Finca Florencia - Student Post by Soly

Sending you a whole latte love from Florencia Finca. After a brief trip outside of campus, today’s excursion landed us at a coffee estate! Florencia Finca has been owned by Mauricio and his family for decades. He and his 12 siblings are currently maintaining the farm, and they like to stick to tradition passed down from generation to generation. Mauricio explains that tradition is what allows the farm to thrive.

One tradition that Mauricio values is experimenting with various crops just like his father did. The finca has undergone many challenging times, with sick plants but this has not stopped the family from following tradition. From coffee, oranges, and pineapples to sugar canes and mangos they grow it all. Mauricio describes the Finca as his Laboratory seeing as they are constantly experimenting. While enjoying the beauty of the land, we learn a lot about the effects climate change has on coffee plants.

We also had the opportunity to try sugar cane juice which was delicious. A point that Mauricio bought up was the quality of life on the Finca. He describes his life in the city, before moving to the Finca and how he feels like we as humans have really been disconnected from wildlife. A few valuable lessons that Mauricio taught us was that patience is key and it’s okay to take time off to connect with nature.