Salento

Salento is a small town with a population of around 7,000 people, located in the coffee region of South America. Salento is placed on a flat section of land a top lush greenery and unique palm trees. It appears to be placed on a pedestal amongst some of the most beautiful landscapes I have ever seen. At one time, Salento was probably one of the better off the beaten path backpacker destinations; now it is quite trampled over, and has many restaurants and bars full of english speaking employees waiting to cater to the packs of tourists coming through on a daily basis. Although this takes away from the authenticity of this beautiful Colombian town, it makes it much easier for tourists to experience what the area has to offer.

Our first full day in Salento was rocky. My ankle was swollen, bruised and painful, and I was walking at the speed that a toddler crawls at. Salento is the perfect small town that can be walked quite easily; therefore, there are no taxis or mototaxis, making it a terribly unideal location to have a sprained ankle. Fortunately, there was a coffee plantation in the city center that we were able to take a tour of, and the owner was kind enough to get me a walking stick. We spent the first few hours of our morning learning all about how coffee is grown, harvested, fermented, and roasted. We ended the tour with a few samples of some of the local brew, and it was pretty delicious. I think it’s fair to say that I appreciate my morning jolt of caffeine a lot more after learning about the entire process and how much work goes into it. On top of getting the opportunity to learn about the coffee process, the coffee plantation was located on the side of a mountain on the edge of the town, and the view was spectacular; lush, beautiful mountains as far as the eye can see. It was a pretty amazing experience!

The afternoon was spent resting and icing my ankle, and this was definitely a low point for me. Whenever I start to feel sick or tired or run down, I fight against my body and tell myself that I will be fine. I was trying to do the same with my ankle, and the fact that it wasn’t just getting better was leaving me feeling entirely frustrated and discouraged. After resting for a few hours though, I was feeling much better and Ryan and I set out to explore the town and get some food. The city has one central plaza and then one Main Street that leads to the Mirador, or look out point. We made our way slowly up the stairs to a beautiful view of the sun setting over the town. We proceeded to try the local food, which is a whole trout called trucha, and a rather large, fried plantane, called a patacon. The other local food that we tried was a patacon topped with cheese, meat and sauce, which looks a little bit like a homemade pizza. The giant patacones taste like a giant chip, and are quite enjoyable!

On Saturday, we caught a “willy” (a jeep with benches in the back to carry groups of people) to the Valle de Cocora. This is a beautiful valley full of 60 foot palm trees that you can walk through. The whole hike is a 5 hour loop, so we decided to start out by hiking it backwards, since there was absolutely no way I could walk for 5 hours. Ryan insisted that we didn’t do any walking, but my stubborn nature won over and I persevered until we made it to the top of the hill overlooking the valley. We had an unbelievable view of the mystical palm trees towering over the other greenery; it was truly one of the most beautiful views I have ever seen. Unfortunately, walking back down was pretty rough on my ankle, and after getting back to our hostel, I spent the rest of the day and night in bed.

Yesterday, we caught the first bus out of Salento and made our way back to Armenia and onwards to Medellin, in time to watch the Super Bowl at one of the many pubs in El Poblado. Today is our last day in Colombia before flying to Ecuador tomorow, and we have spent it practicing spanish, doing laundry, and relaxing. I’m feeling a little sad that we have to leave Colombia tomorow, as I really love this country; however, I’m also looking forward to our upcoming adventures in Ecuador!