Sorry for the slight
delay in posting. I’ve been in the land of very slow to non-existent internet for the last week or so. I believe we left off with me headed for Colombia. So… here we go!
First, a quick explanation of why I went to Colombia. My lovely friend Lauren, who I’ve known since
the first day of college, is teaching third grade at an English school in the
city of Cali, Colombia. She offered to
let me visit, and who was I to say no?
I arrived in Cali after a day of flights that took me
through Wichita, Dallas, Orlando, and Miami.
I was lucky enough to sit next to a frequent Cali visitor on my flight
from Orlando to Miami. He gave me the
scoop on where he thought I needed to go while in town. He also warned me that I was stepping into
the plastic surgery capital of Colombia.
He told me, “There are no ugly women in Cali, only poor women.” Once I knew what to look for, he couldn’t
have been more correct!
Lauren picked me up from the airport and we headed back to
her apartment. She had to work the next
day, so I spent Friday catching up on my laundry, taking a quick walk around the
neighborhood, and enjoying the view of Cali from Lauren’s terrace.
I finished off my day of leisure with a
pedicure at the local spa. Friday evening,
I joined Lauren for her school’s talent show.
Her students were so cute and relatively talented.
Saturday morning we headed out early on a four hour trek to
the mountain town of Salento. We took a
taxi to the bus station, then two busses from Cali to Salento. Thanks to a few very large signs, we found
our hostel, The Plantation House, and dropped our bags. We grabbed some lunch, hiked a huge staircase
to a hill overlooking the town, then spent the rest of the afternoon shopping
in the numerous artisan shops along Salento’s main street. We found lots of great souvenirs and
Christmas gifts for our family and friends.
The next morning, we ventured back to the town’s main square
for breakfast and jeep ride to the Valle de Cocora. The guidebook warned, “there’s always room
for one more in the jeeps.” Lauren and I
didn’t expect to be the ‘one more’. We
ended up standing on the back bumper holding on for dear life!!
Good thing it was a short trip. Upon survival arrival, we found a
guide and a couple horses to help us make our way through the valley. Fernando and his two trusty trail horses led
us on a 6-hour walk through the valley and along (and sometimes through) a
beautiful river.
We enjoyed stunning
views of the valley and surrounding mountains from a lookout near the top of the
trail as well as a stop for a quick snack at a cute little house popular with
humming birds. By the end of the ride,
we were covered in mud and a little bit wet from the rain and the river, but it
was an experience I will never forget.
That evening, we finished up our shopping and enjoyed a nice
dinner before collapsing into bed. The
next morning, we went on a tour of our hostel’s coffee plantation. The owner explained the differences between types
of coffee and then explained the entire process of growing coffee from planting
the trees through roasting the coffee beans.
We saw rows and rows of coffee plants, along with bananas, pineapple,
bamboo, and several other fruit trees while walking through the plantation.
Having seen all we came to see in Salento, we
headed back to Cali just in time to enjoy dinner at one of Lauren’s favorite
local restaurants, Crepes & Waffles.
Yummy!!
Lauren had to go back to work on Tuesday, so I ventured into
Cali’s historic district for a look at the city’s first buildings. My tour included stops in many of the city’s churches
as well as a walk through La Merced, the monastery where the city was founded.
The people in the museums at La Merced were
kind enough to dig out a booklet of English explanations for the exhibits and
even treated me to a guided tour of the museum’s art exhibits. Such sweet people! My path between churches led me along the
river through central Cali. Lining the
path were a series of concrete cats painted in interesting patterns.
I wrapped up my visit to downtown Cali with a
long climb up San Antonio hill before catching the bus back to Lauren’s
apartment. A quick note about Cali’s bus
system (the Mio): cleanest busses I’ve been on anywhere ever. Period.
I got back to Lauren’s just in time for me to meet her
housekeeper, a sweet older lady named Rosa.
Rosa worked her magic on our very muddy horseback riding shoes, cleaned
Lauren’s apartment and made us a wonderful supper. She’s awesome! As if I hadn’t gotten enough exercise walking
around town all afternoon, I spent two hours Tuesday night with Lauren at the
local gym where she’s an aerobics instructor a few times a week. Wednesday was a day of packing and rest for
me with a quick trip to the store to pick up the last of my souvenirs.
Very early on Thursday morning, I was treated to a ride to
the airport by my very own chauffer (I still had to pay for it, but it was more
comfortable than a taxi!) While my
experience on the way to Colombia was
relatively easy, the trip home was
anything but. My flight from Orlando to
Dallas was delayed, so I had to stay the night in Dallas. I also had some damage to one of my souvenirs. The airline has agreed to have it fixed, but
it’s going to be a pain. Despite the
challenges of getting home, I had a wonderful trip. I can’t wait to visit wherever Lauren goes
next!
