The Anolaima sub-region region nestles on the western slopes of the Eastern Cordillera, a branch of the Andes mountains, deep in the heart of the Cundinamarca coffee-growing region. Fifty miles west of Bogotá, this area is often called the “fruit capital of Colombia.” Coffee from this area is highly fragrant, nourished high on remote and misty hillsides under the shade of citrus and plantain trees.
But long before coffee, long before the Spanish exploration and colonization in 1538, the Anolaima area was inhabited. In fact, one of the oldest known archaeological sites, Tibitói, is located nearby. Here bone and stone tools and remains of mastodons and other extinct animals join traces of human occupation in a layer that has been carbon-dated at circa 11,000 BC. The Muisca, who in turn immortalized their lives with rock art, are descendants of these early people. High in the Andes mountains, some of their petroglyphs still carry traces of applied colors.