Blogs from Salento, Quindío, Colombia, South America
May 12th 2012
Day 208 Sunday 6th May Woke up slightly seedy this morning, knowing that I may have hit it a bit too hard last night, but it was a Saturday night so that’s okay, although every night is Saturday night for us. We had planned on spending the morning at the park next door where there was supposed to be a flea market but discovered that they no longer happened so did the next best thing of trying to organise our laundry. We discovered a laundrymat a block away so we put together a bag of our smelliest and handed them over. According to the Lonely Planet there was another flea market about ten blocks away so we put on our hiking boots and headed off to check it out. On Sundays in Bogota they ... read more
Salento - Colombian Coffee and the Cabonera
Published: April 10th 2012South America » Colombia » Quindío » Salento
April 10th 2012
Salento was next up after Medellin and with it being Easter a lot of Colombians were making their way to the same place as us which made for some traffic troubles. The weather had also took a turn for the worse and there was a massive storm going on with torrential rain, we arrived in Salento 9hrs after leaving Medellin due to a change in Armenia and also the traffic coming into Salento. After grabbing our bags myself and Jack asked the driver where the taxis are and his response was there are none and laughed so we had to navigate ourselves around although it’s not a big town. We did find the hostel but the owner said they were full and they had moved us to another called Plantation House so we made our way ... read more
Salento and Valle de Cocora
Published: February 19th 2012South America » Colombia » Quindío » Salento
February 13th 2012
After the coffee farm tour, our awesome driver Orley met us at the hotel to drive us for the day to Valle de Cocora and Salento. Both of these towns are set amid gorgeous green mountains in the coffee zone. We first visited the Valle de Cocora that is the home of a ton of "palma de cera" (wax palm), that is the largest palm in the world (up to 60 meters tall) and is also Colombia's national tree. The views in the valley were breathtaking and the people were kind and helpful throughout. We enjoyed an excellent trucha (trout) lunch at Bosques de Cocora Donde Juan B. We also tried their speciality cinnamin drink -Canelazo. YUM! We ventured down the opening path of the Reserva Natural Acaime and saw the trout farm that our delish ... read more
December 14th 2011
Salento is a quaint little town nestled amongst breathtaking mountainous views and is also part of the coffee triangle. Nicklas and I decided to check it out a few weekends ago and had to tear ourselves away from it. La Serrano, the hostel we stayed at, is located almost 2km outside of the city, and it couldn’t have been in a better location. The hostel is really a ranch house surrounded by a stunning, 360 degree views. We both agreed that the rooms like the hostel had would easily charge well over $100 USD/night back at home, and this place only charges from a range of $15-40 USD/night! Incredible! Unfortunately, it rained most of the weekend. This meant that we had to cancel our horseback riding plans, couldn’t really go hiking, and on Saturday, it stopped ... read more
August 15th 2011
So now it's time to say goodbye to Salento. Well maybe past time since I have been gone for over 2 weeks. Salento is the type of place I want to retire to. Nice weather year round and beautiful scenery. La Serrana is another beautiful part of Salento. Basically I just laid around and chilled out all day. I'll provide you with some photos of me at the office. At La Serrana there is one person who runs the place. His name is Pablo. Pablo is the official mascot of La Serrana and he reigns over the place. Pablo doesn't even drink water, they make him agua de panela con leche (basically sugar water with milk) because I'm told he doesn't like water. Actually he does drink water, I've seen him. Of course a dog will ... read more
July 27th 2011
Ola Amigos, Zijn we weer met een korte update van onze reis. Colombia is en blijft een geweldig land, niet alleen het land maar vooral de mensen zijn fantastisch! En ondanks dat het bijna iedere dag wel regent blijft ook de natuur je hier verwonderen. Dus, We kwamen aan bij Lago Calima, een bergmeertje met perfecte 25 knopen wind, die constant waait en vrijwel iedere dag begint rond 14.00. Nou, lekker Kite- en windsurfen dan maar! Maar eerst nog even over de mensen. Het begon al met onze aankomst in Darien, een slaperig dorpje dat opleeft in het weekend van alle mensen uit de grote stad Cali. Een beetje beduusd staan wij met onze bezittingen op onze rug om ons heen te kijken waar we heen moeten gaan om te slapen, (handig zo´n lonely planet, moet ... read more
July 22nd 2011
Those who know me know that I hate having my picture taken. I am a photographer and I am used to being on the other side of the camera. So sometimes when I am showing my photos of places I have been people ask why am I not in any of the photos. So now I would like to introduce you to my alter ego. For the past few years I have been traveling with my Lamont Morris my alter ego. He stands in for me for any photos I take. We have a lot in common. We are both former military, he was in the Marines and I was in the Navy. We both like to travel, cook and read. And in in fact we could even pass for twins. There is a small height ... read more
One Month Anniversary, 386 days 2 hours 25 minutes until I go back to work
Published: July 15th 2011South America » Colombia » Quindío » SalentoJuly 14th 2011
So here it is July 14th. This is a day of milestones for me. One month of being on the road. Also this was my last deposit into my checking account. Damn to think it only is going to get smaller from here on out. Unless someone want to make a donation :) I actually received my last paycheck one week into my trip thanks to the magic of direct deposit. I also mailed my first months vacation check to the bank and it was deposited on the first day of my trip. For the last 2 weeks before I left I was struggling trying to get my last month of vacation pay. I have a month of vacation every year thanks to being a member of a union. I always take the month all at ... read more
July 4th 2011
So here I sit still in Salento day 19, July 4th 2011. Salento is so peaceful. Let me tell you about a typical day. My alarm is set for 8:30. Sometimes I get up before it goes off, or I might sleep for an extra 10-15 minutes. I don't have to get up but I do want to keep some kind of schedule. Beside breakfast is served from 7-10 and it is included with your room. Breakfast is 2 eggs, a roll, and 2 cups of coffee with fresh raw milk straight from the cow. I don't normally drink coffee but when I travel it is free so I drink it. I drink 2 cups here at La Serrena because Jon makes good old American coffee. Usually coffee is very strong and bitter so it is ... read more
June 28th 2011
So here I sit in Salento Colombia, the scene of the crime. This is where it all started for me. The gestation of a 14 month odyssey, trek, journey, sabbatical or whatever one would chose to call this thing I am on. Salento is in the Zona Cafetera region, the coffee region of Colombia, up in the mountains. About 7-9 hours east of Bogota depending on the bus. An hour north of Armenia if you can find it on the map. The town is very small and relies on coffee, trout farming, and tourists as it is the gateway to Valle de Cocora. Cocora has great hiking up a trail to the top of a mountain passing through grassy hills and palma de cera, or wax palms. Then the cloud forest until you reach the top ... read more
