Salento Part 2 & Valle del Cocora, Colombia

Last year, during thanksgiving week, we went to Colombia. It was Emma's first trip to my home country and my first one in over 3 years. We went to the coffee region for 2 days and I fell in love with my country even more. One of the most popular places in the region is a little town called Salento. You can read about our trip and where we stayed here. The town is beautiful and it is close to a place called Valle del Cocora (Cocora Valley). I always wanted to go and see the wax (cold weather) palms. We went to the town mirador (lookout) the first day and to the Cocora Valley the second day. 

Emma was very good during the whole trip. She didn't want to walk more than 5 minutes and she wanted to be carried ONLY by her mom. I did what every mom would do: take her on my back with the ergo baby. At the time Emma was 31 pounds!!!! The 2,400 meter altitude is OK; except when you are going uphill with a toddler on your back. After a long recovery from a broken leg just a year ago, I felt really proud of myself.  

These are some of my favorite pictures from the mirador in Salento:

We hired a tour guide and he took us to the most wonderful walk. You can rent horses or just walk. We decided to walk to the river and back. We were supposed to go to the palm forest, but I was exhausted from carrying Emma after a long walk and that mean really going up the mountain. We will return when she can walk alone!! These are some of my favorite pictures from the Cocora Valley:

If you ever have a chance to visit the Colombian mountains don't miss these places. The pictures don't really show how beautiful everything is. I can't wait to return to this beautiful place! 

Salento, Colombia

For several years, I wanted to visit Salento. Not Salento, Italy; Salento, Quindio, Colombia. This is a small town in the middle of the Colombian coffee region located 3 hours away from Cali. It was isolated for a long time and as a result, the traditional architecture was preserved. We finally planned a short trip last December while we were in Cali. It took us almost 4 years to get there. Emma was amazing. She didn't cry or complained except almost at the end. We had to improvise her lunch making a quick stop on the road. Luckily, highways are very interesting in Colombia. You drive through the towns and there many things to look around. She got car sick and as a result we had to continue our trip with the windows down. That was all part of the "adventure". 

I fell in love with Salento and with the beautiful mountains around it. After living in Florida for 15 years, I get very excited to see mountains and green landscapes. We had the typical food lunch: trout and a huge green fried plantain. André loves his tostada as you can see below. 

The best part was having a Colombian coffee right in the middle of the mountains where it's produced. The coffee shop was antique and everyone makes you feel welcome. If you want to go, it's on the left side of the church if you are looking  at it from the town's main square or plaza. The barista has been the same for over 20 years and he has pictures to prove. 

Our hotel was only 2 blocks away from the Main Street (5th) and I would recommended it for anyone who wants to go. It's called Salento Real. It's a new building, but it was built to reflect the typical architecture. The rooms are small but comfortable, and the service was incredible. 

There are 3 big reasons to visit Salento and stay a few days: the town, the mirador (overlook) and visiting the Cocora Valley. I will share lots of pictures to share what we did in 2 days. It was enough time to see what we wanted to see, but sadly 4 hours each way is a long way to go and we were too exhausted. I would recommend staying for 2 nights instead of only one night. 

Guest Post: Day Trip to Salento, Colombia

Desde que nos mudamos a Estados Unidos have 13 años, hemos apreciado mas a nuestro pais. Cada vez que viajamos, tratamos de visitar lugares a los que nunca habiamos ido o que no habiamos visitado en muchisimos años.  Uno de estos lugares fue Salento. Este hermoso pueblo esta hubicado en la region cafetera a menos de 3 horas de Cali y aproximadamente a media hora de Armenia. Lo mas lindo de la zona cafetera es el paisaje, su clima, y los paisas quienes son probablemente las personas mas amables que existen. Una de las cosas que siempre habiamos querido hacer era un tour en Jeep Willys, uno de los emblemas de la region cafetera. Los Jeep Willys fueron importantes en el desarroyo de la industria del cafe Colombiano y todavia es usado para transportar el cafe y la gente de las fincas.

El jeep que contratamos nos recogio en la mañana en una finca de la region donde nos estabamos quedando junto con mi esposo, mi hermano y mi cuñada. Para nosotros fue toda una aventura montarnos en este jeep abierto en carreteras destapadas y sobretodo a nuestra edad. Este dia no solo fuimos a Salento sino tambien a los pueblos de Filandia, Quimbaya, Montenegro y Pueblo Tapao. 

After we moved to the United States 13 years ago, we appreciate our native Country even more. Every time that we go, we try to visit new places or places where we haven't been in a long time. One of those places was Salento. This beautiful town is located in the coffee region less than 3 hours away from Cali and approximately 30 minutes from Armenia. The best about the coffee region is the scenery, the weather, and the paisas - some of the nicest people you will ever meet. We always wanted to take a Jeep Willys tour which is one of the emblems from the region. The Jeep Willy's was an important part in the development of the Colombian coffee boom and it is still used to transport coffee and people from the coffee farms. 

The jeep that we hired picked us up in the morning in a country house where we were staying along with my husband, brother, and sister in law. It was an adventure for us to be riding an open Jeep along the unpaved roads at our age. We visited Salento and also the nearby towns of Filandia, Quimbaya, Montenegro, and Pueblo Tapao. 

Our ride

Si necesitan prueba que el Jeep Willis es importante en la region cafetera miren las siguientes fotos...

If you don't believe that the Jeep Willys is so important in the coffee region, see the pictures below...

Salento es famoso por la comida, la arquitectura y el mirador. Para llegar al mirador hay que subir mas de 250 escaleras. Vale la pena subir porque desde alli se puede apreciar el Valle del Cocora.  En este Valle crece la palma de cera, el arbol nacional de Colombia, la cual es la unica palma que crece en clima frio. Nosotros no subimos porque ya habiamos ido en otro viaje y ademas acababamos de llegar del mirador de Pueblo Tapao. Nuestra visita a Salento la disfrutamos comprando artesanias, tomando fotos, y almorzando la comida tipica que es trucha con patacones.

Salento is famous for its food, the architecture, and the lookout. To get to the lookout you have to go up over 250 stairs. The climb is worth it because from there you can see the Cocora Valley. The wax palm, the national tree, grows in this Valley. This is the only palm that grows in cold weather. We didn't go to the lookout during this trip because we had been there before and also because our tour included a stop at the lookout in Pueblo Tapao. We enjoyed our trip to Salento buying handicrafts, taking pictures, and having a traditional lunch of trout with fried green plantains. 

From the Pueblo Tapao lookout

Valle del Cocora

Las escaleras que se ven al final de la calle (amarillas y azules) son las que llegan al mirador. 

The stairs at the end of the road (yellow and blue steps) lead to the main lookout in Salento.

Colombia es un pais del cual la gente se enamora por su cultura y por su belleza natural. En mi opinion, uno de los atractivos mas grandes de latinoamerica es ver los pueblos que todavia conservan su arquitectura española. Esta fue nuestra tercera visita a Salento pero en el Jeep Willys disfrutamos aun mas. 

Colombia is a Country that people love because of its culture and its natural beauty. In my opinion, one of the highlights of latin america is visiting the towns that still preserve the Colonial architecture. This was our third trip to Salento, but with the Jeep Willys tour we enjoyed it even more.

Yolanda Suarez, my mother, is an Colombian artist. She will be posting and sharing her pictures in this blog while I'm on maternity "leave" and I can think about traveling again.

Visiting the Parque Nacional del Cafe (Quindio, Colombia)

I added a song to this post because I can't think of Colombia without the appropriate music. This is Jorge Celedon a famous vallenato singer. The song is about the many great things about Colombia and it is called "la invitacion" which means the invitation.

Parque Nacional del Cafe

(Km 6 vía Montenegro Pueblo Tapao, Quindío, Colombia)

During my last trip to Cali in December I knew that one of the things to show my boyfriend about my Country was the National Coffee Park. He is not from Colombia, and since he loves Colombian coffee this trip was a must in our itinerary. 

The trip in December had been planned for months and even years with my family. We had all been back to Cali during the holidays after we moved to the US, but we never planned the trip together as a family. One of the reasons that we wanted to go back was "La feria de Cali". La feria is the end of the year celebration that happens every year from December 25th to December 30th. There are concerts, parades, the best full fighters from the world come to Cali, the country clubs have parties with the most popular singers and bands, and the whole City participates in a massive party.

We arrived December 25th and stayed until January 6th. I had planned the whole Feria week but for January we could just relax and recharge from the parties. On January 2nd, together with my family we rented a van to go to the Coffee park. Two and a half hours away from Cali is the Colombian Coffee Region. The Coffee Park is right at the heart of this region. This park is about the history and production of Colombian coffee and the culture, la cultura del cafe. I'm a coffee lover and I can drink it at any time of the day without problems with caffeine. I highly recommend this park for any Colombian and not Colombian. 

The land where the park is located is beautiful as well as the scenery on the way there. I visited the park first when it first opened over 15 years ago. It has changed a lot since then. My favorite part is the "Sendero del cafe" this is were they teach you how the coffee bean is grown and you get to walk though thousands of coffee trees. I also liked the replica of the coffee region town. This is a beautiful part of the park, there is replica of the Plaza de Bolívar from the City of Armenia in 1926, a colonial church, and many houses modeled after the typical architecture of the small towns in the area. There is one show that nobody should miss. This is called el show del cafe and it is a folk dance show about Colombia and in a way they also explain how coffee is part of our culture. The end of the show is very moving for those that live out of the Country. The song ends with a line that says something like: this is my Country and why will I live somewhere else? and of course there were tears in our side. Pictures and video were not allowed during this show. Make sure that your ticket includes the show because this is extra. 

The food court is in the middle of  a replica of a coffee town

the plaza with the food court in the back

small coffee trees

raw coffee beans. This is how they are sold and exported

The view

Taking a break at Juan Valdez

Enjoying a cup of the best coffee in the world

The coffee museum was also a highlight of the day. The only thing I don't like about the park is the kids zone where they try to imitate an amusement park. I understand kids getting bored, but I think the beauty of this park is to learn about coffee not to go to the bumper cars. I do not see a reason for having mechanical rides for the kids when they can ride horses, train rides, walk the trail with all the myths from the country side, and many other things. I am not complaining, I just had to do a complete review including the things I don't like. I just stayed away from that side of the park and enjoyed my day!

Typical coffee region house in miniature 

The jeep Willy's was an important part in the development of the Colombian coffee boom

This is how the coffee is stored and exported

The cost of this trip is approximately $100 dollars per person (including transportation, park entrance, and food). For more information visit: http://www.parquenacionaldelcafe.com/newpage/