There are lots of tours you can do in Medellín, but for us the choice of the Urban coffee tour in Barrio La Sierra (Comuna 8) was quickly made. The combination of coffee and a community tour, completely “off the beaten track,” was the perfect combination for us.

We were immensely looking forward to the tour and also found it quite exciting, since Barrio La Sierra was once one of Medellín’s most dangerous neighborhoods. With guide Arturo, we could see for ourselves the transformation of the Barrio. To see the tour in this perspective, Arturo had advised us to take the La Sierra documentary on Youtube (2004) about life in the neighborhood during the armed conflict between paramilitaries, leftist guerrillas and local street gangs.

We met Arturo at the entrance to the San Antonio metro station in the heart of Medellín. The three of us were the only participants, so the tour was private! After riding the tranvía (streetcar) through the Barrio Buenos Aires, we arrived at the metrocable station, where we caught the cable car to la Sierra, the last stop. The view was amazing and the ride was an experience in itself.

Arturo got talking to a Colombian-American abuelita and and her daughter, who made the drive to La Sierra purely for the trip, but didn’t dare get out. They knew stories about La Sierra’s violent past and shared them with us. After seeing the Youtube video the previous evening, we could vividly imagine this.

After getting off the cable car, we walked to the staircase with 577 steps.

Along the way we saw men building their own cottages. They were very friendly and proud when we asked questions about construction. Meanwhile, all I was thinking was: omg, up those long stairs with all those bricks!!!

In addition, we chatted with two friendly ladies who were chatting on the balcony in front of their cottage and spoke to a schoolgirl who has known Arturo since babyhood. She assured us that it was not going to rain (which we feared) and she was right. Not a drop fell!

As we climbed further up, we saw men and women working with sugar cane and we passed the local (new) school.

When the school children saw us, I fell like
gringa
immediately stood out next to my Colombian traveling companions.

“How are you” and “I love you” flew through the air. Like “dame un dollar” -:) but Arturo explained that no money is given, so as not to create a pattern.

After climbing all the steps of the stairs, we thought we had almost reached the coffee plantation for our first coffee “shot,” but nothing could be further from the truth.

It was still a brisk but beautiful hike with beautiful views.

Arriving at Finca “increíble,” we were warmly received by Rosa. We were given a cup of coffee with something sweet, while Rosa began to tell us about the history of the finca. Her father Mauro was the “star of the show” with his wonderful stories and dry sense of humor.

He was also the one who showed us the young coffee plants and explained how to pick the coffee beans so we could earn our second cup of coffee -:)

After picking the beans, our “harvest” was checked, and we were shown the production process.

The taste of the second cup of coffee was surprising: a sweet, aromatic coffee brewed with panela (sugar water).

While enjoying this cup of coffee, I asked myself how much the tour would run out, since we still had to start the trek back to the La Sierra subway station! Ouch…But……there was a car waiting to take us to the metro station. What a welcome surprise! We quickly bought a few more packs of coffee for home and got in the little car. This was a very fun way to end the tour, all in atmosphere with rousing Colombian music!

Link to video.

Arriving back in Medellín, we had much to catch up on. All three of us found it impressive to hear the stories about the history of the barrio and the finca “increíble.” And as often in Colombia, the people and their stories were the real highlight of the day; their perseverance to make something out of their former hopeless lives, the optimism and always…the sense of humor. Still full of impressions and feeling grateful that we had supported the local community with this tour, we headed back home.