Short Stay in Salento

Twenty-four kilometres up the road from Armenia is a town called Salento, not to be confused with the more famous region in Italy. While the journey should have only taken about half an hour, on this occasion, it was more than an hour on a collectivo, mini-van. When we arrived, we quickly dumped our bags in our room and took off to see the Cocora Valley, home of the Quindío wax palm and national symbol of Colombia.

To get to the Cocora valley, we needed to get a jeep from the main plaza of Salento, a short walk from our hostel. We were able to secure two of the five seats inside the jeep, while the rest of the passengers hung on for dear life on the back. The trip took about twenty minutes to get to the valley, before embarking upon a short trek to the mirador, which looks out over the valley with the tall wax palms lining the landscape. The palms can grow as high as 60 metres, with most growing to about 45 metres, and are the tallest monocot in the world. After getting a bird's-eye view of the valley and its tall palms, it was time to make our descent. Dragging the doubting Thomas down the hill, Ricky needed to convince Jason that he was heading in the right direction. And of course Thomas needed an ice-cream as a reward for completing the trek, even though the number of calories in the ice-cream far outnumbered the calories burnt. Diet, what diet?

Rolling into the jeep, we fortunately got a seat and weren't made to hang off the back like tin cans on the back of a newly married couple's getaway car. We arrived back in one piece and immediately went in search of more food. That half-an-hour hike must have really worked up our appetites! After a bite to eat and a coffee, we returned to the hostel to rest before the next leg of our journey.

Next stop: MedellínRead more