Cabalgata in Cocora

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Founded in 1850, Salento is one of the oldest tow’s in Quindio, and one of the smallest. It’s a hour away from Armenia but feels like hundreds years away. The main square and streets around it retain the dimensions of a typical pueblo. There are fine old houses.

Stretching from Salento eastwards to the tiny hamlet of Cocora and beyond, the stunning Valle de Cocora is like a lush version of Switzerland, with a broad, green valley floor framed by rugged peaks. However, one can remember we’re a few degrees from the equator when one suddenly encounter hills covered with wax palm. The trees tower above the cloud forests in which they thrive. It is an astonishing site.

The most spectacular part is east of Cocora. This is where we spend most of our day. We rent horses and ride deep into the Cocora NP. The scenery is truly superb and the horses are very gentle. At the beginning there is no true liberty for the horses to run as the camino is quite narrow and a bit crowded because of Semana Santa. We pass through different types of equally breathtaking sceneries. We stop at an amazing cascade where Jonathan and I decide to give it a try. After all, we didn’t bring our swimming suit for nothing! The water is freezing, close to 5 degrees. You can’t feel your feet. The body gets really red from the cold, but the cascade is good for Jonathan’s back problems; we go ahead, take some tarzan-like pictures and… it starts to rain! We get back up and put on our wet clothes and continue the cabalgata. We then get wetter after crossing rivers with the horses… they’re not afraid to have water in their shoes and wet pants! The road is not easy for the horses as there are some steep descents and ‘ascents’. We stop for an ‘Aqua de Panela’, a kind of soup flavoured with paneja, a kind of sweet made traditionally from sugar cane… and then you drop a big piece of cheese inside. I know it may sound weird, but it’s tasty.

We arrive at an open space with lots of ‘seda palms’ literally wax palm trees, and the horses taken pleasure in galloping without being asked to. We feel great and enjoy very much the ride. We go back to the car full of mud, with a huge smile. That was a magnificent day.

Tip of the day

$25,000 per person for a 3 to 4 hours trip. (plus $25,000 for the guide)

Comments

[Gloria]

I love to read your comments about your trip in Colombia. I'm Colomian girl. I'm going to corret the word "apaneja" the correct word is agua de panela and we say all together..." aguapanela". And I love aguapanela con queso.
Gloria