest, our bike tour of Bogota was a complete failure. At least we know not to include it in the agenda again. Too much car traffic. Fortunately it became another story to tell back home. That night we got a cooking lesson and learned to prepare ajiaco (a traditional soup)
On our third day, I might have offered too much aguardiente (Colombia's tradition alcohol drink) on our night out. It seemed to be a good idea that night, specially after everyone started to dance, but the next day some participants were a bit grumpy. An early flight also did not help.
We departed Bogota and arrived on Saturday to Armenia. We visited a model coffee farm and got training on how to properly prepare and taste coffee. We even got an art lesson.
That night we stayed at a coffee farmer with some local artists, including renown bamboo architect Simon Velez. The next day, and decided upon consensus, we ended up watching a bullfight in Manizales. The bullfight turned out to be a good one, although have of the participants had strong opinions about its cruelty. They did appreciate it was part of Colombia's culture.
One of the best experiences of the trip for all of us happened during our horseback riding. Halfway through our journey, it started to rain and we ended up seeking refugee at a local house. We stayed there for an hour drinking hot cocoa while observing their daily life and thinking about ours.
The next day we departed to Medellin by car but not before having a landscape appreciation workshop. Once in Medellin we visited its beautiful parks and libraries and walked through the shanty towns in order to appreciate its amazing transformation.
Our last destination was Utria National Park in the Pacific coast. We had a breathtaking moment once we managed to arrive after our 2.5 hour boat ride from Bahia Solano. Another highlight was the fresh fish we had for dinner as prepared by Maria, our local chef and of course the biodiversity.
