Salento isn’t very big, and boasts just over nine thousand residents, but usually plays host to hundreds of foreign tourists each week, being one of the prettiest and most historic towns in this region. It used to provide a natural stop-off point in colonial times for travellers coming up through what is now Colombia from the beautiful city of Popayan in the south, heading towards Bogotá. Simon Bolivar travelled this way in 1830 and stayed in the area, ordering that the route be upgraded and in 1842 Salento was officially founded in the valley and the plaza and gorgeous buildings were constructed.
It quickly became a hub for the local coffee trade but when the main travel route was changed a short while later it meant that Salento became isolated and ended up as a sleepy backwater. As a result its bahareque architecture, which is typical of the ‘eje cafetera’ region, remained intact and in 2011 UNESCO added the town centre to their World Heritage List. Ever since then it has started to attract more and more foreign tourists, even providing some of the inspiration for the film ‘Encanto’ alongside Barichara, and the streets are full of restaurants and handicraft shops.
They are also full to bursting right now with thousands of Colombian tourists who have descended on the town for the annual fiesta celebrating the anniversary of that founding, which unbeknownst to us falls on January 5th, tomorrow night. From our beautiful little hotel Las Terrazas, on the hill leading up above the town, we look down at the mass of traffic and revellers in confusion. This doesn’t look like the gentle, quiet, traveller’s paradise we’re expecting.
We walk up to the mirador (viewpoint) further up the hill to get our first views of the spectacular Cocora Valley, which we are due to hike tomorrow, but need to jostle entire Colombian families, dressed in hats and ponchos and posing in fake hot air balloons, out of the way to do so. Walking down into the town the pretty streets are full of Christmas lights with visitors, frequently holding their beloved dogs, posing in every conceivable location and, most disappointingly of all, the gorgeous plaza is rammed full of stalls and pagodas branded with Coca Cola and various beer brands, all pumping out ridiculously loud music trying to out-do each other.
The poor priest trying to take an evening service in the church has to order the doors shut as he is being drowned out by competing soundsystems, but it should come as no surprise because the church itself is lit up like a disco ball and tomorrow night even sports a huge Colombian flag draping from its tower. It’s almost impossible to walk around the plaza as children are whizzing around on miniature versions of the local ‘Willy’ jeeps that are used in the coffee plantations, and everything is blocked off for a concert already taking place in the far side of the plaza. As we have found out repeatedly, “quiet” is not a word that Colombians understand.
Fortunately after dinner at a little vegetarian restaurant we return to the oasis of calm that is La Terrazas and the next morning, following a hearty breakfast, we are met by our new guide Adrian and Carlos, our driver, and head off through the beautiful countryside to the entrance of the Cocora valley. We’re embarking on a 15km, five hour hike through the fields, jungle, waterfalls and mountains that abound in the area, crossing the Quindio river as we go.
It’s the perfect antidote to the noise and busy-ness of fiesta-fuelled Salento, and as we clamber over Indiana Jones-style rope bridges and up steep hillsides, the views are incredible. There are a few other hikers, all foreign tourists, and every now and again we meet soldiers who seem to be patrolling the valley, although it’s one of the most peaceful places we’ve ever been in.
We stop for a rest at Acaime Nature Reserve, having a local delicacy of cheese dipped in sweet, hot coffee made with aqua-panella (sugar cane). Adrian also pulls out some sandwiches his vegetarian mum Cristina has made for us and we discuss how he, a thirty-year old Spaniard from Barcelona, ended up living here. It’s a story of sadness with a happy ending, starting with his parents travelling to this area of Colombia on holiday from Spain ten years ago. They instantly fell in love with the countryside and people and decided they would retire here, much to their children’s initial consternation, although it was going to be a dream to be fulfilled further down the line.
However Adrian’s father was diagnosed with cancer so they cashed in his life insurance policy, took early retirement and bought an entire finca here, with its own coffee plantation, stream, forests and gardens, for a bargain compared to European prices. They slowly renovated it, but just after the pandemic hit, while Adrian was working in the US, his father passed away so he was allowed to board a ‘mercy flight’ to be with his Mum so she would not be locked down alone.
In the year that followed Adrian realised he was living in paradise and could make a future here, so he and his Mum - a yoga teacher and massage therapist - converted the finca to become a rustic hotel and Adrian, put his tourism degree from Barcelona university to good use and founded his own travel agency. Almost three years later he and his Mum have a wonderful life and thriving success with their Villa Cristina hotel and his boutique travel company. Adrian even now has a daughter, giving his mother a Colombian grandchild.
He tells us that he can’t quite believe how his life has panned out but that he couldn’t be happier, and walking through the idyllic countryside in gorgeous weather we can totally understand why. This is a magical place and Adrian agrees, saying that ever since he moved here he’s had amazing experiences, meetings and coincidences that makes him feel Colombia is indeed enchanted.
As we finally ascend to the top ridge of the mountain, clouds start to roll in obscuring the summit that had been so clear when we started, but we are treated to a rare and special sight. I point out a huge bird circling above us and as it soars past us it becomes obvious that it’s not a vulture but a condor, the only one known to be in this valley and very rarely spotted. It puts on quite a show and once it disappears into the distance we watch a large hawk and peregrine falcon fighting each other in a quite remarkable aeronautical display.
Descending into the valley once more we enter its most photographed area, the hillsides where the iconic national tree of Colombia, the towering wax palms, reside. At sixty metres tall they are the biggest palms on earth and look incredible. Their appearance is enhanced by the fact that for almost two centuries local farmers have cleared the forests around them to allow for grazing, and have chopped lots of them down for their palm oil, so the remaining ones stand out in stark beauty. This world-famous landscape is sadly a tale of destruction and deforestation which Adrian tells us most Colombians are oblivious too. He says they’re too busy partying and obsessed with their meat-rich diet to care.
And the thousands of domestic tourists who are already in this part of the valley taking selfies, along with the hundreds of cars causing huge traffic jams all the way back to Salento, bear witness to this. Adrian says Colombians would never do the big hike that we, and other foreign tourists, do as they hate walking. They will just drive to an attraction’s parking lot, take photos at the designated selfie spot, and then find somewhere to eat. And sure enough the parking lot at Donde Laurita where we stop for lunch is full, with tables of Colombian families tucking into plates of dead animals with gusto.
That evening Salento continues to drink, dance and dine, full once more to the rafters with revellers and noise. So we go for dinner at Serendipia restaurant in the heart of the action and then join them watching a Colombian trance act pumping out pan-piped ethno-electronica on stage. It’s not what we were expecting of a place we thought would be an oasis of calm but there’s no denying the vibrancy of the town and the spectacular countryside that surrounds it.
And it also prepares us for our next stop, the city of Cali where we will well and truly be donning our dancing shoes.
