Valle de Cocora
From Bogota we traveled west to the small paisa town of Salento in the Andes mountain range. Outside of Salento and our reason for visiting the area lies the beautiful park of Valle de Cocora. To travel the hilly dirt road into the park you ride in one of the restored WWII Jeeps that the region is known for. Entering the valley, we were immediatly struck by the landscape unlike anything we´ve seen before. Cows graze the vibrantly green grass covering the steep pyramid-like hills on either side of this muddy valley. Reaching heights of 70 meters, the wax palms which make this valley unique are the tallest palm species in the world. On this characterisicly cloudy day, the wax palms lining the hills´ ridgelines faded mysitcally into the clouds.
The second half of the hike brought us uphill through rainforst as the trail precariously criss crossed the gushing river. Then at the end of the trail, in the middle of the dense forest, we somehow arrive at a little house surrounded by hummingbirds where a couple served us hot coffee.
We were really glad we rented rubber boots for the hike as it was incredibly muddy. 
The view uphill from Salento
View out the window of our room at the Plantation House
Some of the many restored WWII Jeeps in Salento (this if for you Dad -Molly)
2 comments:
Thanks Molly, looks like one old Series model Rover truck in the group as well. So how was the air at 16k? I liked the snow ball fight.
Looks so beautiful! Miss you, Molly! When do you get home?
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