We woke early to catch our plane into Pereira, Colombia. The flight took less than an hour which was much better than an 8 hour bus ride from Medellin….and that is with the new “expressway”. We decided to rent a car to explore the Cocora Valley. It was Bill’s first time driving in Colombia so we hoped it would be a little less chaotic than Peru had been. Our first stop was the Ukumari Zoo. As far as zoos go, it was less than stellar. It had a grand entrance with huge dinosaur replicas everywhere and it looked like Animal Kingdom at Disney World. That was the only comparison for the day. The zoo was separated into two sections, Andino and African. Most of the African side was under renovation so we did not get to see many animals. Of course, as Bill pointed out, after seeing the animals on the Serengeti, any zoo would be disappointing. The Andino side of the zoo featured animals from the Andes region and was definitely a step up from the African side. The zoo only took us a couple of hours so we were on our way early out to the town of Salento where we would spend the night. Salento was the main hub for people going to the Cocora Valley so the entire place was full of hostels and backpackers. Our favorite stop in town was the bakery where we got a bag full of treats for under $3.00! Our “hotel” was on the outskirts of town so we made our way down a very twisty road. Along the way, we passed a putt-putt course! We could not find a putt-putt course in Ft. Lauderdale that was open but middle of nowhere Colombia was ready to serve. Bill tracked down the owner of the place and she came out and handed us two putters and a bucket of balls. I am pretty sure these were her only two putters. The course was unique in its setup because it had sticks and bumps blocking every inch of the green. In fact, there were only a couple of holes that we managed to shoot 2 or 3 which is saying something since Bill is a good golfer (he won as usual). I was looking forward to our “hotel” because I had booked us a cabin for the night. Online, it was surrounded by beautiful nature and it looked like a peaceful place to spend the night. Upon arrival, our host asked if we were okay with climbing stairs. I said we were so he began leading us to the cabin. Exactly 66 steps straight uphill led to our cabin. The cabin was very cute and had all the modern conveniences….except for glass windows or screens. The cabin was built in traditional style so the windows had wooden shutters on them that opened into nature. Nature in Colombia. South America has the largest number of bug species in the world….and here we were inviting each and every one of them to come in and share our cabin. Luckily, the night air was cool so we were able to close the windows and not suffocate in the cabin. Bill and I hiked back down 66 steps to go get our backpacks out of the car. We hiked back up 66 steps only to realize that the cabin door locked automatically behind us and we had left the key on the table. I took one for the team and hiked back down 66 steps to get the caretaker. Then, back up 66 steps to open the door. More than enough exercise for the day!
We awoke the next morning to rain. We have been very lucky on our travels and have had very few days of rain so we figured we could not complain. Well, maybe a little complaining because today was our trip to the Corcora Valley with no option for alternate indoor plans. As we drove the curvy road to the valley, I decided the misty clouds clinging to the mountain tops were going to make some sensational pictures. We entered the valley and were greeted by the tallest trees I have ever seen. The wax palms are what makes the valley famous and they did not disappoint. It would not surprise me if Dr. Seuss had based the Lorax valley on Cocora. It looked just like the Truffula trees winding through the hills and the valleys. The rain even cooperated long enough for me to get some pictures without needing the umbrella to protect the camera. Heading out of the valley, we made our way into the city of Armenia. Armenia had a gold museum that was on our list. Given the “gold” museums we had been to in the past, our expectations were not set very high. The Armenian museum was modern and surrounded by gardens. The exhibits were more in-depth than most we had seen and featured some interesting artifacts. During our drive into the old city portion of Armenia, we had a first. A police officer was directing traffic and gestured for us to pull over to the curb. As soon as Bill rolled down the window, I am sure the officer was regretting his decision. He spewed out some rapid Spanish to which Bill replied our usual answer in these situations, “poquito Espanol” which means “little bit”. The officer continued to try to explain why he had pulled us over but no matter how much he wanted us to learn fluent police vocabulary Spanish in two minutes, it wasn’t going to happen! He finally pulled out his phone and Google translate. He explained that our rental car tag was not the correct tag to be in the downtown area. Bill translated back that the rental car agency had not mentioned any restrictions and we were only a block from our hotel and we needed to find parking. We could see the officer arguing his options in his head and just how awful he wanted the rest of his day to be. He finally folded up his pad, put it in his pocket and waved us off to the hotel. Obviously, he missed the memo that we were the “Safety spokespeople” for the Colombian police department! The driving woes continued as we drew closer to our hotel….our hotel was on a pedestrian only street. Bill pulled over again and I ran to the hotel to find out where we could park the car. Once again, Google translate saved the day. The young lady working reception came with me to the car, hopped into the front seat and proceeded to direct us around the block (all one way streets of course!) to a small parking lot where Bill squeezed in among a dozen motorcycles. I doubt we would have gotten such personal service in the States! The pedestrian street in Armenia was a wonderful place to walk around and it was alight with Christmas decorations everywhere. Families were running about and music was playing. As we walked to get dinner, we began counting the shoes stores on the street. There were 24 stores in a six-block span! When we ran into the shoeshine man, we decided he had chosen his career poorly because no one in Armenia was wearing shoes more than a few months old! Following our night in Armenia, we drove into the countryside to visit a coffee plantation. Along the way, we passed a huge structure that was an overlook to the coffee valley. Unfortunately, the structure was under massive renovation so we could not enter but the views from the grounds were lovely as well. Finding the coffee plantation involved a few uturns and a trip down a very bumpy, single lane dirt road. Once we arrived, the gates were locked so we were glad the scenic drive was worth the trip since no coffee was to be found that day. On the way out of the valley, we were entertained by multiple animal crossing signs including monkeys, anteaters, cows, birds and unidentified animals resembling a weasel/prairie dog/meercat/wombat/sloth. We were not clear on why they didn’t make one large “watch out for all creatures” sign which would have been more cost effective. All we could surmise was that the animals must know their specific area to cross safely. Arriving in Pereira on the last weekend before Christmas was an exciting venture. Bill creeped the car through hordes of shoppers until we reached our hotel which was located directly on the main square. Once again, he parked on the curb while I went to investigate the parking situation. The bellhop directed us to a small underground lot which was on the street just behind where we had parked on the curb. Since traffic was all one way and far too congested to throw the car in reverse, we did another tour through the hordes to the parking lot. We discovered many things about Pereira in our explorations. Pereira seems to be the place to go if you are looking for sin. There were no tell motels complete with private garages, casinos on every corner and as a last resort, billiard halls everywhere. You will notice there are no interior pictures of the main cathedral in Pereira. The cathedral ran continuous services from the time we arrived until we left two days later! We assumed they went home to sleep but I guess with all that sin, the priests figured they needed to stay open as much as possible! The main square was a constant hub of activity with Christmas lights, Santa Claus, Mickey Mouse bouncy houses, ice cream vendors and tons of street food. There was also a man renting child-sized cars and motorcycles for the four year olds to drive rampant though the crowded square. It was chaos! From the food vendors, we had meat on a stick, a hotdog, a cheese arepa and the most delicious little rings of fried-dough heaven- covered-in-sugar that I have ever tasted. Pereira also had a really nice cemetery so we enjoyed our usual walk among the silent folks. After a short flight, we landed back in Cartagena just in time to prepare for our next trip to southern Peru and Bolivia. The trip is going to be a long, intense journey full of planes and buses, limited internet and even scarcer central heating. So, there will not be another blog until we return at the end of January but I have a feeling the wonders of Lake Titicaca and Bolivia will be worth the wait! Have a wonderful and safe New Year! ****More pictures under Colombia 2023 on Pictures tab
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AuthorSally Miller Archives
May 2024
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