Colombia off the beaten track: the best there is! When we got in the car with two friends and left Bogotá behind to explore unknown Colombia, we found ourselves in a very funny situation just like that. Because not only did we visit a beautiful lake, come face to face with a bunch of llamas and end up in a very interesting cemetery, but we also drank fresh coffee in a coffee shop located in the cute village of Machetá far off the beaten path. After which, totally unexpectedly, we had a very interesting meeting. With whom? Read here what you can just experience while traveling in the especially hospitable Colombia!
Machetá: an unknown gem in Cundinamarca
Cundinamarca is a province in Colombia that is massively overlooked by tourists. After all, what’s interesting here? Well quite a lot. Actually, we were not planning to continue our road trip to the right at all, until one of our friends remarked that there must be a cute little village there in the mountains. Machetá. Never heard of it. We gamble on it and in about 20 minutes I am almost jumping in the car when suddenly I see this appear among the mountains:
Wandering around a sleepy village
After a few minutes, we arrived in this sleepy village, totally unknown to me, 85 kilometers from Bogotá, not so far from my beloved Guatavita. The village dates back to the year 1593 and was once inhabited by the Muisca. Today, Machetá has only about 1,500 inhabitants. We don’t find much life there either. Especially some children playing in the deserted square, people with cowboy hats and ponchos and cute little houses that contrast nicely with the green mountains. We also find a great coffee cafe, with coffee produced in the region. Something you wouldn’t expect at over 2,100 meters in altitude, since coffee beans prefer to grow at altitudes between 1,300 and 2,000 meters. Of course we step inside and that’s the beginning of a fantastic turn of events for the day….
Drinking Colombian coffee at ‘La Casita del Café – Puente Piedra’
Drinking coffee, in other words. Because that is exactly what Colombia is known for. Jimmy loves it and prefers to buy the best coffee from the best fincas. I’ll take tea, of course. Moreover, the café is incredibly cute and nicely decorated. The coffee served and sold in bags is the Puente Piedra brand. As always, when everything is finished, my husband wants to know more. Because where does this coffee come from at this altitude? He asks the bar lady who then gives the best answer of the day: ‘right here nearby at the finca. Wait: shall I call the owner? He will probably want to show you around his coffee plantation!’ Of course, we don’t have to think twice about that.
Colombian hospitality: an unexpected invitation at private finca Puente Piedra
So, ten minutes later the owner is standing in front of the café with his big truck. He drives ahead and we follow him out of the village into the mountains. All four of us are quite silent: such a kind gentleman who takes us, without asking for a single penny, to his finca completely closed for tourism somewhere in the middle of nowhere. That’s wonderful, isn’t it? The village is so small that within ten minutes we arrived in beautiful nature that seems miles away, but in reality is close to Machetá. The gentleman steps out to open the big gate and let us into the finca. It is a fairly small estate, with its house, banana trees and, of course, the coffee plantation. In the middle is a small house where it all happens: making the coffee.
Here you can clearly see the green coffee beans and bananas.
The undiscovered tour of a small coffee plantation
Even though I’ve been to a coffee plantation a few times before (in San Francisco and Zona Cafetera), this just remains something really fun. The gentleman takes us on a narrow path through coffee beans and green bananas. The coffee beans are hearty green so not yet ripe to be picked. Only when they are colored red are the beans removed from the branches. Should you ever come across a coffee tree yourself: break open a coffee fruit and put the white, slippery bean in your mouth. You will be amazed by the intensely sweet taste!
The cottage in the middle of the plantation appears to have all kinds of beautiful modern machinery. You can already see from this how small this finca is: it has only one of each machine. For each step in the process from bean to coffee, he has a device: to separate the beans from the shell, wash, dry and roast them. Even there is a bright orange machine to bag the fresh coffee for sale. Wonderful to see how passionate this gentleman is. I can really enjoy that!
The surroundings of the coffee finca
After the tour, we thanked the owner at length and drove back to Machetá. Along the way, we enjoy nature and the new white houses here for a while. I could live anywhere in this beautiful Colombia, yes and once again the fantasies come to mind. Especially with our friends: living in such a little white house and drinking that delicious coffee every day…. sigh.
Would you also like to drink Colombian coffee in Machetá?
You can! The café in Machetá is well known in the area and they even have a Facebook page: Cafe Puente Piedra. Want to spend the night in this region? In the vicinity of Machetá you will find several thermal baths where you can rest in the mountains, where it is only about 17 degrees. Click here for the thermal spa and other hotels. How to get to Machetá? By car, you can get to Machetá in about 2 hours. You can find everything about renting a car and driving in Colombia here. As far as I can find out, there are no direct buses from Bogotá to Machetá, but there are to nearby Chocontá. Go to Terminal de Transporte in Bogotá and purchase a ticket at Módulo 3 (Rojo) or Módulo 4 (Verde). For times and prices, click on the Terminal link and type in Chocontá as destino. From Chocontá, buses certainly go to Machetá, which is only a half-hour away.
Of course, after the tour, we return to the café to stock up on a few bags of this genuine Colombian coffee for home. I don’t like coffee at all, but oddly enough, I love the smell in the car. And how fun is it to give these bags as gifts? Exactly! How I love Colombia…
What is your fondest memory when you think of hospitality while traveling?
For more inspiration for traveling off the beaten path in Colombia, click here!