A pond at our hotel in Manizales.

Behind the hotel, in the hills, was a forest in which we took an eco tour. We took a ski lift up to the top of the hill.

On the ski lift.

Father on over the forest.

Near the end of the run, the lift went upward dramatically.

View from the top of the hill.

Another view.

A number of hummingbird feeders were hung on the trees.

I caught this photo of one of the hummingbirds.

Some of the vegetation in the forest. Most of the plants are also grown in Southern California, though here they are growing naturally and in California we have to plant and water them.

A lake at the top of the hill.

Another view.

Bonsai trees.

Yohanny, our local guide for Manizales. We discovered that we both had the same camera--instant friendship.

Inside a buttterfly garden on the top of the hill.

A butterfly.

A butterfly.

A butterfly.

A butterfly.

A butterfly.

We started walking down the hill through the forest.

A small waterfall.

Palm trees.

The forest.

Farther along.

An insect on a leaf.

Closer-up.

Farther along.

What is unique in this forest is that orchids grow wild on its trees.

An orchid in bloom. Most of the orchids were not yet in bloom.

An orchid in bloom.

An orchid in bloom.

An orchid in bloom.

Farther along. Other pathways go off from the main pathway. Very easy to get lost in the forest.

I think this is a turkey vulture. Yohnny took the photo for me. This is the only bird that we saw on our walk.

Another orchid in bloom.

Close-up.

Orchid in bloom.

Nearing the end of the pathway.

Back down out of the forest. This orchid was probably grafted onto the palm tree as we were out of the forest now.

Another probably grafted orchid.

On the road. Houses in the hills in Manizales.

More houses.

And more.

Passing a mural.

Passing a bullring.

Manizales street.

Manizales street.

Manizales street.

We stopped at La Mazorca Patisa in Manizales for lunch. This menu didn't have English translations, so we were dealing with bandeja paisa or sencilla, tamal, platodo morcills, sobre barriga dorado, etc.

Even with help from our tour director and local guide, a bit too much, so some of us chose what was in a picture on the table. For $2.90, it was good enough.

A view from the park across from the restaurant.

Back on the road. The countryside.

We boarded either jeeps or SUVs here for the 2.5-km (1 1/2-mile) ride down the hill to the Hacienda Venecia, a coffee plantation.

On the way to the coffee plantation.

Over a stream.

This woman told us much as to how coffee is grown, coffee plant types, how it is gotten ready for roasting, etc. She also said that the quality of a cup of coffee depends on the quality of the beans and of the roasting. We also were given a sample of their coffee. Very good.

Naturally growing coffee plants were discovered, it is believed, back in the 10th century in Ethiopia. At first, just the coffee beans were eaten, giving a caffeine lift. Then how to roast coffee was discovered and coffee drinking spread throughout the world.

The pulp from the coffee berries is removed and a parchment skin is left on for some of the processing and then removed.

Close-up of the inside of a coffee berry.

After coffee beans are roasted, they look like this and are what we are familiar with seeing.

A shrine on the coffee plantation.

Coffee plants that will be planted later. Arabica coffee is grown here. There are many varieties of Arabica plants. The other main coffee grown is robusta which has more caffeine and has a bitter taste. Vietnam grows much robusta coffee.

Walking in the plantation.

Father along.

As early as last year, this banana grove replaced a coffee grove. Climate change has rendered it too hot for coffee to be still grown in this patch and this has been repeated at other coffee plantations in this valley.

Coffee plants on a hill above the banana plants. Note how steep the hill is. Coffee berries are picked by hand and pickers have to navigate these slopes.

Closer-up.

A coffee plant.

Coffee berries. They picked when they are red.

Coffee that the Hacienda Venecia does roast to sell to their visitors.

Driving back to the street from the coffee plantation.

Luckily, I was not one of those who had to fit into a jeep.

One of the machines that the plantation uses to process the coffee beans.

At the place where we started was an oven to make arepa de chocolo, which are sweet corn cakes. The oven reminded me of the ovens that Native Americans use for some of their cooking.

A sunset on our way back to our hotel in Manizales.