Salento & Cali - 14/8/2013 to 16/8/2013

The alarm clock does as it was told - it´s not even five o´ clock when my mobile phone starts to whistle its cheerful tune and is stopped doing so by a not so cheerful traveller. Anyway, I got to get moving because the cab I ordered is due 5:15 am and I´ve yet got to pack my stuff and try to make myself look human. My taxi arrives and a few minutes later I´m already sitting in the extremely uncomfortable minibus to Cali. Thanks heavens it´s only 2 hours... The man in front of me can´t quite figure out why his doesn´t recline as far as his girlfriend´s. I try to make him see that no matter how hard he tries to press himself into his seat, my knees will not grant him one degree more. Not (only) because I don´t want to, but simply because there is not a milimeter of space left and I can´t move my legs one bit. He keeps glaring at me, but hey pal, life´s a bitch...

Sorry, completely forgot to tell you where I am going. In the very first post of this blog I wrote that I would miss out on some of my favourite spots in Colombia because I needed time to get to know as many new places as possible. And that´s precisely what I´ll do - with one tiny exception: I´ve decided to return to my beloved Valle de Cocora for a blitz visit and thus kill several birds with one stone. First of all I get to see those beautiful wax palms in that picture book valley. Then it gives me the chance to have the best trout in garlic / lemon olive oil in Colombia and finally I can see María Elena again, the owner of the spectacular Posada del Café in pretty Salento. One call and everything is settled.

In order to get to Salento by late afternoon, I first have to catch a bus to Armenia. That´s no problem at all. Only minutes after arriving in Cali I´m in another (much more comfortable) bus to the capital of the Quindio in the heart of the coffee triangle, the "eje cafetero". It´s a 3 1/2 trip. For most of the time we cross the huge and fertile Cauca Valley, where they seem to grow nothing but sugar cane for as far as the eye can see (and beyond). Finally we are in the mountains (hills rather) and sugar cane is replaced by coffee, both sides of the highway are lined by pretty little fincas and orchards. From Armenia it is only another 50 twisty minutes on a colectivo and then I´m back "home". And I´m glad that my tummy didn´t complain - it was a good idea not to eat anything on the way.

It´s a short walk from the plaza to the Posada del Café. I ring the bell, the door opens and María Elena welcomes me with a big hug and many kind words. Isn´t it wonderful to feel so much at home so far away from home. Or more at home than back home...? She shows me my room - which is actually her room. She has moved to a storage room and nothing I say can convince her otherwise. So I shut up and accept her generosity. We spend the next two hours or so chatting, drinking lemonade and watching the hummingbirds in the garden. It looks like a thunderstorm is coming our way so I wait a little bit longer and keep chatting with sweet María Elena. I also meet Peter from Switzerland, who has been staying at the Posada since January.

 At last I go for a walk and Mono, the posada´s latest adopted street dog, joins me. I walk up the stairs to the mirador, the view point to see if there is a real chance I make it up the mountain tomorrow after the high fever and hardly any food. I get there panting and all sweaty but I get there. No big deal is what Mono seems to think, and of course he´s right. All around there is lightning, except for a hole in the clouds in the west - just where the sun is setting.

I decide to have a light dinner at the tastefully decorated "Barroco" restaurant. The first real meal in days is grilled trout and plain rice. Trying to avoid fat. But then the guy next to me gets his dessert - passion fruit pudding. I can´t resist, and it´s delicious.

I have a little evening stroll in the village. It has gotten a lot more touristy in the last two years - and more international with an impressive number of mainly European and Canadian tourists. Back in the posada María Elena and I carry on with our conversation. It has cooled down considerably and you could even say it´s chilly. To get warm again, María Elena and yours truly walk over to Barroco´s and have a hot drink. Then it´s bed time and I´m in bed, looking forward to returning to my Valle de Cocora.

I sleep surprisingly well and wake up at 8 am. Breakfast is already waiting for me - omelette, bread and fruit, and locally grown coffee, of course. María Elena and I talk a little and then I head for the nearby plaza. Quite a crowd of "gringos" want to get on board one of the jeeps and I´m glad I get a seat and don´t have to stand on the foot board at the back of the jeep. Otherwise I´d be exhausted before actually climbing one yard... There´s a 10k hike waiting for me today.

view from jeep

every last centimeter is being used

I would have very much liked to take a jeep all the way up to the Finca La Montaña just like we did last year. But the jeep driver doesn´t have the key to the gates that block the way up, so it´s either hiking or nothing. But where there is a will, there is a way. And I´m a strong-willed person (alright, call it stubborn if you like). I let all the groups overtake, because I don´t want to share this experience with any of them. And of course because I walk slowly. Still, I soon break into a sweat and start panting. So I take regular photo breaks. I follow the trail up to cloud forest and enjoy the view.

I reach the cloud forest and at times the trail turns into a veritable mud bath, not so much because of previous reain - there has been little - but because of  the many horses that use the same trail and virtually plow it. I can´t always avoid to walk in the mud and sometimes sink in to the ankle. The good thing is that once your shoes are diry, you just don´t mind anymore. My pace is slow but -mostly- steady while I follow the trail uphill. Every now and again riders cross my / the path and I have to find a way to get out of the horses´ (and harm´s) way. I have to cross the river several times on rickety bridges and once on logs but am relieved to see that one particularly challenging log crossing has been upgraded to a swingy bridge since my last visit. At last the paths fork - I take the one up to the Finca, which means really taxing 30-minute climb ahead. I´m really exhausted and worn out, but it´s worth the effort!

Mud bath

I´ve made it, the hardest bit of the hike is over! From now on it´s downhill all the way down to the valley, 5 km on a dirt road. But before I begin the descend I buy a new bottle of water and watch the hummingbirds.

This proves it - I made it!

I have to force myself to start moving again. I could watch those forever! The walk down to the valley offers gorgeous views of the valley and the thousands of tall wax palms.

Finally - almost sadly - I reach the valley. I´m completely worn out but very happy, happy to have come once more and happy I made it, even though it needed quite a bit of will power at times. I buy mango juice and have some biscuits and then it´s time to board the jeep back to Salento.

Salento seems to glow in the warm late afternoon sun when I arrive. I enjoy the atmosphere and slowly walk back to the posada.

the Posada del Café

I tell María Elena everything about my day and am about to have a shower when she calls "my" restaurant and finds out they were about to close at 6 pm, in less than 45 minutes, but if I went there now, I could still have my trout in garlic-lemon oil. I don´t want to miss this in the world and so I hurry to the restaurant. I order and take in the fantastic view of the Cocora Valley in the last light of day.

Trout and patacón - plantain fritter

I reach the posada stuffed but extremely pleased and finally have the urgently needed shower. I´m looking forward to bedtime, because I´m really exhausted. But alas, slumberland will have to wait, because when I leave the room there are María Elena´s sister Bea from Bogotá and Jaime, the owner of the "Barroco" - where I dined last night. We, including Mono, the dog, walk over to the Barroco, which is closed today. Peter is there, too. And María Eugenia, Jaime´s cheerful wife. I skip pizza, but enjoy coffee and wine and the conversation - and the postre de Maracuyá! Peter shows us the pictures of their trip to Medellín a couple of days ago and then Bea, Peter, Jaime and María Eugenia start playing card. María Elena and I don´t join in. I´m not much of a card player, but it´s fun to watch.Around midnight my battery goes on red and consequently I go home and to bed after preparing my stuff for packing tomorrow morning.

Mono and...

... Stereo :-)

I sleep well again and refuse to believe my mobile phone, but it´s true. So let´s have a nice shower and pack my bag - I mustn´t forget the coffee María Elena gave me as a present for my parents and me. She is such a sweety! Breakfast is ready and the coffee piping hot and nice and strong. María Elena joins me and we talk and talk until it´s time to leave. It´s not nice to say good-bye, but if I want to see more I have to go. A strong hug and kind words and then I´m off to the plaza and get on board a minibus to Armenia.

In Armenia I hop on the next bus to Cali. It was supposed to leave just as I get there, but then for some reason we don´t move for 20 minutes. When people begin to get a little angry we finally take off, but even the driver is in no particular hurry, not even when he starts overtaking 5 trucks on a winding narrow highway. Eventually we reach Cali (and in one piece). I take a cab to my hostel and call Carlos, whom I met two years ago on a bus to Medellín. He was university professor of psychology but is retired now. We´ve kept in touch since that bus trip and now want to spend the rest of the day exploring hot Cali, Colombia´s third-largest metropolis. The hostel is really nice and I receive a very warm welcome Cali-style from Eva, the person in charge. In the meantime Carlos has arrived, we have a quick coffee and then we´re off. First Carlos takes me to a view point.

Next stop: Cali Zoo, which is supposedly one of the nicest and best in Latin America. We´ll see. It doesn´t take long to figure out that Cali Zoo really is a beautiful zoo. And there is a lot of edutainment elements to make the young generation see just how precious and delicate biodiversity in their country is. I hope it works! You get to see animals you don´t see in many zoos over in Europe, like ant eaters, spectacled bears, all sorts of "local" monkeys, birds, etc.

capibara

ant eaters - mother or son or female and male?

tapir

poison dart frogs

what might he be thinking of?

The hour before sunset seems to unleash energy and desire in quite a number of animal, from turtles to tigers. The visitors quite enjoy the show...

We both quite liked the zoo - and that´s not just because of the tigers, honestly! Carlos takes me to his house and shows me around. I´ve never seen anything like it. Fascinating, artsy, bohemian, all in one. Several house connected through narrow mock-Arabian stairways, tiled bathrooms that could have been designed by Mister Gaudí himself - a mixture of the houses of Pablo Neruda and the oevre of Gaudí - and a lot of sr. Carlos Arango. A house couldn´t possibly be more personalized. We have blueberry juice and quinoa cookies and relax in hammocks on one of the balconies. The only noises are our voices and the wind in the trees - the hustle and bustle of Cali seems to be far, far away (but isn´t).

It´s time for dinner. Carlos wants to take me to a Pacific-style seafood place, but we don´t find it, or anything remotely like it and so we decide to drive to a nearby mall and visit the upscale food court. It´s still fish we´re after and we find a place. The girl who works there doesn´t look to happy, she was probably about to close before we came. She obviously prefers talking to God to dealing with us but Carlos doesn´t give up and so we get our food and a big jug of blackberry juice. I have sancocho, a yummy coconut milk fish soup and fish filet with coconut rice. Time to move on - it´s Friday night and we´re in Cali, and this means RUMBA, party! Cali is the world capital of Salsa and Colombia´s party queen. All over the trendy Centenario and Granada neighbourhoods we come by salsatecas, salsa discos. As I´m not much of a salsa dancer - which is a gross exaggeration! - we opt for a drink in a nice open air restaurant and enjoy the balmy night. We end the night before it has officially taken off. It´s around 1 am when I switch off the light. Tomorrow I´ll travel from Colombia´s third-largest to the second-largest city, Medellín.