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| My hellish, forty hour journey from the deserts of La Guajira (A) to the rolling hills of the Zona Cafetera (B) |
It was a nightmare. Forty hours to travel the 1400 kms from Cabo de la Vela to the Zona Cafetera. I woke before dawn on February 3rd to take down my tent; suffered a bone-rattling ride through the desert of La Guajira in sweltering heat; was unexpectedly dropped off at the side of a freeway near Santa Marta; endured the unrelenting air-conditioning of an overnight bus; navigated the metro of Medellín; and managed to suppress my restlessness - brought on by a combination of long travel and a diet consisting of caffeine and snacks - for another couple of bus rides before finally arriving to Salento in the dead of night and, of course, the midst of a downpour. But being the coffee aficionado that I am, my trip to Colombia would have been incomplete without a visit to the Zona Cafetera, Colombia's coffee region.
As I woke the next morning in the warmth of my sleeping bag and peered out the fly of my tent I instantly knew that the hellish journey was not done in vain. Below was a river that cut through the valley of the rolling green hills of the Zona Cafetera. The cool air smelt of blossoming flowers and freshly cut grass. I put on wool socks, pants, a fleece and a toque before braving the cold and walking over to claim my complimentary breakfast, which sold me on La Serrana.
La Serrana was a ranch-style hostel about a twenty minute walk from town. The hacienda was lined with windows providing breath-taking views of the surrounding gardens and hills. The inside was decorated with antique type-writers, saddles, microphones and cow hides. It was the perfect place to escape the rain or cold and waste away the hours reading or in conversation while enjoying a glass of wine.
Salento was a charming town in the Zona Cafetera. As I walked up the steep hills of town lined with colourfully painted buildings, the aroma of fresh ground coffee and vino caliente drew me out from the chilly weather and into the shelter of the cafés. The cafés had loads of character and generally used vintage cash registers and espresso machines that took up to eight minutes to brew a cappuccino. Despite the dated equipment, the coffee was among the best I've ever had.
The cafés weren't the only things in Salento that were seemingly stuck in the past. The locals wore traditional sombreros and wool ponchos to ward off the cold, and horseback was the preferred mode of transportation. And when in the 'wild west', why not do how the cowboys do?
I got a horse. I've always been a little weirded out by these animals, but after a few words of advice they were easy to handle. I crossed deep rivers, climbed incredibly steep and muddy pitches and galloped at full speed through fields. This definitely fostered in me a new found respect for their power and endurance.
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| Valle de Cocora |
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| Burundanga |
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| Coffee Berries |
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| Drying coffee beans |
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| Tejo |
Other than relaxing, Salento had a few other interesting things to offer. I spent a day hiking through the Valle de Cocora where I saw the world's tallest palm trees, the wax palms, as well as the source of the 'world's scariest drug', burundanga; took a tour of a family-run coffee plantation and learned about how the berries are picked, fermented, dried and finally roasted; and tried my hand at a traditional Colombian game involving beer and gunpowder, 'tejo'.
Colombia, its been a blast. Next stop, Ecuador!
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