The last week has been a whirl-wind of activity and travel. Each night we've fallen into bed exhausted (and content) at about 9:30. Needless to say, when we've had the downtime to update the blog, we've opted to rest, read or just bliss out on the scenery before us.
Our first destination outside of Medellin was Salento, a small town in the coffee growing region known for trout and an impressive valley that houses Colombia's national tree, the Quindío Wax Palms.
Despite having to make the trek two or more times a day, it never got old.
Our first morning in Salento we got up early and hopped on an old WWII jeep (the taxi of the coffee growing region, known as a Willys) and took a thirty minute ride to Valley de Cocora. This hike was one of our favorite experiences in Colombia so far. It begins in a valley that gives way to dense jungle, that then turns into what looks like a forest in Colorado, before a descent that leads you back into valley and farm land again. Interspersed in this varied climate are 100 ft. tall palm trees. It's an incredible (and incredibly confusing) sight that left us wondering aloud "where are we?" every thirty minutes or so.
You might note the absence of people and the presence of cows in this last photo. Having opted to go back down a different route then the one we ascended on, Matt and I found ourselves on a lovely deserted trail that meandered through grazing cattle. We did eventually find all of the people... though they happened to be on the opposite side of a barbed wire fence. Somehow the trail led to private property. After realizing how helpless we were, on old man held up the barbed wire fence and we slid under on hands and knees, while many many families looked on.
The next day we had a great many plans that we, of course, never realized because we went to town in search of food and then got stuck in a thunderstorm that lasted hours. While we didn't get much sight seeing done, we did discover our favorite restaurant (we went back the next day and ordered the exact same meal). We were also able to do a short little walk before lunch to a lookout above this city, so they day wasn't a complete waste. At the lookout, we met a groundskeeper that advised us to do a few walks down the side of the mountain, which seemed like very good advice. Then he told us that these walks were for couples that wanted to "have sex in nature" and then he pantomimed (graphically) giving a blow job. More to get away from him than anything else, we opted to walk the trails, and while we didn't see any couples, we did get an amazing view of this bird.
It's called a Motmot and I would definitely recommend looking up a photo of it from an actual photographer because they are amazing. To conclude our trip to Salento, here's a photo of some tree bark. You're welcome, Larry.
Our first destination outside of Medellin was Salento, a small town in the coffee growing region known for trout and an impressive valley that houses Colombia's national tree, the Quindío Wax Palms.
Getting to Salento was a great introduction to the various modes of transportation we would need to use over the next few days. After learning we were traveling to Salento, our bus driver offered to drop us off at a "stop" close to our destination so we wouldn't have to waste time traveling to Armenia and out again (there are no direct buses from Medellín to Salento). Shortly after his generous offer, our bus pulled off onto the shoulder of a divided highway (with no stop of any kind in sight) and we were ushered off the bus. His direction to us, as verbatim as we can remember it, was ' just cross the highway, you'll see the stop, buses to Salento are always on the lookout for foreigners. they'll stop for you.' We didn't get a chance to see if he was right or not because quickly after locating the actual bus stop, we were offered a ride from a couple who was headed into Salento for a trout lunch. After getting dropped at the town square we hiked the twenty minutes to our hostel and were rewarded with some incredible views.
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| Matt on the walk |
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| View from the road |
Our first morning in Salento we got up early and hopped on an old WWII jeep (the taxi of the coffee growing region, known as a Willys) and took a thirty minute ride to Valley de Cocora. This hike was one of our favorite experiences in Colombia so far. It begins in a valley that gives way to dense jungle, that then turns into what looks like a forest in Colorado, before a descent that leads you back into valley and farm land again. Interspersed in this varied climate are 100 ft. tall palm trees. It's an incredible (and incredibly confusing) sight that left us wondering aloud "where are we?" every thirty minutes or so.
You might note the absence of people and the presence of cows in this last photo. Having opted to go back down a different route then the one we ascended on, Matt and I found ourselves on a lovely deserted trail that meandered through grazing cattle. We did eventually find all of the people... though they happened to be on the opposite side of a barbed wire fence. Somehow the trail led to private property. After realizing how helpless we were, on old man held up the barbed wire fence and we slid under on hands and knees, while many many families looked on.
The next day we had a great many plans that we, of course, never realized because we went to town in search of food and then got stuck in a thunderstorm that lasted hours. While we didn't get much sight seeing done, we did discover our favorite restaurant (we went back the next day and ordered the exact same meal). We were also able to do a short little walk before lunch to a lookout above this city, so they day wasn't a complete waste. At the lookout, we met a groundskeeper that advised us to do a few walks down the side of the mountain, which seemed like very good advice. Then he told us that these walks were for couples that wanted to "have sex in nature" and then he pantomimed (graphically) giving a blow job. More to get away from him than anything else, we opted to walk the trails, and while we didn't see any couples, we did get an amazing view of this bird.
It's called a Motmot and I would definitely recommend looking up a photo of it from an actual photographer because they are amazing. To conclude our trip to Salento, here's a photo of some tree bark. You're welcome, Larry.
Love the stories, Leah and Matt. This fits the "don't read out loud to Collin" category much more than the beer story :) Love you guys!
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