Colombian Coffee Horseback Adventure

Tours in Colombia continue to impress, especially in the value for money and experiences offered. The company Aeroturex was very communicative, with detailed meeting instructions provided via WhatsApp and reminders/check-ins beforehand. On arrival, the first host didn’t speak much English but another one arrived that did. They directed me to the ride, which I was a bit unsure of because the driver didn’t speak English. (I’m aware that I should know Spanish better to travel in a Spanish-speaking country, but mine is basic entry level.) the ride was a chivas-style bus which I was thrilled to have the opportunity to ride. It was an energetic, musical way to start the morning and enjoy the 30-minute ride. When the driver parked and rattled off some explanations in Spanish, I was lucky to have a bilingual girl on the trip who was nice enough to help translate. Shortly after, they brought down some mules for us to ride up. Luckily all of us had ridden before, so didn’t need instruction, but if it’s your first time and you don’t speak Spanish, maybe study basic horse riding techniques (uphill, downhill, etc). The guides provided ponchos and hats, took photos for us, and walked with us and the mules on some steep concrete paths to the coffee farm. Views are great but some of the steep downhills are nerve-wracking. After a 15 minute ride, you dismount and they offer panela juice and outfit you with rubber boots. You wait for all groups to arrive (30ish minutes for us), and then they split you into English group and Spanish group. On the English tour, Daniela was our hostess and she was amazing. Impeccable English, great energy and knowledge, and just an overall fun time with a sweet person. No pressure for tips, but I tipped her directly because of how excellent she was. We first went down to the coffee trees with her explanations and had a casual competition to see who could pick the most red coffee berries in 20 minutes. It was steep and a little slippery, so you have to be careful. It was really cool to be in the trees, and get a small taste of what life as a coffee farmer and picker is. We brought our beans back up and she crowned the winners who got a prize. Then, she taught us the steps of getting our beans to the cup. We got to use traditional methods to separate bean from skin, then used a machine, then she showed us different varieties of dried beans and we got to use a grinder also. Then she showed us all the different preparations from machines from around the world and we chose 4 for her to make. It was so interesting to have such different tasting coffees from the same ground beans. The whole experience made me really appreciate the effort and time that goes into every cup of coffee. They gave us a delicious lunch of rice, sausage, beef, potato and egg (and a great hot sauce available) with an incredible view of the peaceful green hillside. There was a small shop to purchase coffee and souvenirs, and they gave us a gift of a small coffee cup when we left. We walked down the hills we came up and got the bus back to the starting point in Poblado Square. We met at 8 AM, left at 830, and were back by around 2 pm. It was a truly excellent experience, and I highly recommend it.

The tour was wonderful. And the bus driver. The family at the farm was spectacular

Great experience, Mateo was awesome. The horse ride was fun. Learned a lot about coffee...cannot miss it..

We loved this tour! Everything was well organized and it felt extremely interactive the entire way. The food and drinks supplied were tasty and the animas and gift was a treat! Mules were provided at the beginning, but we did have to walk down a steep hill at the end. The views and family experience were 10/10.

Incredible attention from Noemí, driving from Gabriel, and explanation from Cristian about the whole world of coffee.