Calí and Salento

Hey Guys!
After the amazing time in Galapagos it was time to head for Colombia. Our first stop was to Popayan, which gave us a chance to break up the long bus rides through the south of the country.


Puente de Humilladero, constructed so the priests could carry the holy water easily from the river to the church.


Plus there was a nice hill to watch the sunset from

Our next stop was to Calí, Colombia’s heart and soul of salsa. We went to a salsa club that night with some people we had met at the hostel. We only got one picture, of one of our friends with Aguardiente. This is a hard alcohol, kind of like pisco to the Chileans or cachaça to the Brazilians. I was way too busy trying to learn how to dance salsa to be snapping pics.


After a night in the city dancing we headed out to the country. We went to a little town called Salento. It’s known for growing coffee and having some beautiful landscapes.


The first day we walked through the Valle de Cocora, famous for its massively tall wax palms.





Along the hike we stopped at a hummingbird feeding area, and got to see some amazing birdies



Check out that tail!








These photo credits all go to Jared, he was right in there taking pictures


I was mostly just doing this














Here are the wax palms, rising 60 m/ 200 ft into the air











Some people we met and hiked with


Linda vista, no?






That evening we played a game called ‘tejo’ which is like bag toss meets horseshoes with gunpowder. There is a metal ring with paper packets of gunpowder around it, and you throw a metal disc at it trying to hit the centre or at least the ring to cause an explosion. It was quite fun with a couple beers!








After a rainy day we ventured out again to see some coffee plantations


Coffee plants. Fun fact- unlike other places (like Brazil), all the coffee in Colombia is hand-picked so you only get the red beans, none of the green beans that need more time





A little coffee bean shoot


Green coffee beans on the vine


This is the first machine that takes off the first skin


Then after a week to 10 days of drying, this machine takes off the second skin


This was a small outfit, so they roasted the coffee in small batches like this over the fire


Once roasted, they could be ground with this machine


And then you get coffee!

Colombia is an insanely beautiful country, full of rainforest and lushness. Salento was an excellent taste of that

Until Next Time!