Blogs from Salento, Quindío, Colombia, South America - page 6

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Early on Saturday 3rd April, I took a bus with Chris, a guy I had met in my dorm the previous night, bound for Salento in the heart of the ‘Zona Cafeteria’, or the Coffee Region to you and I. Not originally part of my itinerary, I included this place because of the positive comments I had heard from other travellers. It was supposed to be beautiful, peaceful and a vast difference from anything else Colombia has to offer. How right they were! On arrival, the first thing I noticed was how peaceful everything was, with people going about there business in a very tranquil manner. We were recommended the Plantation House hostel which a century ago used to be a working coffee plantation but has recently been turned into a hostel by an eccentric Englishman, ... read more

Of all the things in Salento I have experienced thus far... a 3 hour hike to a hummingbird reserve, horseback riding through unrealized railroad passages, dancing cumbia in the streets of la plaza mayor, cooking some very tasty French cuisine with my gracious hostess Liliana, what I will take from this town is Tejo. Tejo is a game alikened to our great American drinking passtimes - botchi ball, horseshoes, beanbag toss, etc. - in that you can hold a beer in one hand and lob a random blunt object at another random blunt object with the other. Throughout the course of humanity, man has searched for somet to do with the non-drinking hand. I think Tejo could be one of the best answers to this profoundly Delphic question. Tejo: Each player gets one metal disc, each ... read more

Go to Salento if you like nature, a tranquilo town and nice coffee! I arrived on a Friday evening to the town and had a tour of the town with some other guests of the hostel. The town is very very small and centers around the main plaza where locals sell fresh juices and local food, mostly trout, and of course, lots of beer. If you have energy enough you can pass through Calle 6, which is the commercial street, and climb the 348 stairs up to the viewpoint and see the whole town on one side and stunning landscapes on the other. The town lies in the middle of the coffee triangle and survives mainly on farming and coffee production. It is full of really nice and cozy coffee houses with fires where you can ... read more

Unser altes Jahr endete mit einer wunderbaren Strandparty,das neue Jahr begann damit und der erste Tag mit einem gluecklichen Kater :-) Danach ging es fuer 2 Tage nach Bogota um unser letztes Weihnachtspaket abzuhoelen... vielen Dank Martina, der Schokonikolaus war so ziemlich der beste den ich je hatte. An unserem letzten Abend haben wir noch zufaellig Francisco getroffen, unseren Freund aus Bolivien...das war eine schoene Ueberraschung, auch wenn wir ihn fast nicht wieder erkannt hatten, da sein Baerenbart verschwunden war und er urploetzlich wie ein junger Portugiese aussah. Am naechsten Morgen haben wir es endlich geschafft und sind in die Zona Cafetera gefahren...eine ungemuetliche Busfahrt, da wir uns mittlerweile wieder ans Fliegen gewoehnt hatten.Wir haben Unterkunft in einem super schoenen Hostel gefunden...mitten im Gruenen, inklusive toller Katze :-) Zufaellig wollte... read more