Enjoy abundant natural beauty and arguably the best coffee in the world

The plaintive song of a lone chestnut­-bellied wren sounds remarkably like the first three bars of Volare. It sighs with unrequited love, like the heady ballads played by taxi drivers in tatty cars with swinging rosaries; a soundtrack to debauchery and heartache.

To talk of a safer Colombia for tourists is a tiresome cliché. Backpackers have plodded through its lush jungles, hit its sweet Caribbean beaches and partied in Bogota for over a decade.

What is apparent now is that Colombians, too, have fallen for their country. Head­ over heels. Like teenagers in the first throes of passion, discovering every beautiful quirk and stomach flip - after years of being locked into an era where the very idea of tourism in their country was anathema.

Colombia has more bird species than any other country, including the striking Emerald Toucanet



In the capital’s beautiful botanical garden, Esteban Jaramillo Pedroza, Commercial Director of Aviatur Ecotourism tells me: ‘Ten years ago my mother wouldn’t let me travel overland.

‘She told me I must fly. It was too dangerous. We knew nothing of our country’s beauty - so we have been discovering it ever since.'

I’m here to explore the Andean area known as the 'cultural coffee landscape' – a fertile triangle, roughly at the heart of South America's most north-westerly country - whose main cities include Pereira, Armenia and Manizales.

Coffee country: The fertile, mountainous land between Pereira, Armenia and Manizales

The world's finest: Mancini Torres tells the story of coffee from seed to cup at his San Alberto coffee plant

The enormous mountains here touch the sky, and are dressed in a million trees.The ferns and vines are so old I imagine a brachiosaurus munching high up in the canopy.

My journey begins at Otún Quimbaya in Risaralda, a sanctuary in the cloud forest, brimming with over 300 species of bird and home to spectacled bears and paramo tapirs.

A morning walk is lit up by iridescent tanagers, and I witness a male and female torrent duck having a domestic (the stony glares and feathery turned backs say it all).

Overnight, staying in the rustic lodgings laid on by Yarumo Blanco, the local community, I encounter more wildlife than I require, including a spider-on-cockroach attack.

Above the clouds: The magical Andean landscape is worthy of a Gabriel García Márquez novel

On top of the world: Emily pictured at the summit of the mountain within the Tatama National Park

The second most famous C-­word produced to a premium in Colombia is as ethical as it comes at the San Alberto coffee plant, in Buenavista. The company complies to the Rainforest Alliance, is UTZ certified and employs single mothers to inspect the beans for quality.

But co­-owner Gustavo Villota tells me: ‘I think people should be thinking this way anyway – being ethical is not what we sell our coffee on.’



A coffee baptism involves a journey around the plant from seed to cup, and my effervescent guide Mancini Torres leads the way. Here is a man who visibly shudders at the mention of Starbucks.

All creatures great and small: Butterflies and rare orchids fill the wild and beautiful Montezuma forest

The resident White-tailed Hillstar perches on an electric cable at the Montezuma Ecolodge

In the lab, I learn how to assess coffee on sight, fragrance, aroma and taste - learning the difference between fruity, acidic, animal­-like and woody scents, and tasting examples of what coffee should (and should not) taste like.



Proper Colombian coffee is like chocolate, sunshine and cream, all bound by a single malt whisky by the fire.

The farm is 2500 metres above sea level with lofty views over lush, green Quindio. Mancini has over 4,000 sunset pictures on his phone. He tells a story of how the owner's son died in a plane crash and started the coffee firm in his honour. Family is often at the heart of business here.

A paradise of blues and greens: The stunning scenery of Colombia's cultural coffee landscape

The Montezuma Eco Lodge: A paradisaical mountain resting stop for walkers and birders

At Montezuma Eco Lodge, halfway up Cerro Montezuma - a stately mountain within Tatama National Park Leopoldina Tapasco and her five daughters between the ages of 13 and 20 provide hospitality, local guides and delicious food served in banana leaves.

As well as hosting visiting birders and walkers, her plan is to live off the land. In the pristine forest that is her garden, she grows plantain, cacao, yukka, potatoes, coffee and a rainbow of delicious fruits.

The farm, surrounded by mist, is paradisaical. Rare and showy orchids perch in its trees; emerald green hummingbirds hover and blue-grey tanagers perch around the breakfast table.

There is even a natural swimming pool to splash in.

Pristine Andean forest: The Tatama National Park is a great place to spot wildlife and birds

Creatures of the forest: A clown cricket and one of the country's 14,000 species of butterfly

Following a 4am start, a drive over gnarled mud tracks (which includes several stops to hack through foliage with a machete) and a steep trudge uphill, I stand alone in a thicket on top of this mountain above the clouds - and hear a rustle.

A tiny rufous spine tail darts and hops between branches just metres away. I may not be a bird fanatic, but it’s just him and me for a moment, and it's wonderful.

At Montezuma's summit is an army base, clustered around the area’s principal telecommunications hub. It was stationed there decades ago, when guerillas were in the habit of bombing such places. Now it cuts a lonely figure, silent and engulfed by enormous fluffy clouds.

Dazzling: A White-necked Jacobin humming bird takes lunch at the San Alberto coffee plantation

There are over 3000 orchid species in Colombia, including its national flower (right), the Cattleya trianae

Birding continues to be big news here. This is no surprise. There are more bird species in Colombia than anywhere else in the world – 1,880 and counting (including 87 endemics).

Even to the avian-ignorant, to see a bright Green-Crested Quetzal swoop through the cloud forest with purpose and freedom is quite transcendental. The end to Colombia’s troubles could be the unclipping of her wings – and if you’re up for adventure, she is ready to soar.

Travel Facts

Air France flies to Bogota via Paris

Avianca flies from Bogota to Pereira