The next adventure was to the coffee region of Colombia and to pay a visit to the world's tallest palm trees in the Cocora Valley.
Unaware, we arrived on the Monday of a long weekend (to commemorate Christopher Colombos discovering America), the small town of Salento was absolutely rammed with Colombians. The streets were full of stationary traffic. Complete chaos.
Luckily for us they all disappeared that afternoon and we were left in peace. The next morning we got up early and got a jeep taxi out to the Cocora Valley to do a hike to see the palms which grow there exclusively between the altitude of 1800 to 2400m.
We started out the hike here in the picturesque valley.
Then we found ourselves in the forest crossing questionable wooden bridges.
After a steep climb we arrived at a Hummingbird sanctuary. We've already seen heaps of hummingbirds all over South America but it was cool to see these ones up so close. My favourite was the one with the really long tail.
We paid 5000 pesos to enter the sanctuary which is about $2.50. This included a 'free' drink and we both chose the hot chocolate. This is a Colombian thing. They also have hot chocolate with lumps of cheese in it but I think that's another post in itself. I am yet to experience this!
Next we were off to see the palm trees. We climbed up and over a steep hill and arrived at the lookout. Somewhat of a let down....
The further down we went the more the cloud cleared but I think it looked cooler that way.
And here they are, the national tree of Colombia. They grow up to 50m tall and for 120 years. They're actually protected now so these ones won't be going anywhere.
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