October 28 – 29, 2013

Our first day in Medellin was a little anti-climactic, Chandler and I went to the dentist to get our teeth cleaned on a budget. Colombia is becoming a popular medical tourism spot. Lots of people come from the US and other places for expensive procedures at reduced rates.

We had a mellow night and watching the Red Sox beat the Cardinals to during the world series at our hostel. ESPN was all in Spanish, so we had WEEI Red Sox radio streaming on wifi while watching the picture on the TV with about a 3 second delay on the TV broadcast.

The next day, we caught a bus to El Peñol de Guatapé outside of Medellin. My dad had sent me a photo of a giant rock with stairs climbing up the side once he realized we were serious about going to Colombia and it looked like it was worth checking out.

El Peñol de Guatapé

It was pretty warm and humid when we arrived and were warned that the 740 stairs would take us about 45 minutes to climb. We doubted this number, timed ourselves and made it to the top in under 15 minutes including a break.

That’s a lot of stairs

The climb was worth it and we were rewarded with a stunning view.

Worth the climb

At the top

A vulture

At the top there were a few shops selling over priced beverages and cheap knick-knacks, so we only stayed long enough for pictures. The climb down was much easier but a little scarier, because now I could see how far I could fall. We took a auto rickshaw taxi to the town of Guatapé for dinner. Chandler ordered a very meaty dish.

Bendeja paisa is a traditional Colombian meal for farmers. This meal had enough calories to fill a farmer in a full day’s work. The pile of food was made up of rice and beans, fried plantains, avocado, a mound of ground beef, two sausages, a slice of pork belly, topped with a fried egg and a nice healthy tablespoon of salad on the side.

Bendaje paisa

Sheep detail

Flower

After a long walk through town, we took a bus back to Medellin to take in another Red Sox victory.

October 24 – 27, 2013

The next few days were spent relaxing and waiting for my friend, Kalyn to arrive in Colombia from Alaska. We hung around Salento for another day before heading to Manizales. We had intended to hike up a volcano outside of Manizales, but the park was closed and there wasn’t much else to do in town. So, we went to see Gravity in 3D. We both really enjoyed the film, but had slightly different reactions. I said I never wanted to go to outer space while Chandler claimed he never wanted to go scuba diving again. I got a big chuckle out of that.

After two days in Manizales, we took a bus to Medellín (pronounced med ah juh-een) to meet my friend. The days weren’t super exciting because we just laid low, but we did take a few pictures.

Palm tree

Salento

The Willy

Manizales from the gondola

Chandler in the gondola

Bridges

Street art

Kalyn has arrived!

October 23, 2013

Salento is surrounded by beautiful mountains, so Chandler and I figured we should do some hiking. The Valley of Cocora is known for tall palm trees, high on the hills, that are often shrouded in fog. It sounded like a perfect place to check out. We took a very tame jeep ride to the park and hit the trail.

The route was along the same path that the horses used, so things were a bit muddy. The palm trees were the most obvious features and just awesome as we had heard. We started out next to pastures with cows, but quickly moved into the jungle. The temperatures were mild, but it was humid, so as usual, we were covered in sweat in no time.

Misty palm trees

Bridge walk

The path led to a small farm up in the mountains which is known for the congregations of hummingbirds that the owners attract with feeders and bowls of sugary water. We had to pay a small fee to cover the cost of maintaining the trail and bridges. They gave us a large glass of warm Coke, which actually tasted pretty good at the time. The hype about the birds proved to be true.

Wings up

There were hummingbirds everywhere. They were zooming around between the four different feeders. It was amazing how close I was able to get to the birds. I was able to identify three different species of hummingbirds.

The Long-tailed Sylph

The Collared Inca

The Western Emerald Hummingbird

After our break, we opted to continue hiking to the top of the mountain. The path was less muddy, but the sun came out as we were climbing. Of course, once we reached the top, the clouds came out and it started raining. Oh well, we had a nice time.

View from the top

Chandler the palm trees

October 21 – 22 , 2013

After constantly being on the move, Chandler and I were ready to go at a slower pace. Our hostel had great internet and Salento was a sleepy town, so we took the day easy. We updated the blog, which was over two months behind and took a walk through town.

Salento

The highlight of the day was playing tejo. Tejo is a traditional sport in Colombia and a lot of fun. Basically, you throw a metal puck at small, exploding targets set into clay. The targets are triangles filled with gunpowder that either make a big boom or light on fire when hit. The targets aren’t too hard to hit, but it is advised to have a beer or two to improve aim. We played for several hours.

Playing tejo

Chandler lining up his shot

The next day, we went on the Don Elias coffee plantation tour just down the road from our hostel. The tour began with a little walk to a bush sporting green and red berries. The small family finca was perched on a steep hillside. All the coffee is shade grown, so there were lots of avocado, banana and plantain trees to supply shade and food for the family. Our guide plucked two red berries from different plants and explained that they grew 2 different types of coffee, Colombian and Arabica. The more red of the two was the Colombian variety. All berries are hand picked and only when fully ripe.

Colombian and Arabica coffee berries

The beans are squeezed out of the skins and allowed to dry in a small greenhouse type structure. Another shell is removed and the beans are ready for roasting.

Ready to roast

The beans are put into a big metal bowl, put over a wood fire and stirred continuously. The beans turn brown and expand a surprising amount.

Roasted and raw beans

The beans are now ready to be ground and brewed. We were treated to a delicious cup of coffee at the end of the tour.

We got caught in a big rainstorm on the way back, but luckily it was warm rain, and was kind of fun.

October 19 – 20, 2013

We spent the 19th on a couple of buses traveling to Salento. Salento is a small town located almost 200 miles west of Bogotá. We went up and over large mountains covered in jungle and spent the whole time reading. It was a relaxing ride, except for the guy in front of us who enjoyed singing along to his ipod very loudly. Record companies will not be calling him up any time soon. We arrived in town after dark and headed straight to the hostel for an early night.

We woke up early and had a delicious breakfast of eggs, corn balls, toast, arepas (thick corn tortillas) and hot chocolate. Then we walked through town. Salento is full of shops featuring local artists work and pretty touristy. Most of the tourists were Colombians though, so it wasn’t just a bunch of gringos.

After our tour of town, we opted to do something we had avoided through most of the trip: enjoy one of the touristy activities set up through our hostel. I wanted to go horseback riding. Chandler is not a big fan of horses, so I was surprised I was able to convince him to go with me.

Chandler on a horse!

Our ride started with a mellow walk out of town and then down a gravel road. The moment we hit the gravel it began to rain really hard. Luckily our guide, Diego, had rubber ponchos ready to keep us dry. Then the fun began. Our horses took us down a narrow and steep incised path, lined with rock and mud. It was extra scary with the rain making the path muddy, slippery and essentially a temporary creek. We had a good time, but it was a little hard trusting the horse to not trip and fall.

At the bottom of the hill, the rain stopped and we were able to put our ponchos away. We rode along the main road before turning off for a national park and headed towards a waterfall. The scenery was beautiful and the rest of the ride was mellow. We crossed a few streams, which Chandler’s horse did not like, and we also went through a couple unused railroad tunnels.

Stream crossing!

I’m on a horse

The waterfall was pretty and Chandler immediately wanted to go swimming. It was a little too cold for me, but he striped down and was in the water in minutes. There was another couple there and the guy would not be shown up. He ripped off his clothes and quickly joined Chandler. It was amusing watching the guys as they tried to pretend the cold water wasn’t that bad.

Waterfall

Us

Swimming buddies

The Egyptian on a bridge

The ride back to the hostel was up the main road, so not as exciting as the ride to the waterfall. We did get to trot a bit, but our rears couldn’t handle it for too long. It was nice to do something a little touristy and out of the ordinary for us.

Our group