Salento and Neiva

 

Salento is a small town nestled in the Colombian hills best known for its coffee production. We took full advantage of this and learned a ton about this bitter drink by visiting one of the local coffee farms and going on the tour. Unfortunately I still can’t find much enjoyment in a cup, but Sunny enjoyed tasting a few varieties and we walked away significantly more knowledgeable than when we started! 

The other highlight of Salento are the super tall-about 60 meters- wax palms that grow in the Coroco Valley and the hiking throughout the nearby national park. We got to see these wacky palms as we embarked on a hike up to 3,400 meters. The hike was probably the hardest Neive done between the altitude, rain, and basically constant uphill climb, but we finally made it to a peasant farm up in the mountains and communed with other hikers for an evening before descending. Unfortunately we weren’t treated to many views but the fresh morning air cleared out the cloud cover for me to get a few good shots.

After Salento we went to Neiva which is very unremarkable by itself but is the gateway to the Tatacoa Desert. This landscape is not, in fact, a desert but a semi arid ecosystem. This particular fact is important because it rained buckets the day before we went on our tour and as a result was super muddy for our trek through the canyons of the grey desert. Luckily, more rain held off so we got a gorgeous sunset at the red desert before departing. 

A fun find pointed out by our guide were the bright pink, chili shaped fruits we pulled from cactus cotton along the way. These are related to dragonfruit, and when you bite into them the center is white with black seeds just like the cousin fruits.