They Don't Have Insurance In Burundi Or swimming W/ Hippos.

One of the best things about being an international judge for the Cup of Excellence competitions is, when you are not tasting coffees, the host country is compelled to entertain and dazzle you with national novelties and visits to top farms. We interact with the farmers, their families and touch the soil and seeds.

In Burundi, it was mostly similar, tasting cup after cup of potato coffee. There was a common defect in the coffees that caused a whole cup to taste exactly like a raw potato. Sadly, it caused over 30 coffees to be disqualified that year

** footnote progress on this coffee since**

Anywho, this day they toted us the the border with the Republic of Congo, slightly terrifying as our van was boarded and searched by very stern young men in fatigues and automatic rifles. No harm, our brave host shared our esteemed position with the guards who had no interest. So, yep, yep, there's the Congo kids. As we eased away, one of the judges held fistfuls of candy out his window.. for some eager kids to take. He kindly gave all of us candy to pass out, as well, letting us share in his benevolence. As we pulled of I jotted "candy" in my travel journal so I would remember to bring it on my next origin trip.

After that, we were to visit a local river **name** to see hippopotamuses. Yes, live hippos, notably one of the most aggressive animals in Africa. Why not? Well the boat like craft that shared the African waters could only hold 8 people and there were about 20 of us, so we went in shifts. I went out in the second group, and while waiting we were left to entertain ourselves by looking at a little monkey chained to a tree.^%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%