Salento/ Manizales

Salento is a small village in La zona cafetera up in the mountains. We arrived at night and the hostel we planned on sleeping in was full. In short time we found another cozy little place closer to the center of town. The weather was comfortably cool and the hostel was beautiful. That night we walked around the town square, found something to eat and shot some pool at a local pool bar (Victor kicked my butt). The following morning we caught a jeep into el Valle de Cocora, which is the biggest local attraction. It is a beautiful valley surrounded by mountains, with a unique type of palm trees that you'll only find here called palma de cera. We rented horses for the hour and a half long ride through a trail in the mountains that ended in a beautiful waterfall. Our guide was very knowledgable and a little slick (at least he thought he was). What he didn't know is that we were from the 305 and duped his plan to gip us out of a few bucks. It was more about principle than money. We got some great shots and had a good time riding horses through the steep trails. Later on returned to Salento and hopped on a bus to Mamizales, I mean Manizales, where we spent the night. Manizales was alive with young people and energy pulsating through the streets. I was very surprised. The following day we hopped on a bus to Medellin again.