Manizales is a city built on a ridge, and it takes some getting used to. The streets climb and fall at gradients that make a bicycle useless and a motorcycle a sensible choice, and at about 2,150 metres the air is cool and often misty. The city is the capital of Caldas, a coffee department, and it was founded in the middle of the nineteenth century by settlers from Antioquia who cut their way into the forest to plant coffee.
Above it all stands the Nevado del Ruiz, an active volcano more than five thousand metres high, whose snow-capped summit appears on clear mornings and disappears in cloud for days. The mountain's eruption in 1985 caused a catastrophic mudflow that destroyed the town of Armero, and the memory is still strong across the region; the volcano is closely monitored, and access to the national park around it is sometimes restricted. The road up toward it climbs through high moorland, with frailejones, fuzzy-leaved plants that look like silver-green stalks, and ends at a cold, windy landscape of grey rock.
In the city itself, the cathedral is the landmark, a tall concrete-and-stone structure whose tower rises over the centre, and visitors can climb it for a view over the rooftops and across the mountains. There is a cable car that links the centre to the bus terminal and beyond, and the central square is a good place to sit with a coffee and watch the life of the city. Manizales has a university tradition and a lively evening scene, and the coffee, naturally, is excellent.
The roads in and out are mountain roads, with steep climbs, tight bends and heavy truck traffic, and the weather can change in minutes from sun to fog to rain. Take care on wet pavement and watch for slow trucks on the approach. With nearly 360,000 people in the city and Villamaría next door, fuel and services are plentiful, and it is the best place in the region to fill the tank and get supplies.
The best months are December to February and July to August, but the mountains make their own weather, so carry a rain jacket whenever you ride. Early mornings are the clearest, and the volcano is most likely to show itself then.