Walking the Valley de Cocora, visiting the humming birds and soaking up Salento

Travel Tips

• For the Valley de Cocora:
  • Walk the round trip – you could, if pressed for time, take 1-1.5 hours and only check out the valley, but I’d recommend the round trip loop which takes 5-6 hours at a slow pace giving plenty of time for stops.  The loop lets you see the hummingbirds, the mountain farm and the river, but more than anything its just a beautiful hike with gorgeous viewing points and rickety old bridges to cross that are fun.  Plus, you’ve probably spent the best part of a day to get here from the likes of Medellin or Bogota so it feels a bit weird not to take in the walking loop
  • You can go clockwise or anticlockwise round the loop – I don’t think it makes a huge difference which way you go other than the walk from the Valley de Cocora to the Mountain Farm is far longer and less steep than the walk from the Mountain Farm to the Hummingbird area.  We went anti-clockwise and enjoyed it
  • Bring some snacks for the day – but if you forget you can get some very basic food at the Hummingbird place
  • You don’t need a guide – just as much fun to head off on your own and the track is very simple to follow
  • I’d suggest going early – mainly because it felt like it typically rained in the afternoon rather than the morning
• Getting around – you get from town to town (and to the Valley de Cocora – don’t walk) using the colourful jeeps that are always stationed in the town centres.  They look like they should hold 7-8 but they happily fit 12, which means last to get on will most likely be standing hanging on to the back.  I found this quite fun as you’re zooming through the countryside, with the breeze on your face getting the best view, but could understand how it might be a bit tedious / scary for some.  You won’t so much get a “ticket” for the jeep, but there is always either a driver nearby trying to find the next people or a small hut organising trips who is next.  Whilst they do have a timetable, it seems to go out the window a bit at times.  They leave at least every hour and its super cheap (4,000 COP / US$1).  If you get a bit fed up and want to leave quicker, they’ll usually find one to leave with just you and your group
• Restaurants – there’s a heap of restaurants, many with nice views of the surrounding mountains.  I’d really recommend La Herreria on the west side of town which did superb food and great place for cocktails
• Finlandia and Circasia are worth a visit – just as much to jump on the jeep and head off on a mini adventure and soak up the countryside as anything else
• Accommodation – you can find super cheap deals in really lovely small hotels in many of the hilltop towns.  I’d recommend Hotel La Caracola in Salento which was friendly, colourful and separate from some of the busier parts of town
• Be ready for long bus rides to get there and away – even though the distances look short on the map, the terrain is super hilly so it takes a long time to get around.  Around 9 hours for either Bogota (via Armenia) or Medellin
• For how Salento and the Valley de Cocora can fit into a bigger 3 week trip to see the highlights of Colombia, see 3 weeks in Colombia for itinerary and tips
• Book recommendations:
  • One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez is the traditional must read literature.  At times it can be a little slow going, but it created its own genre (magic realism . . . obviously) and very much tells the story in a round about way of many of the difficulties faced by Colombia
  • To give a perspective of just what it must have been like for the American civilisations before the Spanish arrived, I highly recommend 1491 by Charles Mann.  It will change your view from what is likely to be that of basic jungle tribes / Indians hunting the buffalo on the plains to what they really were – in many ways equally sophisticated civilisations to those of Eurasia
  • For a broad, often quite opinionated, overview of modern South America, I also recommend Viva South America Oliver Balch
• Broader Colombia – for how Bogota can fit into a bigger 3 week trip to see the highlights of Colombia, see 3 weeks in Colombia for itinerary and tips