Highland Coffee & Local Market Explorer
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port
Dili, East Timor
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activityLevel
Strenuous Activity
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excursionType
All
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wheelchairAccessible
No
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startingAtPrice
$250
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minimumAge
Information Not Currently Available
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duration
Approximately 6 Hours
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mealsIncluded
Meals not included
Travel west along the esplanade of East Timor's laid-back capital -- Dili. You will pass historical buildings, secular and religious monuments, the Farol Lighthouse, the Statue of Integration, and Dili's oldest church.
Tasi Tolu (Three Seas) Peace Park is an Area of National Cultural Significance, as it was an important symbol of the struggle for Independence from Indonesia. It was declared a National Park in 2000. The Tasi Tolu Alter is built in the shape of a traditional Uma Lulik, or sacred house, and was commissioned for the visit of Pope John Paul II when he celebrated mass here in 1989. The name refers to the three salt lakes that make up the Tasi-Tolu Wetlands.
Heading south, you'll climb into the mountains to Ermera, which is the heartland of Timor's coffee country. This area is renowned for its Arabica-Robusta hybrid, which is grown beneath the large, canopied albezia trees. You will visit the Railaco Timor Global Cooperativa Café , founded in the wake of the destruction of much of East Timor in the war for Independence in 1999. You will be led by a local coffee expert, who will explain the types of coffee and how they are being processed. You will also learn about the testing of the coffee in order to determine which one is the best to produce. Enjoy the chance to sip some of the coffee and explore the various aromas. Enjoy a buffet lunch here.
The next village, Gleno, offers a colorful traditional marketplace selling all manner of wares, and perhaps even some souvenirs.
You then travel back to Dili via the coffee drying fields, where the coffee is sun-dried prior to roasting.
Notes:
Due to the fact that Dili is in full development, there are no tour buses yet. Instead, the best possible vehicles in town are being sourced. Due to the lack of professional guides in Dili, your tour guides will be university students that are in training to become professional guides.