Our second excursion from Medellin was to head to Salento. The bus ride is between 6-7 hours and there are direct buses from the Terminal Transporte Sur. The direct buses leave at 9am and cost 41’000 Pesos per person but saves one a lot of time. The other option is to take a bus to Pereira or Armenia and then another bus to Salento.
Located in the coffee region of Colombia and home to the tallest palm trees in the world, Salento has a lot to offer and we knew from day one that we would be staying awhile! We arrived on a Sunday which was a bit too over-crowed, as like Guatape and Villa de Leyva, Salento is a popular destination for Colombians on their days off!
Carrera 6 is the main street which connects the Plaza with the view point called Mirador. I was overwhelmed by all the beautiful handmade jewelry which was sold in pretty much every single store! Our first 4 nights we stayed at Casa de Lili which was right on Carrera 6, we played many games of Pool and found our favorite restaurant „Makao“. It is exactly what we were looking for in Colombia! After 1 month of eating the same Colombian food we were just happy to have found a international restaurant for a reasonable price! The owners are a lovely couple and their friend who make you feel at home!
Fogwalker-tour to Valle de Cocora:
Everyone that comes to Salento will head to the Valle de Cocora and usually most people will head to the valley without a guide. We however, decided to look for the fog walker tour office and book a tour with them. We were 4 people, two lovely swiss girls Nadia and Jasmin and our lovely guide Carlos who explained, with great knowledge, the history of the famous and protected wax palm trees. The trek took us to the hummingbird reserve where two ladies feed the birds with a sweet drink. There are 6 different species of hummingbirds and to get a picture of this fidgety birds is definitely a challenge! The last part of the trek brings one to the famous Valle de Cocora and this is just a breathtaking few, although it is not natural for these lonesome palms to be on a field with no other trees. Many years ago, farmers would cut the forest but as the wax palm trees were protected, they were not allowed to cut the palms. These palms however are facing extinction, as their roots are not very stable and as heavy winds can make them fall. We really enjoyed this tour and the value for money is definitely worth it!
Eco-Hostel Yambolombia:
After four days in the city, we decided to head to an eco-hostel called Yambolombia. What a great and relaxing place to do Yoga and read a book! The walk to the hostel is however 30 minutes from the city and there are no restaurants near by. So we had to by some food groceries from the city to cook our own meals.
Coffee Farms:
Another attraction in Salento is to visit a Coffee Farm. The Coffee Farm we visited was called Don Elias and is a small family owned farm. The tours are offered in English and in Spanish and definitely worth a visit. First one is brought to the plantation and then after there is a brief demonstration of how the beans are processed.
We stayed in Salento for 10 days and i definitely left a part of my ♥ there. We wanted to adopt a street dog called Lukas but after being here for a few days we realized that the street dogs of Salento have the best life! People in Salento take the best care of the street dogs here, they feed them, wash them and shower them with love. Lukas followed us everywhere we went and it was hard to leave him behind!
Let Go Get Lost 