Salento – coffe and palm trees

        (Salento, Colombia, 24-27th of September 2017)

From Medellin we decided to take a flight to Pereira airport and then to travel on to Salento in the middle of Colombia coffee district.

At the airport in Pereira the public transport system was a bit confusing and the tariff for taking a taxi all the way to Salento was kind of hilarious but we bumped in to a German couple and the were willing to share a taxi with us.

Salento is a small town with colourful houses (yes, another town with a lot of colour) and a relaxed atmosphere. Although, when we arrived it was Sunday evening and the town was crowded with Colombian people staying there for the weekend. Luckily, for us, by Monday morning they were all gone and the slow pace set in.

One of the days in Salento we enjoyed a coffee tour at a farm a bit outside the village. We decided to walk all the way there but as it was so much longer than expected we almost missed the appointment we had booked.

We really enjoyed the 3 hour-long tour and we learned a lot about coffee we did not know before. We ended the tour by taking a coffee tasting test, a bit like a wine tasting procedure, and by enjoying a cup of fresh coffee.

Cocora valley was another place we hade decided not to miss when in Salento. We took a Willy – a shared kind of jeep taxi – to the entrance of the valley. Cocora valley is famous for being filled with loads of very tall palm trees (Colombia’s national tree).

Except for the trees the valley also offers some trekking trails, suitable for a day hike. Unfortunately the  trails weren´t very well posted and we ended up getting a bit lost along the way. But we also got to hike straight up an extra mountain.

Christel was a bit affected by the altitude when we reached 3200 meters and we decided to hike back before we reached the mountain top. We ended up with a 16 km long trek, half of it uphill and the rest down again. It was great fun and a bit muddy.