Coffee paradise

I do not know about you, but I am a coffee addict. And Veracruz, one of the Dream Year locations, is not a bad place for a gourmet - this Mexican state is the leading national producer of coffee. And the city of Coatepec is said to be the place where you go when you want to try the best coffee in the country. And I can agree with that. But drinking and savoring is not enough for a real passionate. A real passionate wants to see it growing. 

A friend of mine, Andres, happens to have a coffee plantation and one day he took me there. We drove through a dense forest and suddenly we stopped. I was wondering how was he able to tell where his bit of forest was. All the trees looked exactly the same. "Do you see these white trees over there? I planted them with my dad and that is how I know that it is here" he said. 

It was 8am, and a bit chilly, the grass was high and wet because of the morning dew. And of course there were plenty of mosquitoes. Soon I realized that wearing shorts was not the best idea considering the above.  

As we entered, Andres showed me the coffee plants. Some of them already had red fruits which are ready to pick up. When you bite them, they have a sweet juice inside and a golden bean. Maybe that is why they call coffee "a common man's gold". 

The plantation was not too big but really scenic. There were plenty of colorful flowers, grasshoppers and dragonflies. You could hear the ripple of river passing nearby. Apart from the coffee, there were some orange and banana trees. Something very common and ordinary here but quite special for somebody who was born in the country where you associate oranges with the winter season when there is -20°C outside. Maybe that is why, when I was a kid I was always dreaming about going to a tropical forest and picking exotic fruits straight from the tree. Voilà. During the Dream Year dreams come true.

I know that now probably you would like to see that yourself as well. I thought about that, and apart from the pictures I made a video so you can feel as if you were there. So grab a cup of coffee and enjoy. 

Cheers, 

Marcela 

p.s.

All pictures where taken by Andres Alafita, who apart from having a coffee plantation is a great photographer. Here you can find more of his work: serpienteviajaporlasal.tumblr