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Published: October 13th 2010
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The residents of Salento seem to live in a different era to those of the other towns that I have visited. Cowboys saunter through the cobbled streets, and their neighbours congregate in the town square to chat and watch the world not go by. The locals seemed unaffected by the packs of backpackers wondering around - it appears that the town is firmly on the backpacker trail. I hadn't seen so many, well pretty much any, backpackers since I left the Caribbean coast.
From the hill overlooking the town - on which of course there is a big crucifix - I could see the grid of pastel painted adobe buildings united by the church on the edge of the main square. From the look out point on the other side of that hill I could see a deep, verdant Valley - a striking contrast to the jagged peaks of the surrounding mountains.
Later that day I walked to a coffee farm about an hour from the town, passing a number of eco-lodges and small farms along the way. I stopped a lot to take photos of the views of the valleys and hills covered with coffee plantations and their
accompanying banana trees. Lili, the owner of my hostel, recommended this particular farm as it is small, organic, family owned and still uses traditional methods. One of the family showed me around the farm and explained the stages of cultivating and processing the coffee bean. He also explained that they grow bananas with the coffee because the trees provide shelter and nutrients for the plants.
The following day I took a Jeep - the public transport of the area - to the
Cocora Valley National Park. Out of the number different trails available I took the main circuit which takes 4-5 hours. I began passing through cattle farmland and a trout farm in the valley bottom and then followed a stream up through the rocky valley side into tropical woodland. At around 3000m altitude I reached an eco-farm deep within the trees where they have hummingbird feeding stations and offer hot chocolate and cheese.
(My friends in Bogota introduced me to the concept of Hot Chocolate and Cheese. Colombians tear the salty cheese into chunks, which they float in their Hot Chocolate. An unusual combination that doesn't taste as bad as it sounds, but I still wasn't convinced.) I descended a little and then climbed the next part of the trail up the very steep valley side, which was punishing at that altitude. From the top, however, I had a view of the entire valley - it was worth the climb. I descended by way of a dirt track along the valley ridge. The scenery shifted back from the isolated, heavily forested top of the valley through which I had just climbed back to the wide open space. Thrusting high above the trees were a rare and unusual species of Palm Tree endemic to this area. The track seemed to go on for ever but eventually wound its way back to the park entrance.
That evening I had a ten course meal at a very beautiful hostel,
La Serrana, a couple of km from the town. A bargain at only $7. A talented and enterprising chef from Barcelona was staying at the hostel, and to raise travelling funds was organising dinner parties every night. The food was excellent and innovative, involving small servings of sweet/sour/fruity/salty combinations of local fruits, vegetables and artisan products. The atmosphere was friendly and intimate thanks to the banter from the mostly young
backpackers present and the wine flowing.
The next day I went on a day trip to the
Parque de Cafe - a coffee theme park near to the nearby town of Armenia. The coffee museum was very interesting and I enjoyed the cable cars and walking through the gardens. I had a very good lunch of pork with coffee sauce. My impression, however, was that the park was very tacky and commercial and much more suited to families with small children.
After three nights in the charming, welcoming, family run
Casona de Lili (highly recommended) I left Salento to continue my quick tour of South West Colombia in Cali. For me, Salento was the highlight of the Zona Cafetera, which was of course reflected by the amount of backpackers there.
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Tracy Barnett
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Beautiful!
A nice little slice of life from the Eje Cafetera! Thanks for the views!