As previously mentioned, we have been having a lot of rain as it is the wettest winter in 30 years here in Colombia, and there is flooding in almost every region on a weekly basis. We extended our stay in Salento for a day in the hopes of two things: a) getting some sun in order to really enjoy the beuatiful surrounding countryside and b) to ensure that we had waders, which were supposedly a necesity for the trail we meant to climb. (Waders being a key personal item of every local, and not difficult to find in "normal" sizes, but when you have two large gringos with demands for 44 and 46 size boots, it becomes problematic. The owner of the hostel, a very kind hearted Santa Claus type fellow named Tim, actually went to the nearest city to buy more boots, and they told him it was impossible in Colombia!). Either way, the one pair of 44s and 46s were returned in the evening, and so with fingers crossed, we spent the evening playing Tejo (more on that later), and were ecstatic to wake up with the sun peaking through our windows!
To get to the Valle de Cocora from Salento is about a 45 minute jeep ride. The jeep actually playing such an important role in the development of the local area that they have a yearly parade of the Jeep in the city/town of Armenia nearby. The way th system works is that there are a group of jeeps in the main plaza that run either on a schedule every few hours, where they fill the jeep and charge everyone a few dollars, or you can basically charter one to take you up there.
Since we were up in time to catch the first shuttle, we made our way to the plaza, grabbing some bread with chees and water for the hike. Upon arrival, we found that there were about 8 people waiting for the shuttle service. We figured, obviously they would send multiple jeeps, but no, as the Mexican saying goes "Donde caben tres, caben ocho," and we all managed to fit in and on to the jeep. I shared the honor of holding onto the back for dear life with an older ranch hand and enjoyed the brilliant sun-lit valley while trying not to think about the fact that any one of the bumbps in the unpaved road up which we were traveling at 50 kph could toss me into the ditch. Needless to say, it was a blast, and we made it safely to the trail head with the sun still shining and feeling lucky, not just for surviving the jeep ride, but because the area had not seen sun in weeks!
Pics will come as soon as I have a chance to hook up my camera.
