Colombia: Salento

"upstairs"

I spent a little over 3 weeks in Salento, volunteering at an eco hostel called La Serrana. It was about 1 km away from the town which provided a nice 15 minute walk any time you needed to leave with stunning views of the mountains anywhere you looked.
The hostel was one of the more upscale ones I've been to with three buildings, its own dining room, developing garden, and plenty of space to do whatever you pleased. Dinners were plentiful and the company was genuine.

Our dining room

Hiking in a cloud

Downtown Salento

River crossing to the coffee farm

Over my three weeks Salento became home. I had a coffee place, a fruit man, a vegetable man, and a brownie man. The town of Salento is very quaint, the buildings are painted bright colors and it is a perfectly acceptable place to use horses as your transport. Anyone you pass by greets you with a 'buenas' or offers up a conversation.
Although I spent a lot of time relaxing here there was never something you couldn't do. There were countless coffee farms, some a 2 hour hike away down a valley and a long a river, or some just down the hill. There were tons of shops with artesian goods where you could easily get lost for an afternoon in the incredible craftsmanship. Yet my favorite place to go was Valle de Cocora; A national park with tons of trails offering endless hiking opportunities among wax palms, hummingbird gardens, cloud forests, and river beds. I spent multiple days exploring the area, getting lost, or getting rained on. Each was a memorable experience.

Tejo: If you haven't played this game in Colombia, hurry and find a way to do so. If you play mexican horseshoes in the states, it is quite similar. One has a clay pad at the end of a throway. Each person takes turns throwing a heavy rock at the clay pad in order to hit the center which has a little bit of explosives and makes quite the noise when hit. You play in teams adding up points while sipping beers.