Colourful Chiva buses, old dodge buses, always completely full, Guambiano Indigenous Market, Silvia, near Popayan, Cauca, Colombia
In the previous text on Popayan we marveled why relatively few tourists visit this city, despite its beautiful colonial centre and scenic surroundings. One guess is, travelers easily bypass what is not clearly marked as a high-light in their “bible”, the Lonely Planet and the number of other kinds of tourists is still marginal. Continue Reading →
Colonial city, colonial architecture, Popayan, La Ciudad Blanca, the White City, Cauca, Colombia
Our initial reaction, after we read about this city in our guide book, was “Yeah, another Ciudad Blanca / White City”. Did not Arequipa / Peru adorn itself with the same fancy title? Only to have its few white colonial buildings disappear in a madness of honking cars / busses and exhaust fumes that make you dizzy? Continue Reading →
Cali is different. There is a large black population and you find every shade of colour in between.
The bus trip from Armenia to Popayan first takes you through never ending fields of sugar cane. After Cali, the scenery becomes more diverse, a wild melange of banana, mango and palm trees, giant bamboo, sugar cane and once in a while a random, completely out of place pine tree. Continue Reading →
Wax palm trees (Copernicia alba), Valle de Cocora, Salento, Zona Cafetera, Quindio, Colombia
This out-of-the-world-scenic valley stretches to the east of Salento. Jeeps starts early in the morning from there and after 30 minutes drop you off at the trail head. The first hour of the hike takes you through a narrow valley with slopes and ridges dotted with mega-tall wax-palm trees. Although we started off on a very sunny morning, big clouds of mist floated through the valley hiding the palm trees, but soon setting them free again. The other part of the trek takes you straight through the cloud forest, the canopy immediately closes overhead and you feel completely immersed in green, lush rain forest. Continue Reading →
Coffee tree, San Agustin, Huila, Colombia
No, it does not rain coffee, as this popular song claims, but nevertheless there is plenty around here in the Zona Cafetera. Even though we visited quite a few coffee plantations in other countries, like Bolivia or on Atiu, Cook Islands, we could not resist joining Tim, or Don Eduardo, as he likes to call himself, our host, on a tour through his new “Finca”. No regrets, he explained with great expertise and enthusiasm every step of the process that it takes to finally enjoy a cup of coffee. Continue Reading →
Salento, a small colonial village, Zona Cafetera, Quindio, Colombia, South America
Salento is a small village perched on the foothills of the Andes in the middle of Zona Cafetera. Apart from the scenic surroundings, the village’s particular charm stems from its picturesque “Paisa” architecture. The small houses are painted in bright white, but the wooden shutters that serve as windows and the doors come in all colours. Often a tiny balcony adorns the home. Especially the plaza around the village church features some impressive buildings, which all host a bar on street level. Continue Reading →
Zona Cafeteria from the plane
On July 7th, we reunited in Panama City, when Heidi arrived from Vienna. The following day we took a tiny plane to Pereira / Columbia, since it is this country we finally want to explore over the next seven weeks. Continue Reading →
