Cocora Valley (Salento, Colombia)

Cocora Valley, located in Salento, Colombia, has the tallest palm trees (Quindío wax palm) in the world. This trees can grow up to an impressive 60 meters (200 feet) tall. That is taller that an Olympic swimming pool! But that’s not all that makes hiking this valley worth your time. There is also a cloud forest and a hummingbird sanctuary, all in addition to stunning views. A visit to Cocora Valley while in Salento is a must!

There are several ways to get to the valley from Salento. My friends and I took a jeep at the Plaza de Bolivar in the center of town. Tickets for the jeeps can be purchased at the nearby ticket booth. Make sure you take about 40,000 pesos in small bills with you to buy the jeep tickets and for other expenses (which I will tell you about later). The jeeps leave once they are full.

From the jeep stop in the valley, there are three options for a hike; two options are a 5 to 6-hour hike of the valley, which will allow you to pass thorough the cloud forest. The third option is a much shorter hike to and from the Valley of Palms. A map is located at the start of the hikes - make sure to take a picture before continuing if you don’t already have a map.

• The first (or clockwise) full “loop” starts to the left and arrives at the Valley of Palms about 30 minutes into the hike. This route is not recommended if you have knee issues. About halfway through the hike, at Finca La Montaña (a farm with a nursery for Quindío wax palms) there is a steep descent for about an hour. This descent will undoubtedly be hard on the knees.

• The second (or counterclockwise) loop starts to the right, meaning that the valley of palms is at the end. My friends and I took this loop because we wanted the triumphant feeling of arriving at the Valley of Palms after hours of hiking. Using this route, the entrance to the forest is about 45 minutes. The option requires a little more stamina and energy, because getting to Finca La Montaña will require about an hour of steep uphill hiking.

• The third option is to just take a left, hike 30 minutes, arrive at the valley, chill for as long as you want, and then head back down.

With the third option, there are no fees. With the first and second option, the loop goes through some private fincas, so there are fees. To just do the “loop” we paid a total of 10,000 COP (approx. 3 USD). We also chose to take a 45-minute detour from the loop to visit the Acaime hummingbird sanctuary for 5,000 COP (approx. 1.41 USD). There are about 8 species of hummingbirds in the sanctuary.

The view at the Valley of Palms arguably is the best in the valley. The trees are majestic and the rolling green hills will make you want to start singing that the hills are alive with the sound of music…

#Colombia

#Salento

#South America