After two chilly nights of camping near Volcano Nevado del Ruiz at 13,000ft (4,000m)), it felt nice to arrive at a lower altitude again. Filandia is located at 6,500ft (2,000m) with pleasant temperatures but Salento and the Cocora Valley had us back at 8,000ft (2,400m) with consistent dreary weather.
Filandia
While Filandia is busy with Colombian visitors over the weekends, it is not so much on the gringo trail. Yet. It’s a cute, colorful, and vibrant town with plenty of places to eat and drink; good coffee being prominent in the local and westernized cafés.
Mark and I parked Thirsty Bella along a quiet street next to the soccer field. Since we were there over the weekend, we were treated to a game. The good thing: we could watch from the comfort of our bed. The bad thing: a plastic horn seller found an enthusiastic crowd buying him out!
The three of us enjoyed a handful of days in Filandia, but missed the presence of trails and nature. We truly love being able to walk out the door and into a store, bakery, or restaurant within minutes but having to deal with barking, protective, untethered dogs takes the fun out of a stroll with Maya. Luckily, not all dogs were aggressive.
Salento
Since Mark and I were allowed to stay in Colombia for six months, we were never in a hurry. Being able to take our time and immerse ourselves into the local culture, atmosphere, and scenery is a treasure. We often combined sightseeing, work, and errands at most stops, meaning we stayed for multiple days.
Salento is another “must-see” town in Colombia, but we didn’t understand why. Except that this is the jump-off point for visits to the Cocora Valley. It seems to exist for international and national tourism with its plethora of hostels, coffee shops, eateries, and an entire street dedicated to souvenir shops; a trend we first noticed in Filandia.
But it’s a walkable, relaxed pueblo with some steep hills and two decent viewpoints. After a few days, it grew on us. We found a decent parking spot along a relatively quiet street on the edge of town. When we needed potable water, we moved to a restaurant that offers free camping when purchasing a meal.
By then, the second half of March, we had gotten used to daily rain, but in Salento the storms were heavier and more frequent. While we usually managed to work around them, in the Coffee Region or Coffee Axis (Eje Cafetero), wetness became a part of us and affected us wherever we explored, needing to shelter or run back home soaking wet.
Valle del Cocora
The main reason tourists come to the Coffee Region (other than for the excellent coffee) is to gaze at the majestic wax palms, Colombia’s national tree. The Cocora Valley is one of few places where the world’s largest palm (with heights up to 60 meters or 197 feet) grows and where you can hike among them. But the main area is super touristy. As a matter of fact, when we approached the end of the road in our camper, Mark remarked how it reminded him of Disney World!
Because we’d spent the last weeks boondocked (wild camped) for free, we could justify the high overnight parking rate for Thirsty Bella. At $6 (without any facilities, like bathrooms), the goal was to only spent one night. The first afternoon, we watched the clouds and the weather closely. Grey skies and intermittent rain prevailed. We decided to postpone our 6-mile hike to the next morning. Then, we feared the following day would be worse.
Since that day was a Sunday, we knew it would get crowded. An early start had Mark, Maya, and me on the trail by 8am. There are two ways to appreciate the wax palm forests. You can take the short route up a hill and check out two viewpoints before returning. This excursion takes between one and two hours and requires a fee of 10,000 pesos per person (~$2) to cross private property. It’s by far the most popular option.
The easy way to see the palms: follow the path up and back down our way to make a loop
The alternative is a day hike of 5-6 hours. This route passes through two private properties (an extra fee of 12,000 pesos or $2.50 for both of us) and involves a lot of climbing, navigating mud, crossing foot bridges, traversing jungle, and gaining 1,700ft in elevation. In short: it’s a strenuous endeavor and bound to leave me with a massive migraine. Yet, that’s what we decided to do, following the trail anticlockwise, which we highly recommend. This way, the hardest – and steepest – part comes first and the downhill stretch rewards the hikers with views of the palms.
It was a profound experience that we felt with all our senses, especially the dampness and rain. The wax palms appeared and disappeared due to the wavering mist, which created a mysterious atmosphere. As expected, the multiple-hour exertion left me with an unbearable migraine and unable to move, so we stayed an extra night on the parking lot. We recommend visiting Valle del Cocora during the week. One-dollar plastic ponchos are available if you forgot your raincoat. 🙂
A brief moment of sunshine on the morning we left
Curious about a previous ten-year chapter in our nomadic lives, which includes eight years aboard a 35-foot sailboat in the tropics with dogs, check out my compelling, inspiring, and refreshingly honest travel memoir:
May 17, 2023 at 11:33
What beautiful sights, Liesbet. Love your favorite picture.
May 18, 2023 at 21:02
Haha. I know you are a dog lover, Jacqui, so I’m not surprised you love that husky pup photo! 🙂
May 17, 2023 at 13:36
Cliff drinks Chic-Fil-A exclusively here in Florida. The story goes that the owner of the company found a poor Colombian coffee grower who was barely making a living. Had no running water and all the deprivations you can imagine. Now CFA imports all (or, most) of its beans from this farmer. He no longer has money worries.
Your photos are wonderful, especially the one of you laughing with the bar/store owner. 😀
May 18, 2023 at 21:04
Hi Marian,
I didn’t even know that Chic-Fil-A was a coffee brand. When I started reading your comment, I was thrown off, thinking, “what does a fastfood chain have to do with coffee?” 🙂 Now, it makes sense. And what an incredible background story. That’s one “lucky” Colombian!!
May 17, 2023 at 13:49
Funny what pops into a person’s head when reading a post. When you mentioned Colombia and coffee, my mind retrieved an old memory of a fictional character who appeared in many commercials about harvesting the finest coffee beans in Colombia. (Maybe before your time.) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juan_Valdez
I never been to Colombia, so what do I know about the land, but I was surprised to learn that there are palm trees.
May 18, 2023 at 21:11
Hi Pete,
I’m glad my post brought back commercial memories! 🙂 Even if these ads were from before my time, I doubt I would have seen them in Belgium. Juan Valdez doesn’t look (the character) or sound familiar.
It’s interesting you mention the palm trees in relation to Colombia. Before Mark and I descended upon this continent, we didn’t do any research and avoided looking at photos. So, I’m with you about not knowing much about these countries (until starting to read about them here or visiting them) and I never know what to expect. The tall palms were a surprise, but so was the snow-capped volcano.
The same is true for Ecuador. I thought it would be a hot country, what with it being on the equator, but guess what? It’s been all long clothes again and we are surrounded by high peaks! As I write this, we are camped at 10,000ft.
And here’s a little tidbit that you’ll enjoy as an ex-teacher: this afternoon, I saw the snowy peak of a volcano that is literally positioned on the equator. It’s the only place in the world where snow is found on the equator! Wish I could add a photo here. 🙂
May 17, 2023 at 17:38
Love the colourful buildings! And I had to look twice at the photo of Thirsty Bella parked beside the sports field – how on earth would you get in and out of a parking space? It looks as though the vehicles were lowered into place bumper to bumper by a crane. 🙂
So sorry to hear about your migraine – it must be awful to have to decide whether to take a long interesting hike and suffer, or do the shorter easier ‘tourist thing’.
May 18, 2023 at 21:18
Hi Diana!
I did that same double-take at our car when I walked back from the store that afternoon! There was less than a centimeter of space between each car. But it was temporary; only during the game. Luckily, we didn’t plan to leave! 🙂
Like you, I was very curious how these cars would be able to pull out after the game. Since we were there during that moment (of course), it was a fascinating yet easy to understand process: the drivers waited around until the first – and last – car left. Then, the others woild get in and pull out, one by one, until we were alone again. Patience is key here! With tolerance being the runner up.
And you totally get it about the migraine vs. hike dilemma. I have to decide ahead of time if the effort and pain are worth the reward. Currently, we are parked near a pretty crater lake, at 10,000ft. There is a loop trail around this lake, which takes five hours to complete. It’s 8.5 miles (14km). The elevation gain of the hike is another 1,500ft. Do I join Mark tomorrow or not?
Spoiler alert: dogs are not allowed in this national park and Maya has separation anxiety. There’s your answer. This one was easier than others. 🙂
May 17, 2023 at 18:16
These little towns are quite cute and picturesque, Liesbet! Those huge wax palm trees are just stunning–tall indeed, good thing you got out early to visit. I would love to hang out in the coffee region–did everything smell like coffee (probably not)? I remember buying cheap rain ponchos in Hilo, Hawaii walking through the Volcanoes NP rainforest–worth it, I think we still have them!
May 18, 2023 at 21:21
Haha, Terri, those Hilo ponchos must have been of good quality! 🙂 When are you heading back to Hawaii??
Nope, the coffee region didn’t smell like coffee at all. The name certainly has touristic connotations. That being said, the cafes selling local brews smelled pretty good! I’m not a coffee drinker, so I didn’t care. But Mark splurged with a cup or two. They’re called a tintos here.
May 17, 2023 at 19:09
Hi, Liesbet – You had me at “coffee region.” Amazing adventures and stunning photos (as usual). I especially love the Double Doggie in the Window pic. Absolutely adorable!
May 18, 2023 at 21:23
Hi Donna,
I’m glad you liked that cute puppy pic! I figured you would as a husky lover. 🙂 They were adorable. We walked over to pet them. The owners of the store organized their display tables in such a way that kept the pups from escaping outside.
Do you drink Colombian coffee at home?
May 17, 2023 at 21:58
Great to see all three of you thriving over there. Being amongst a coffee region would be heaven and I hope they do well with their trading. Thank goodness, for FairTrade and other organisations that give a fair price for goods around the world. Wonderful images, Liebet. Keep trucking along 🙂
May 18, 2023 at 21:26
Hi Suzanne,
I’m glad you liked our little visit to the coffee region. It was probably the first time ever that I somewhat regretted not drinking coffee. Although it makes my life easy! The best thing about the coffee region is the green environments and nice temperatures. Plus, most good cafes also make good pastries. 🙂
We keep on truckin’ and taking it easy. We’ve been in Ecuador for two weeks now.
May 18, 2023 at 08:28
The wax palm hike looks amazing! What is it about a long hike that gives you the headaches? The exertion? For some reason I thought it was sun that you had mentioned before, and there sure was none of that! I think I might struggle with all that rain for weeks on end, but kudos to you guys for getting out there and enjoying the area even with the sub-par weather. (I also love the photo with the two doggies.)
May 18, 2023 at 21:30
Hi Lexie,
The weather seemed to have improved a bunch once we crossed borders. It rains less and mostly at night now, so that fits our schedule better. 🙂 Locals have told us that the “dry” season is upon us. We will see.
I think the main reason these migraines happen is exertion. I initially thought it was the sun and humidity, but that’s because these headaches first started when we traveled in the tropics and then spent summers in the US. Later on, I got them in cooler climates as well. It’s the climbing and the sweating for hours that triggers them. The altitude sure makes things worse. Much worse. 🙁
May 18, 2023 at 22:36
Ugh – sorry you have to deal with that.
May 19, 2023 at 17:06
It’s alright. Mark did a volcano rim walk today and returned home exhausted and wet from the rain. I’m glad I didn’t go! 🙂 He hurried, because we only have one phone right now to track his hike and not get lost, but it also has the internet and I had a translation job today. Poor guy. He could have taken his time…
May 18, 2023 at 14:11
Love the photo of the umbrellas hanging above the street. Filandia looks like a beautiful, colorful town. What a great idea for that restaurant in Salento to offer a campsite if you buy a meal. Sounds a lot like Harvest Hosts, https://livinginbeauty.net/2017/08/02/harvest-hosts/, in North America. The weather you experienced reminds us of our trip to Alaska. Rain just became a part of the journey. 😊 I was not aware that wax palms were Colombia’s national tree. That hike that caused your migraine sounds like a beautiful experience, but not sure a migraine was worth it. 🤪 Thanks for the update. Jim
May 18, 2023 at 21:35
Hi Jim!
I just read your post about Denali. You two had to be quite patient with the weather in Alaska as well. But I was so glad – and relieved – that you saw The Mountain in the end!
Our advantage is that the temperatures here are/were probably a bit higher even during the rain and crappy weather. I think our daytime temps have been in the lower sixties. But when the sun comes out this close to the equator and this high in the mountains, it sure is burning hot!
I guess that restaurant in Salento could be part of Harvest Hosts! 🙂 The interesting thing is that when Mark and I first traveled south of the border in a truck camper, back in 2006 – before internet resources and iOverlander – we would often stay in parking lots of restaurants in Mexico and Central America and either eat a meal in eschange for a free night, or slip the vigilante (guard with a big gun) a dollar.
May 18, 2023 at 18:20
Beautiful – if wet!
May 18, 2023 at 21:36
Worth it! 🙂
May 18, 2023 at 18:32
Ugh! Rain! Does Colombia have a dry season?
Finally I have decent internet in the room to read this. Bad internet is so frustrating.
Yes, I love the two dogs in the window too!
And I love the way the buildings are painted. It seems so unique. I wonder if you will find buildings painted like this in other countries or if it is a Colombia things?
The scenery is amazing – even through the clouds. So sorry for your migraine!
I assume those horses have someone behind them and they don’t just arrive every morning on their own.
May 18, 2023 at 21:43
Hi Duwan,
I’m glad you’re getting your internet fix again. I agree that crappy internet is frustrating. We’d rather have it decent or non-existent. It’s the stuff in between that’s super frustrating!
Colombia used to have dry seasons. Based on the locals, the rainy and dry seasons alternate every three months. But, the last four years, there hasn’t been a dry season. Some blame that on the extended La Niña years and some on global warming. I think in Ecuador, we are entering a dryer season right now, as the rains have lightened up a bit.
Those horses ran down the hill every morning and back up at the end of the day. There was one person on a horse in front and one at the back, with tons of free roaming ones in between. Most couldn’t see any of the cowboys. I think they were taught to do this and now it’s a routine. Sometimes, one of them slowed down, but then the following ones “pushed” it to speed up again. It’s interesting!
After we left Colombia, I have come to realize that those cute towns are definitely a thing for that country. As a matter of fact, Mark and I just talked about it tonight, that we don’t think we will find similar ones – or as many – anywhere else in South America. To me, those towns are the highlight of Colombia.
June 24, 2023 at 17:05
Two very enjoyable places, except for the broken foot. Glad you got to experience the areas.
June 26, 2023 at 10:11
I had to think a lot about you, Susan, when we were on the Cocora Valley. I hope the foot has been healed 100% by now!?