After my failed attempt to go to Costa Rica, I booked a flight to Salento using the credit I had with Avianca. Looking back, this was such a waste of money as I could’ve just bussed it from Bogotá for a lot cheaper. Anyway, I needed this break away from the big city and with all the bad luck I’ve been getting recently with my travelling plans, my fingers were crossed for this one.
As soon as I arrived in Salento, I felt like I was in the right place. The weather was very pleasant and it almost reminded me of Trinidad, Cuba. Salento is a small town in the middle of the coffee triangle. You can easily get there by bus from one of the two major cities, Pereira or Armenia.
My time in Salento was with two different hostels. The first night was with Luciérnaga and the rest was with La Serrana, actually both of them are owned by the same guy and are amazing. Luciérnaga is closer to the town center, more modern (newly built) with a nice restaurant / bar. La Serrana is a bit more rustic and is surrounded by amazing scenery but a bit further out. To get there after a night out in town center, you have to walk down this dark pathway for about 15 minutes because all the jeeps stop at 11pm. For some, that was fine, but for me, especially after the mugging incident on my first day, was a bit daunting.
There are many things to do in Salento, from nights out in the square, to horseriding, mountain biking, coffee tour farms and my ultimate favourite, six hours hike in the Cocora Valley.
Cocora Valley
Ever since I saw photos on other people’s blogs of this place, I just had to go. We woke up very early in the morning as we were told that we would have to catch the jeep from the town center either at 7:30, 8:00 or 8:30. We wanted to grab a packed lunch from a restaurant on the way called “The Brunch” which is run by foreigners and is quite famous with backpackers there as they serve some of home’s traditions like fish and chips, beef stew, lasagna, etc. I believe the packed lunch was around 15,000 pesos and it came with a sandwich, bottle of water, some peanut butter dessert, banana and a bag of chips / crisps. They also offered us a brief introduction of the hike along with a map with instructions that eventually were of great use to us.
So if you’re thinking of doing this hike, I highly recommend you stop by at “The Brunch” for this. The jeep then took us for 30 minutes to the main entrance of the park and that’s where it all began. I would say this hike is safe to do alone as there’s many other travellers on the same route but I quite enjoyed spending the six hours with the girls I befriended at the hostel. Make sure you take your camera and a lot of water because there are some steep hills but everything is extremely rewarding. To hike in Cocora Valley is free but there is a hummingbird sanctuary along the way that costs 5,000 pesos, you get a free hot chocolate, cheese and a great spot to take a short break.
Coffee Tour Farm
Salento is in the middle of the coffee triangle so how could we miss this one. There are several different coffee farms all relatively close to each other. One of the girls and I wanted to practice our Spanish so we opted for the more local, Spanish tour which was great because there were only two of us and it cost us 6,000 pesos for each.
Walk Around Town
Salento’s town center is ever so charming. I wish I took some photos there but unfortunately, after having my camera stolen, I didn’t really want to carry my phone around but there’s some great shops to buy souvenirs and bizarrely a lot of shops selling clothes you’d find in Thailand (imported from China). It’s seriously beautiful and if you’re hungry, make sure to try trucha which is trout and is what Salento is famous for.
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