On the evening that we arrived in Santa Marta the gentleman at the bus ticket counter assured us that the road to Bucuramanga would be open on Monday. So rather than wake up early as originally planned and head to the airport to try and book a flight, we decided to sleep in and enjoy a leisurely morning. In the morning on our way to breakfast we learned that the road, in fact, was still closed but could open later. He would know by 2:00. After grabbing a bite to eat we decided we better come up with an alternate plan so we headed to a travel agency to see if they could help. The earliest that they could get us to Bucuramanga would be 4:00 PM the next day, flying via Bogota. We did learn that there was a flight the same day to Armenia in the coffee region but they were not confident we could get to the airport in time. After we assured them we could, she booked the ticket and we ran back to the apartment to finish packing. Fortunately, I had already done some in the morning or I never would have been able to get my bag to close so quickly. We found a taxi driver to take us and off we went on a new adventure.
We had a long layover in Bogota and thought the airport was going to get hit with lightening during a rather striking (pun intended) thunder storm. We boarded the plane a little late and the plane drove so much on the runways that I thought we had taken off but didn't notice. However, I looked out the window and discovered that we were still on the ground. Just when I thought we were going to drive the plane to Armenia, it finally took off. We arrived in Armenia without a place to stay so we went in search of a phone only to discover that there is not a single working phone in the airport and no phone vendors selling minutes so we couldn't even try to call any hotels for a place to stay. We approached the information booth but she didn't have a phone or any suggestions of places in Salento. Finally a taxi driver approached us and helped us out by calling a few places on our behalf and found us a room and for himself a hefty fare since Salento is 45 minutes from the airport.
Our room was quaint and very quiet so we were pretty happy. Unfortunately, as soon as we paid the bill a party started right outside our window (or should I say shutters because there was no glass) and seemed to go on most of the night. I was too tired to really care but definitely did not feel particularly rested in the morning. When we awoke, it was pouring rain and while Lisa had an umbrella, I did not, nor did I have a coat of any kind (I accidentally donated my fleece in Santa Marta). Fortunately we found a little store selling heavy-duty plastic ponchos and made our way via jeep to the Valle de Cocoro. Fortunately the rain stopped for a bit when we arrived. Also on our bus were four kids from Armenia heading out for a 5 day hike that helped us navigate the muddy (yes, more mud!) trail all the way to the cloud forest. They were all very friendly and were former scouts (hopefully they will earn a badge for assisting us). For Valle de Cocoro itself was really amazing. Lush green fields with wax palm trees and lingering clouds - really magical. We stepped in to the cloud forest briefly but was really muddy and we wanted to get back to town.
After returning to Salento for a bite to eat and then went in search of a Finca (coffee plantation) tour. According to the trustly lonely planet, there are three fincas in town but on the Plantation House offered tours in English so we headed there. When we arrived we were informed that they only conducted tours in English on Lunes, Miercoles y Viernes (Monday, Wednesday and Fridays) but we could take one in spanish anytime until 4:00. Since we were planning to take the bus out that night we decided to go for the spanish tour and Lisa could translate for me. When the saw our shoes they offered to let us use rubber boots they kept on the premisis and we gladdy accepted. The boots were great in keeping mud from oozing between our toes but lacked in traction and I constantly was afraid I was going to fall.
We had to walk from the Plantation House about 10 minutes through the mud to Finca del Edwardo (second Finca on the left and straight on til morning). After a cup of what we think was Edwardo's home grown coffee our guide, Andres, walked us through the steps of growing and processing coffee (picking, peeling, soaking in water to remove sweetness and removing floaters, drying, picking out brown and mishapen beans) the beans are sent to a local roaster for the roasting process (peeling the second skin, roasting, packaging). In addition to growing coffee, the finca also grows pineapples, bananas, blackberries, oranges, bamboo, and other stuff I've forgotten already. Apparently all the different sizes of the plants keep the soil in good condition.
After our tour was complete we returned to the heart of Salento and browsed in a few stores before returning to our hotel to change clothes and pick up our bags. We did find that the ponchos we purchased earlier in the day proved extremely valuable walking from the hotel to the bus stop as the rain started up again and didn't look like it was going to let up any time soon. We took a bus to the Armernia bus station and bought a ticket to Bogota. I was dreading the 7 hour bus ride but within moments of sitting down I was asleep and barely woke up until we arrived in Bogota. It was such an easy ride that I thought we should go ahead and book another 7-8 hour bus ride to San Gil. This ride was not as easy. We hit a lot of traffic and while I slept a lot of the way, my allergies kept me sneezing and sniffling all the way to San Gil.
Internet is a little slow... will add photos soon.
We had a long layover in Bogota and thought the airport was going to get hit with lightening during a rather striking (pun intended) thunder storm. We boarded the plane a little late and the plane drove so much on the runways that I thought we had taken off but didn't notice. However, I looked out the window and discovered that we were still on the ground. Just when I thought we were going to drive the plane to Armenia, it finally took off. We arrived in Armenia without a place to stay so we went in search of a phone only to discover that there is not a single working phone in the airport and no phone vendors selling minutes so we couldn't even try to call any hotels for a place to stay. We approached the information booth but she didn't have a phone or any suggestions of places in Salento. Finally a taxi driver approached us and helped us out by calling a few places on our behalf and found us a room and for himself a hefty fare since Salento is 45 minutes from the airport.
Our room was quaint and very quiet so we were pretty happy. Unfortunately, as soon as we paid the bill a party started right outside our window (or should I say shutters because there was no glass) and seemed to go on most of the night. I was too tired to really care but definitely did not feel particularly rested in the morning. When we awoke, it was pouring rain and while Lisa had an umbrella, I did not, nor did I have a coat of any kind (I accidentally donated my fleece in Santa Marta). Fortunately we found a little store selling heavy-duty plastic ponchos and made our way via jeep to the Valle de Cocoro. Fortunately the rain stopped for a bit when we arrived. Also on our bus were four kids from Armenia heading out for a 5 day hike that helped us navigate the muddy (yes, more mud!) trail all the way to the cloud forest. They were all very friendly and were former scouts (hopefully they will earn a badge for assisting us). For Valle de Cocoro itself was really amazing. Lush green fields with wax palm trees and lingering clouds - really magical. We stepped in to the cloud forest briefly but was really muddy and we wanted to get back to town.
After returning to Salento for a bite to eat and then went in search of a Finca (coffee plantation) tour. According to the trustly lonely planet, there are three fincas in town but on the Plantation House offered tours in English so we headed there. When we arrived we were informed that they only conducted tours in English on Lunes, Miercoles y Viernes (Monday, Wednesday and Fridays) but we could take one in spanish anytime until 4:00. Since we were planning to take the bus out that night we decided to go for the spanish tour and Lisa could translate for me. When the saw our shoes they offered to let us use rubber boots they kept on the premisis and we gladdy accepted. The boots were great in keeping mud from oozing between our toes but lacked in traction and I constantly was afraid I was going to fall.
We had to walk from the Plantation House about 10 minutes through the mud to Finca del Edwardo (second Finca on the left and straight on til morning). After a cup of what we think was Edwardo's home grown coffee our guide, Andres, walked us through the steps of growing and processing coffee (picking, peeling, soaking in water to remove sweetness and removing floaters, drying, picking out brown and mishapen beans) the beans are sent to a local roaster for the roasting process (peeling the second skin, roasting, packaging). In addition to growing coffee, the finca also grows pineapples, bananas, blackberries, oranges, bamboo, and other stuff I've forgotten already. Apparently all the different sizes of the plants keep the soil in good condition.
After our tour was complete we returned to the heart of Salento and browsed in a few stores before returning to our hotel to change clothes and pick up our bags. We did find that the ponchos we purchased earlier in the day proved extremely valuable walking from the hotel to the bus stop as the rain started up again and didn't look like it was going to let up any time soon. We took a bus to the Armernia bus station and bought a ticket to Bogota. I was dreading the 7 hour bus ride but within moments of sitting down I was asleep and barely woke up until we arrived in Bogota. It was such an easy ride that I thought we should go ahead and book another 7-8 hour bus ride to San Gil. This ride was not as easy. We hit a lot of traffic and while I slept a lot of the way, my allergies kept me sneezing and sniffling all the way to San Gil.
Internet is a little slow... will add photos soon.
No comments:
Post a Comment