Between canceled flights, covid, and the general strike, our (a father and his two daughters) trip to Medellin only lasted a day and we didn’t get to do hardly anything we had originally planned. We prioritized Andres’ amazing Jardin coffee tour and we’re SO happy we did— coming to Medellin just for the tour would have been (and was) 100% worth it.
The drive out to the farm was beautiful and engaging; Andres taught us a ton about Colombia and coffee along the way. A recent landslide made some of the dirt roads to the farm nearly impassable but Andres (a seriously impressive driver!) got us there and turned the inconvenience into an adventure.
We started the tour with some great coffee and a horseback ride through rural mountain roads (a highlight! Don’t miss this!), had a farm-fresh and traditional Colombian lunch from Imelda, more coffee, then wrapped up our visit with a presentation on coffee production from Andres and Jaime.
We got to see Jardín for just a moment because we needed to catch a flight, but it seemed like a very nice small town. I wish we would’ve had time to ride the garrucha! Andres took us to the airport & stopped off at a nearby restaurant for arepas de choclo con quesito so I could try one before we left (it was delicious of course)
We got about 1000 helpful tips and a unique glimpse into rural Colombian life thanks to Andres, who was super responsive to our questions and took great care of us all day. THIS is the tour to do. Imelda and Jaime recently built a house on their farm for daily rent; I want to come back and stay a month!
Random other compliments about Andres: very communicative and clear ahead of time, passionate about and good at his job. Andres: thank you, we had a wonderful time! 🙂
