TREKKING THROUGH THE COCORA VALLEY, IN THE COFFEE REGION OF COLOMBIA

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If there is something you can not miss on a trip through the Coffee Axis of Colombia is the visit to Cocora National Park. And here the star is his famous trekking. Even if you plan on staying just a couple of days, this is definitely what should go first on your list. The reason is so simple: when you are there you will be dumbfounded: often place! We simply dedicate ourselves to walking and walking, with our mouths and retinas wide open, because the landscapes we find were those we will never forget.

It is this post we will try to tell you all about the trekking through the Cocora Valley, how to get there, how to make the best route, the points you cannot miss and practical advice. Put your boots on because we get going!

These are the main data of this walk:

Type: circular, with departure and arrival in Cocora
Distance: 12 km approx
Time: from 4 to 6 hours
Level: Moderate
Minimum altitude: 2,387 meters
Maximum altitude: 2,942
Slope in ascent / descent: 879 meters
Price: 10,000 pesos (two lockers of 2,000 and 3,000 pesos) + entrance to Acaime farm

The trail starts in Cocora, which is nothing more than a group of restaurants and businesses dedicated to tourists. It is about 10 km from Salento, a charming little town in the department of Quindío (one of the three that make up the Coffee Axis). We recommend you stay a few nights here (or at least the one before the trekking) and leave early for Cocora. If you have a rented car, it has no mystery, the road is in good condition, although with some curves.

Once there, on both sides of the road they will offer you parking, especially in restaurants. Normally, if you consume, parking is included. We, by the excellent recommendations of the owner of our accommodation, leave it at the restaurant John B, and on the way back we feast! If you only want to park, the price here is 2,000 pesos per hour, or 12,000 pesos for the whole day until 18:00.

If you need transportation, the typical ones leave from the main square of Salento Jeeps called "Willys", which do the function of urban bus. The price for this service is 3,600 pesos per person. They will leave you right in front of that same restaurant, and it will be here where you have to come to take the one back to Salento. Be careful because we understand that the last one is at 5 pm, but ask.

The trekking has Two parts (actually more) different: the valley along the Quindío River and the route through the mountains at a higher altitude. But the big question is choosing the direction direction. Being a circular trekking, you have the option of doing it either way. Again by recommendations of the owner of the accommodation and coinciding with other blogs such as Tragaviajes, the ideal is to follow the counterclockwise direction. And so we did. These are broadly speaking, the sections and the indications:

When you leave the car or arrive with the Willys, you will have to continue up the street to a gate of blue metal bars on the right. It is also indicated that the diversion reaches the “Truchas Cocora” fish farm. It is here where the tour through the valley begins, if you continue straight ahead you will start the tour on the contrary.

The first part of this route passes through an incredibly beautiful valley, tracing the Quindío River and surrounded by green meadows. You will have to cross the river through several wooden suspension bridges (we lost count, but apparently there are 7) and others that are simply two or three trunks and a little rope to support you. Although the former wobble a lot and the latter offer no confidence, you will have no major problems in crossing them.

Soon to start there is a ticket office to pay for access to the El Portón estate of 2,000 pesos per person. They will give you a bracelet and pulling miles.

All this part, something like two thirds of the section that goes along the river, runs along paths in good condition, through a stable dirt floor and almost always follows a fence made of bamboo trunks. It has no steep slopes, although it tends upwards all the time.

There comes a time when you you will enter the pure jungle. These beautiful paths become roads of rocks and sometimes mud, which rise and fall meaningless! Without being dangerous, you will see how the pace of walking falls a little, but nothing compared to what is to come ... By the way, pay attention to the noise of the river because at one point it starts roaring powerfully, signal of a waterfall. You can go down to see it right after passing an English sign not to litter.

You will continue crossing bridges in the purest Indiana Jones style until you reach the most important crossing: on the left is the climb to the La Montaña estate, and in front, 1 km away, the Finca Acaime (The House of the Hummingbirds). Hummmm, if you are half tired and doubt if you pull right, sit down, rest and follow! The reward will be immense!

As we say, it is 1 km of quite hard climb. So far it will be the steepest section you'll find. But little by little you will end up arriving at this wonderful place. To access you must make a donation of 5,000 pesos, which includes a drink (a good opportunity to try panela water, one of the national drinks, with its piece of cheese included. Although you also have coffee or drinks with gas). The really interesting thing is to see the innumerable hummingbirds flutter at ease.

And we have not said so far, but the Cocora Valley National Park is a place with a huge diversity of both flora and fauna. Some of the animals that live here are in danger of extinction and you probably won't see them (and better, who wants to cross a puma in the middle of the road? Hehe). Also, if you like nature or you are an observer, you are going to freak out with the amount of plants there are, including mushrooms with a very appetizing pint. Just kidding, don't eat them.

Once with the energies replenished and with a high of morale, partly because of the sugar, partly because for the first time you are going to make a downward stretch, you will have to return to the previous crossing, and now yes, tie your shoes well or boots, because what comes ahead is traca!

The climb to the La Montaña farm It's hard, basically because it's steep with noses. The path itself is not dangerous, but if you are not in good shape, you will have to stop a few times like us. Over there we have read that the Cocora Valley trekking is easy, just a couple of 100 meter ramps ... Bah, why do mammas want to trick us ?! We already know that it is not the climb to the Himalayas, but let's be sensible, an easy trekking for me is to get the dog to poop ... This is NOT an easy trekking.

That said, you don't have to be scared either. We always say that if we have been able to complete it (ok, in more than 6 hours), almost everyone can. The blissful climb took us about 40 minutes, but when we saw that the jungle ended and in the background there were small houses, cows, horses, flowers, more hummingbirds ... we saw the light! We have reached the beautiful La Montaña estate, the highest point of the trekking, almost 3,000 meters high, now we have to go down!

And without much thought we accelerate the pace, we put our best aerodynamic positions, and we go down. Now they are no longer winding paths of stones and water, now it is a wide dirt track. Ya!

When you take approximately one third of this descent you will find the second box office, in which 3,000 pesos are paid and where another bracelet is placed. Not far from here are the viewpoints to the famous Bosques de las Palmas, with those peculiar wax palm trees, the highest in the world and Colombia's national tree.

In fact, in all the descent there are beautiful views over the valley on the left, although the viewpoints are simply a last whore !!!

It is possible that there is fog, we find a little above all, but the viewpoints are lower and there is usually clearer. To enter the viewpoints there is a wooden door, behind which an almost unreal world will open. Green rounded meadows dotted with huge vertical stems topped by the hair of the secondary actor Bob. The first viewpoint (which is actually the Lookout 2) is possibly more impressive, but both are amazing.

When you reach the second viewpoint (Lookout 1), you will see that the praderitas are several and are going down. The question will be: what if I go down then I have to go up to get where I entered? The good news is that it is not necessary, you can go down the field, towards the village, leaving an image for the memory behind you. In this way you will save a little road, that at this point nothing is wrong.

It joins the main path on a farm with horses, and from there to the small town of Cocora are a few minutes. Now, with the camera full of photos and with the vision of another planet in your head, there is no better idea than to finish the day with a good garlic trout and a churrasco of almost half a kilo in the restaurant Juan B and pa casa (for vegetarians have the option of natural shakes, well, maybe there is something else but we went straight to those who asked us for the body :-p).

Here we leave the profile, distance, geolocation and more details of the trekking:

It is very important that you read these tips carefully, which can get you out of some unwanted trouble:

- Obviously it bears Water! We recommend at least 1 liter per staff, if it is much much better. There are no fountains throughout the tour, although in the Acaime estate (Casa de los Colibríes) you will have a drink included with the ticket, and more if you want to buy them. If you do not carry anything at all, in Cocora before the blue gate there is a little store that sells 600 ml bottles for 2,000 pesos and 1.5 liters for 5,000 pesos.

- It doesn't hurt that you also have a snack: bananas, peanuts, chocolates, etc. To replenish energy during trekking.

- It is an area where there is usually enough fog, but it can also make you a radiant sun in many sections. So put on a cap / hat and sunscreen.

- Do not lose the perspective that you are in the jungle, with many bichejos. Get well from mosquito bugs. Poor Lety must have been bitten in the trekking and we were in Medellin the next few days 🙁

- The best is get up early And arrive early. In the afternoon is when the rain usually comes and we don't want to be caught halfway. Anyway, if you want to also carry a oilskin, It's not a bad idea.

- If you don't want to do the whole trek and you just want to enjoy the main course (the Palm forest), you can start the trekking in the opposite direction as we did and after visiting the viewpoints of the palm trees, return on your steps. We personally believe that the entire trekking is very worthwhile, but if you don't feel like it (or time) this is a valid option.

- Maybe do the trekking upside down Be somewhat less physically tired, more than anything because the 40-minute climb to Finca la Montaña is quite demanding. Peeeero, we recommend doing it like us: reaching the end of the tour and having the reward of the Palm Forest is priceless (in addition, in this way you will have the valley in front at the beginning of the trekking and you will not leave it behind your back).

- And yes, at the end of the tour, treat yourself to eating at the Juan B Restaurant, for us it was one of the best lunches in Colombia tooooda!

We hope this post with the experience of trekking in the Cocora Valley I can help you and encourage you to discover this wonderful Colombian corner in the Coffee Axis. It was, without a doubt, one of the best things we did in the country!