Products

VITERBO: Coffee & Cacao, Trapiche, Food, Fire, and Fun

From USD $201.30

Duration: 9 Hours (approx.)
Location: Viterbo, Colombia / South America
Product code: ViterboCCTFFF

Departing Viterbo you'll start by traveling down a gravel road to a wonderful Finca that produces not only prize-winning coffee but wonderful, sweet cacao and an unimaginable variety of organic tropical fruits. You’ll be greeted with a smile and a refreshing freshly made juice before starting your tour of this astounding farm.

Walking into the valley you’ll feel like you are on another planet surrounded by cacao, coffee, exotic fruits, wonderful nature, birds, and wild bamboo. Your guide will be explaining to you the complete process of the production of both the Cacao and Coffee, as you’re walking through this lush paradise. You’ll cross a small hand-made bridge to continue your journey through the plantations and into a forest of thick bamboo.

Next, you’ll begin your journey up and out of the valley to discover more trees of exotic fruits, along with many wild-growing fruits such as pineapples. You’ll come to a 120-year-old house made of Bahareque (a mix of timber, bamboo, mud, and cattle pooh in the construction of the walls). Once here you’ll not only be shown, but you'll also get involved with roasting the cacao and coffee beans on the 100-year old stovetop, and actually make the freshest coffee possible, along with some of the richest chocolate you'll ever try in your life.

This isn't just a tour where you watch and learn these wonderful artisan methods. This is an experience where you'll get the chance to make and enjoy the coffee and dark chocolate as they have for hundreds of years.

Next, it's back to Viterbo for some lunch before heading back out onto another gravel road in search of the Trapiche (Panela Factory).

The production here begins in the fields with the backbreaking work of cutting the sugarcane by hand with a machete. The sugarcane is then transported to the Trapiche on the back of a mula (a cross between a donkey and a horse) where it is pressed to allow the green sugarcane juice within to escape, and the discarded stalks set aside to fuel the fires burning for this day's production.

The sugarcane juice then starts a process of boiling, stirring, mixing, and scooping the boiling liquid from pan to pan. Continuing until the syrup has processed enough to be removed to a tray where it begins to cool and thicken. At this time, it is twisted and turned until it begins to take a new fudge-like form. and becomes Panela.

After you've discovered this sweet gold of Colombia it's off into the mountains you will go to find some amazing views of the town and the valley far below. Making your way up this winding road you'll be stopping for photos and a coffee along the way before reaching your destination, Finca El Balso.

Once here you'll travel down into the finca and climb up into the look-outs providing you with more wonderful views of the fields of coffee, cacao, platano, avocados, and everything in between.

Arriving in time for a walk around and to help get the fire started you'll enjoy some wonderful time checking out their vines full of passionfruit, the banana trees, the cacao, the coffee, the platano, and for those really adventurous the huge swing and fun slingshot!

As the sun goes down and the fire heats up it's time to start sampling some of this homegrown food with a meal of platano fritters and a salsa dip, before a delicious whole cooked platano filled with cheese, and a hot chocolate made fresh from the Cacao plantation that surrounds you.

After your belly are full and the fire starts to go down, it'll be time to head back to your hotel for a wonderfully restful night's sleep in preparation for tomorrow's adventure.

What's included?