Yesterday I ventured to a coffee-based theme park. Manizales, the city I’ve been in for almost a month, is in the “coffee” region of Colombia. After a four-hour journey including various flavors of vans and buses, we finally arrived (and I promptly purchased a coffee from Mr. Juan Valdez, as the trek had left me rather knackered).

As I had popped a Dramamine anticipation for the bus rides to the park, I felt confident enough to test my luck on some of the rides. At 1pm, I was sitting on a concrete floor in an auditorium anticipating the main attraction. I was still wet from the log flume but the cool air felt rather nice. At 1:30pm the show began, which was essentially a musical about coffee. It was thoroughly entertaining. We were treated to signing, dancing, and creative animal costumes, such as a flamingo and a lizard with an over-sized tail (the lizard ended up performing various acrobatic tricks). The crowd continuously danced as they heard the familiar Cumbia rhythms that pulse through their country. I danced a bit too because…why not?

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At 5:55pm I participated in one more race of go-karts, and then it was time to head for the exit in anticipation of the 6pm closing time. We took the gondola back to the entrance and were offered a glorious sunset. I love Colombia more every day.