Opinion: Mark Bibby Jackson on Colombia

coff ee break A COLOMBIAN

Mark Bibby Jackson travels to Colombia to sample its coffee and discover the magical landscape that inspired Disney’s latest hit fi lm, Encanto

Blessed with fertile and everchanging landscapes, Colombia is one of the most biodiverse countries in the world but it’s most famous for its coffee.

The country’s offi cial coffee region, or Eje Cafetero, sits west of the capital Bogota and south of the city of Medellin and produces over half of the country’s sought-after beans. Part of Eje Cafetero is Valle del Cocora, a green Eden that has recently achieved fame for inspiring the backdrop for the Disney fi lm Encanto. Sitting at about 2,400 metres above sea level, Cocora lies in a stretch of Andean Cloud Forest. Fortunately for me when I visited, the clouds had lifted suffi ciently to allow me to appreciate the breath-taking scenery. The land is dominated by huge quindío wax palm trees, the tallest species of palm in the world. The following day we drove into Santa Rosa de Cabal for a food tour of the old market. I bought a borojo juice drink from Don Francisco, who was tending his stall at the ripe age of 63. Though this brown native fruit doesn’t look particularly appealing, its fl esh is sweet and tart and the drink is named ‘love juice’ for its purported aphrodisiac qualities! Daniel Felipe, the head chef at Hacienda Santa Clara, where I was staying, charged me with collecting the ingredients for sancocho en leña, a traditional soup of corn, root vegetables and meat to be cooked on an open fi re in the grounds of the hotel. A vital part of the culture of the region, the making of sancocho usually involves the whole family. While waiting for our meal to simmer, I followed Pascual, the hacienda’s resident Great Dane, to a small stream just below the hotel. In this idyllic spot, surrounded by large bamboo trees called guadua, I listened to the many birds singing. In the afternoon we drove to Finca del Café. Set up by husband and wife team José and Maria seven years ago, the fi nca is a hotel and the seven hectares it sits in are a coffee farm. This blend of coffee and tourism means José and Maria are less vulnerable to fl uctuating coffee prices and gives visitors like me the chance to see the process of making coffee from bean to cup. We picked the fruit, which Maria roasted in their small kitchen and then allowed us to grind. Finally, José made the freshest cup of coffee I’ve ever had and the perfect conclusion to my Colombian coffee break. charitable.travel/travelbegins-at-40