Blog / Events and outings / Salento, between heaven and earth

Salento, between heaven and earth

Let's test your geographical knowledge!

This country, situated between Panama, Venezuela, Peru, Ecuador and Brazil, is equally divided between large metropolises, vast forests and heavenly beaches.

We are, of course, talking about Colombia.

Not far from Cali

We'd been visiting Colombia for a month and had planned to spend a week in the city of Cali, the emblematic city of Salsa. We were staying in a youth hostel run by a very friendly local. We asked him what wonders we absolutely had to see in the region. He pointed us to the Cocora Valley, located not far from the village of Salento, in the Quindio region, around 2? hours drive away in a north-easterly direction.

So without hesitation we decided to go there for three days.

The day after our arrival, we decided to explore the famous Cocora Valley, well known to tourists.

To get there, we had to borrow Jeeps provided by the locals in exchange for a monetary contribution.

When we got there, we couldn't believe our eyes, despite the photos we'd seen on the internet, but it was a pleasant surprise.

We arrived in a large valley divided between a vast mountain plateau, immense palm trees as far as the eye could see and breathtaking colours.

Once upon a time, there was Cocora Valley...

Our adventure begins at an altitude of 2500 meters.

Basically, there's a small circuit designed for tourists, but adventurous as we are, we decide not to follow it, but to make our own itinerary and set off on our own adventure.

We begin our ascent along rocky paths, river crossings and steep tracks. We meet very few people, apart from a few locals who live in these remote parts of Colombia, riding their mounts to transport their belongings to higher altitudes.

We walked for 5 hours, reaching an altitude of almost 3,500 metres. We arrive at a farm and chat with the locals. They tell us that if we continue in the same direction, it will take us a total of 4-5 days to finish the loop and get back to our starting point.

Not being equipped for such an adventure, we decide to turn back, so as to reach our starting point before nightfall.

There's a saying that " those who have the least, give the most ", and we had proof of this at the very moment when, having run out of food and water, these locals decided to refuel us to make sure we had everything we needed for the return journey. We thank them and begin our return journey. Inevitably, after hours of climbing, we find ourselves on a much easier route, downhill only.

We're back at the meeting point to pick up our Jeep after a total of 8 hours of intensive walking, exhausted but satisfied - the photos hadn't lied to us, this valley is truly breathtaking.

From a technical point of view, I wore timeless Lowa RENEGADE MID GTX boots, equipped with an Osprey backpack TALON 22 and a pair of Icebreaker merino wool socks and t-shirt. In a nutshell: " very satisfied " with these products, which accompanied me on this hike.

After a well-deserved night's sleep, our second adventure awaits us. This time, it wasn't a hiking expedition, but an equestrian one.

Yes, you read that right, we decided to explore the area around Salento on horseback on our third and final day, before returning to Cali to continue our exploration of Colombia.

Not being great horsemen, we went at our own pace, this time with a guide, Alejandro by name. With him, we discover the coffee plantations for which the Quindio region is famous. It's no legend that Colombian coffee is truly excellent. With a river to climb, forests to survey and local flora to discover, this was a cultural but no less sporting ride.

The Speck Sports team hopes you've enjoyed this article, so please don't hesitate to share your adventures with us via messages on our Instagram or Facebook page

If you'd like to equip yourself for future trips or mountain escapades, don't hesitate to visit our Speck-Sports website.