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Adios Guatemala

The final day and today we take the relatively short journey (just a couple of hours this one) to visit Finca San francisco Tecuamburro and the perfect host Sergio. You can always tell its going to be a party day when at 10 o’clock in the morning your sitting in the back of a pickup truck drinking ice cold beer from a draft tap that’s been fitted especially for your visit. The journey is not so long but twice as rough. I didn’t realise 4×4 ‘s could go up such slopes.

We arrive to a big welcome of some friends we met at dinner the previous evening. We wind up Sergio about his Germany football baseball hat to chants of “Mexico Mexico”. I managed to collect some really “bad” hats (read bad as sooo bad they become good) and we swap (until I feel bad for Sergio wearing a woolly hat in the hot sun).

The farm is so beautiful and a real culture shock from the El Bosque farm yesterday. Both produce awesome coffee (it’s a big favourite of Monmouth if its need any bigger accolade), because of the people involved in producing it. This week has taught me this is one of the most important factors in producing special coffee special people. I’m questioning everything I’ve ever thought about coffee this is a real education in ethical buying.

We go to the main heat of the Finca, where the coffee is growing and again we get a chance to pick. This time it’s on our own. Green bean Richard wins the day again but on the quantity  I get in a zone where I just keep going and going I really enjoy it shut out the rest of the world just me and the plant that has taken over my life and defines who I am. One of my best moments of a entire trip.

We then return to the house to yet another big feed (they like their food) and just sit and relax. This is great lovely weather and great company.

The journey back to the farm I get some time to think and evaluate the trip. Truly life changing Such nice people and I bet behind each other bean we sell someone just as nice (and lots we don’t). The decisions we make are vitally important. There will be some changes over the coming months which I feel will be for the best.

This evening we go for a meal with some of the people we met and some people who’s famr we couldn’t get too. I got to meet the Entri Rios lady who was delightful. Readers of the blog know my love for El Salvador, so when I got to meet the owner of La Fany and El Bourbollon. One would have been enough but two, I was like and exited school boy I don’t think they knew what hit them. Luckily there English was better than my Spanish. We socialised to the point they had to force us to sit down and eat something.

I hope you have enjoyed the posts, boy I need a blogging break, but the photos are on there way soon to share, so that will be my next post.

Adios Guatemala

About the author Just Steve Leighton

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2 Comments

  1. fantastic stuff, steve. that is it, isn’t it? your overflowing enthusiasm gives us hope for the future of super premium coffee. not because of the coffee…because of people. people like the growers you spotlighted. people like you.

    thank you for blogging from the road.

  2. .
    would not be too much to say – uplifting reading!
    great coffee and great people..thats what it should always be about.
    thanks for capturing the essence Steve

    and finally …. who but a ginger lad would actually take a wooly hat into that climate anyhow?
    **Shakin head**

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