Author Archives: Richard Griffith

About Richard Griffith

My first independent travel experience was a trip to Israel, in 1997, it was here that I caught the 'travel' bug! In 2001 I took an 8-month sabbatical and traveled around South East Asia. Since then I have managed to visit most of Eastern Europe along with India, Bangladesh, and a few other destinations in between. I love travel and I love meeting new people.

La Violencia.

Posted on 28/04/2014 by Richard Griffith

WARNING! You may find the following narrative and photographs disturbing. After a period of relative peace, a struggle between Liberals and Conservatives broke out in 1948 with ‘La Violencia’, the most destructive of Colombia’s many civil wars, which left a … Continue reading →

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Bienvenido a Colombia.

Posted on 28/04/2014 by Richard Griffith

Where is Colombia? The Republic of Colombia is in northwestern South America. It is bordered by Venezuela and Brazil to the east, Ecuador and Peru to the south, Caribbean Sea to the north, Panama to the northwest, and the Pacific … Continue reading →

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Feliz cumpleaños.

Posted on 22/04/2014 by Richard Griffith

Celebrating my birthday – Colombian style. A welcome break from the staff quarters came in the form of an invitation to spend the eve of my birthday at ‘Casa Principal’ (the main house). A room here normally costs circa £100 … Continue reading →

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From ‘crop to cup’ – part 4 of 4.

Posted on 18/04/2014 by Richard Griffith

Picture if you will a Pyramid – at the base of the pyramid can be found Robusta coffee then, as you climb up, you get Natural Arabica, then Washed Arabica, then speciality coffees – like ‘Kopi Luwak’. The price of … Continue reading →

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From ‘crop to cup’ – part 3 of 4.

Posted on 16/04/2014 by Richard Griffith

Harvesting: Colombian coffee is all about ‘freshness’. Due to its location, the central region of Colombia is able to take multiple harvests. All the coffee in Colombia is harvested by hand. In other countries, where the coffee is grown in … Continue reading →

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From ‘crop to cup’ – part 2 of 4.

Posted on 14/04/2014 by Richard Griffith

Is that a fact? We drink about 1.5 billion cups of coffee a day, with the USA drinking a 1/5 of this. In 2004 the coffee plantations of the world would have covered the country of Portugal. The 17 billion … Continue reading →

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From ‘crop to cup’ – part 1 of 4.

Posted on 13/04/2014 by Richard Griffith

I have been receiving a lot of questions about coffee production here in Colombia. First a history lesson. Used traditionally by nomadic mountain warriors of the Galla tribe in Ethiopia, where the plant is indigenous, coffee was first eaten as … Continue reading →

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Hacienda Venecia.

Posted on 07/04/2014 by Richard Griffith

Located within the UNESCO World Heritage-listed ´Coffee Triangle´, just 20 minutes from Manizales, Hacienda Venecia is a fourth generation working coffee farm made up of 200 hectares, of which 170 hectares produce coffee. Hacienda Venecia is a commercial coffee business, … Continue reading →

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‘Wake up and smell the coffee’.

Posted on 29/03/2014 by Richard Griffith

It was probably three weeks ago when the email appeared in my inbox, it was from my accountant. Attached to the email was an unwelcome letter from the Inland Revenue. The IR were chasing ‘outstanding payments’ and they wanted them … Continue reading →

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The 659 steps

Posted on 24/03/2014 by Richard Griffith

The tiny town of Guatapé is a popular Medellin getaway for tourists and locals alike who want to wander its pretty streets and take boat trips out onto the artificial lake, El Embalse del Peñol. Looming over the lake is … Continue reading →

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