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.