Having coffee that is truly your own is very special. But even more special is coming to Colombia yourself, walking among the coffee trees and seeing the place where your own coffee grows.
At Finca El Cafetal you can stay right among the coffee trees. You are not staying in a tourist coffee park, but on a genuine small-scale coffee plantation where people work every day on caring for, harvesting and processing coffee.
Have you adopted a tree through Adopt a Coffee Tree? Then during your stay we will of course find your own tree. The tree you have followed online throughout the year will suddenly be right in front of you.
Experience coffee up close
Producing coffee is far more labour-intensive than you might think. The cherries do not all ripen at the same time and are therefore carefully picked by hand in several rounds.
If you are with us during harvest season, you can do more than watch: you can also help pick and process the coffee. After harvesting, the fruit pulp is removed, after which the beans are fermented, washed and dried. Only then do they become the green coffee beans that will later be roasted.
Because Finca El Cafetal is set up on a small scale, we can process the harvest from your tree separately. That lets you see up close how much work goes into the coffee that eventually arrives at your home.
A small-scale coffee plantation
Finca El Cafetal is deliberately different from a large commercial coffee plantation.
We work on a small scale and try to grow the coffee as naturally as possible. We want to avoid unnecessary use of pesticides wherever possible. Because relatively little coffee is grown in the surrounding area, the natural spread of coffee diseases is limited.
At an altitude of 2,140 metres, the coffee cherries ripen slowly. That longer ripening period can contribute to high-quality beans and a more complex flavour, while conditions still allow the cherries to ripen fully.
Every tree is different and every harvest year is different. That is precisely what makes the coffee from your own tree so unique.
Visit Montebello too
Would you like to see more of Colombia’s traditional coffee culture during your stay? We can also travel together to Montebello.
That is where our larger coffee plantation is located, in an area where coffee has been an important part of daily life for generations.
In Montebello you get a very different view of the coffee world from small-scale El Cafetal. You will see how coffee is grown, processed, dried and transported on a larger scale and meet the people and traditions behind Colombian coffee.
Depending on the season and the work taking place at the time, we can show you different parts of the process.
Stay overnight at the finca in Montebello
A visit to Montebello does not have to be limited to a single day.
If you would like to experience the area in greater depth, you can also stay overnight at the finca in Montebello. This gives you the chance to experience not only the coffee plantation, but also the daily life and landscape of this region.
El Cafetal and Montebello therefore show two different sides of Café Maricita: the personal, small-scale Adopt a Coffee Tree project and larger traditional coffee production.
Discover the surrounding area
Colombia naturally has much more to offer than coffee alone.
If during your stay you would like to visit tourist attractions, villages, natural areas or other special places nearby, we can arrange a personal guide for you.
The guide knows the region, can accompany you on excursions and help you discover places that an ordinary tourist might easily miss.
This way you can combine a stay on the coffee plantation with a personal introduction to Colombia.
Stay at Finca El Cafetal
The house at Finca El Cafetal is suitable for up to 6 people and is rented as a complete house.
From €975 per week.
Would you like to come with more people, stay longer or combine your stay with a visit to Montebello or other parts of Colombia? We can arrange that too.
Would you like to visit your tree yourself?
Have you already adopted a coffee tree, or would you like to combine a stay with an adoption? Contact us. We will be happy to help plan a stay that suits you.