{"id":443,"date":"2010-11-01T00:00:16","date_gmt":"2010-11-01T05:00:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/mb.rivulet.org\/journal\/?p=443"},"modified":"2010-12-22T19:41:01","modified_gmt":"2010-12-23T00:41:01","slug":"valle-de-cocora","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mb.rivulet.org\/journal\/2010\/11\/01\/valle-de-cocora\/","title":{"rendered":"Valle de Cocora \u2013 A beautiful hike"},"content":{"rendered":"

After some time in Medell\u00edn<\/a> and a relaxed time at the coffee farm<\/a> it was time for some hiking again. So we headed to Salento a small town close to the Valle de Cocora. There was a lot of rain on the next day, so we spent this day in town and went for the hike on the next day, which was a very good decision as the weather was much better.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>
The famous wax palms.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The transport to the starting point of the hike is done by jeeps. And started funny. A small landslide blocked the road, so the jeeps had to drive through the meadow on the side. Which was not to easy even for the jeeps. With a lot of help from the locals who were trying to get the mud from the street, the jeeps finally managed and we continued our ride.<\/p>\n

\"Beautiful<\/a>
Beautiful colored trees.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The \u201cstandard\u201d way is a walk just trough the valley to a little farm with hummingbirds and back. However, we decided to hike a bigger round, which includes a part over the surrounding hills of the valley. After a few minutes, there was a river to be crossed. With just a tree as possible bridge\u2026 According to Claudia, I was crazy to give it a try<\/a>, cause \u201cthe tree was a good 1.5 m over the river, quite long and the water fast and with a lot of rocks\u201d. But hell yeah, we had to get on the other side!<\/p>\n[flashvideo file=http:\/\/mb.rivulet.org\/journal\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/10\/vallecocora.flv \/]\n

Thanks to Sensei Lutz from Karate-Dojo Darmstadt<\/a> for teaching me balance in the last few years and a big thank you for telling me, that you cannot be afraid while breathing out!<\/strong><\/p>\n

After crossing the river, it was a really nice trek through the beautiful cloud forest. A lot of trees had amazing lichens with awesome green and orange colors. Well, as the name says we hiked in the fog forest, thus the view from atop the hill was quite limited by the clouds. But it was a mystical atmosphere, passing lush green trees and beautiful flowers with a lot of hummingbirds. Then, we came out on grassland with cows and horses on it. Looked a bit like Austria or Switzerland. Unexpected.<\/p>\n

\"Green<\/a>
Green meadows with horses and cows.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

After a stop at the little farm we followed the river on a beautiful trek all the way out of the valley. First the valley was quite narrow and one has to cross the river a few times. Beautiful vegetation and al lot of waterfalls. Later the valley opens up and we got a beautiful view of the famous and big wax palms.<\/p>\n

\"Me<\/a>
Me enjoying the amazing nature.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The hiking in the beautiful nature was a perfect day for me!
\nGreets, Michael<\/p>\n