After a few days in Bogota, it was back on the road – this time up to Salento in the Zona Cafetera (Coffee Region). Despite the constant rain that has been coming down, it was amazing to cross over the cordillera and drop down into verdant coffee country, passing through town in a taxi, we had to register with the authorities in order to leave town, which was actually reassuring since they would at least know where we were if something happened.
Honestly though, this country has so far felt as safe as any, barring the need to keep your eyes out in urban areas and in hostels... watching out for opportunists, as crime more often than not is a result of temptation, not any evil impulses.
Salento is a beautiful, classic colonial village in the Valle de Cocora, renowned for coffee, hummingbirds and mushrooms. The hostel is a set of houses on the corner of town where, settled in to a private room, we spent the day enjoying a delicious three course meal of soup, jugo de "tutti frutti" or otherwise known as a mix of papaya and various other local fruits. This was followed by an enormous plate of chicken or trout, fried plantain, salad, potatoes and empanada and some of the wonderful spicy fresh salsa that abounds down here. It was more food than had been eaten in days and afterwards we returned to the hostel to catch up on sleep.
There is a hummingbird refuge and circle trail which are renowned for the towering wax palms, probably most recognizable as the tuffula trees in the Lorax. Will hopefully have pictures as long as the clouds, which have been a constant since we arrived, give way a bit.
