Sunday, February 20, 2011 – Wednesday, February 23, 2011
The past three days in Salento have been lovely. On Sunday, Julia and I left Black Sheep hostel at 7:45am in a taxi to the south terminal bus station. We secured the first row on the 8:30am bus from Medellin to Pereira. The distance isn’t as far as the 5.5 hour ride would indicate but the road is extremely windy through magnificent scenery. Julia and I talked a bit then took personal time where I listened to a number of podcasts. There was a stop to pick up lunch, so we decided to share the semi-warm lunch box with a thin piece of meat, rice, warm banana with cheese and vegetable mix. It was better than simply eating the Doritos and Oreos in my backpack.
We arrived in Pereira (an unattractive city of 430,000) at 2pm, and got a minibus at 2:30pm for Salento. While we waited for the bus, we purchased a few more snacks. An hour after departure, we rode into the quaint town of Salento (population 7,000). I had reservation at Hostel Tralala, but unfortunately there were no beds left and Julia went off to find another hostel. She came back an hour later having secured a bed at a hostel nearby. We agreed to meet for dinner at 7:30 as Julia wanted to do some research on possible overnight trips in Valle de Cocora and I needed to catch up on some writing.
Alegre, our chosen dinner spot, closes the kitchen at 7:15, so when we showed up at 7:30 there were only certain dishes available. Turned out for the best, as we both got the eggplant parmesan, different from others I’ve had, with cooked eggplant and cheese on bread. Delicious, although not quite hot enough for me. We shared the warm chocolate cake for dessert. Excellent meal. Post dinner, Julia took me to Jesus Martin, a coffee shop she’d discovered during the day. Not interested in having caffeine before bed, I got a hot chocolate and promised to come back in the morning for coffee. After saying goodnight to Julia, I walked back (in the cold) to the hostel to shower and get ready for bed.
Monday was a long day. Julia and I agreed to meet just before 9am for the jeep to Valle de Cocora. I stopped at Jesus Martin for a latte and at the supermarket for some provisions before setting off. The 40 minute jeep ride to the valley was bumpy but through the beautiful valley. Tamar, an Israeli girl from Julia’s hostel joined us for the day. The jeep dropped us 10 minutes from the start of the path due to the roadwork.
It was easy to find the trail through the valley. The scenery was stunning. Incredibly green hills with random wax palm trees reaching up into the sky. The main problem with the walk was the mud. We lucked out with the weather, as it didn’t rain, but the ten previous days of rain meant a very muddy walk. I tried to use the fence to stay on the higher ground, but the three levels of barbed wire weren’t the best for support. We walked for an hour, the mud significantly slowing our progress, before entering more jungle like terrain.
The river running through the jungle meant there were a number of “bridges” to cross. You could hardly call them bridges though, most were three trees loosely tied together with no type of railing. The balance beam in gymnastics felt sturdier than the make-shift bridges; I was so afraid of falling. We did reach one real bridge, which provided a nice contrast to the others. The presence of the river meant that there were some miniature waterfalls near the trail. It was amazing how much the landscape changed from the open valley to the tree covered jungle.
We reached the Acaime Natural Reserve (at 2,770 meters, approximately 400 meters higher than our starting point) at 12:15. For $1.50 we got a drink of choice (we all ordered the hot chocolate with cheese, a traditional Colombian combination) and enjoyed the hummingbirds zipping between the feeders (all waiting with cameras ready for the perfect photo). After sitting for 20 minutes, we noticed the clouds rolling in and the weather cooling off, so we quickly got a move on.
Another hour later through more jungle we reached the highest viewpoint. It was extremely cloudy at the top and I can’t understand what was so special about the views as all we could see were the tops of the trees of the jungle. We started down the road towards the beginning of the walk (another 5km) when the clouds start clearing. The sun peaked through the clouds as we got to a mirador of the valley. Absolutely stunning! The clouds also lifted from the mountains and we could see what the view was supposed to look like from the top.
We finished the walk at 3:30pm and had to wait 30 minutes for the jeeps to leave. The total 13 km walk had us all exhausted. After getting back to the main plaza, we treated ourselves to strawberries and cream. Tamar left us to go back to her hostel and Julia and I continued to Jesus Martin for coffee. We sat chatting until just after 6pm, and among other topics learned that we share the same birthday. Having enjoyed dinner at Alegre the night before, we decided to meet there at 6:30, well before the kitchen closes.
While I sat waiting for Julia, a single girl came in looking for a table and I ordered for her to join us. Sharon is 25 from Australia and has come up to Colombia overland from Chile through Peru and Ecuador. For dinner, Julia and I shared a trout dish and the spaghetti with tomato sauce. Another fabulous meal. Once I got back to the hostel, it was early to bed at 10pm since Julia and I agreed to meet at 8am.
Yesterday (Tuesday) morning I was up at 7:20. Meet Julia at Jesus Martin for coffee before setting off for an organic finca (coffee farm). We walked an hour out of town to the small finca and waited for a tour. Turned out that Tamar and a guy from Julia’s hostel were taking the tour. When it was our turn, we got a quick walk around the coffee plants and fruit trees. I guess it was somewhat informative, but I expected more. Plus, the guy was totally unenthusiastic. He showed us how the coffee beans are removed from the skins and later roasted. At the end of the tour we got to try a cup of black organic coffee.
We took a different path back which dropped us in the small village called Boquia. The woman working at my hostel suggested we eat lunch there, but I couldn’t find any decent looking restaurants and we waited for a minivan to take us back to Salento. For lunch, we chose the popular location of Rincon de Lucy and run into Tamar and the guy again, so the four of us have lunch together. The set lunch menu consisted of soup and a big plate with a choice of trout, chicken or meat with banana, rice and salad. After lunch, Julia left Salento for Cali and we said our goodbyes with the hope of meeting up again in Cusco.
Exhausted from the past two days, I went back to hostel for a nap and ended up sleeping two hours. I ventured out of the hostel for another dose of strawberries and cream before coming back to choose a Spanish school in Cusco. I’d done some research but desperately needed to pick a place. After a couple hours I settled on Amigos and sent in my online registration. While I was online, it started pouring outside. No one at the hostel wanted to go out for dinner and we ended up having pizza delivered. It took over an hour and a half for the food, but there was no way I was going out. I talked with some people at hostel before heading to bed.
And that brings me to today, a day of rest, which is perfect timing since it has been raining on and off all day. I am literally spending the day relaxing and catching up on my writing. At 11am I went to Jesus Martin for a coffee with a couple people from the hostel then walked around town to find a restaurant for lunch. I was the only patron at the restaurant and ordered cream of tomato soup and a traditional dish which was a cooked plantain pancake with beef and cheese. Very unique and excellent. Now I’m back at the hostel using the internet (mostly to download Glee which is taking forever). Tomorrow I have a long day getting from Salento to Cali. That’s all for now.
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