Hotel Estelar Las Colinas Pereira

... travel warnings about coca cultivation in the east and volcanic activity towards the central plateau there is one notable omission. A warning is required, one that in our humble opinion is not only worthy of a spot but which is perhaps the most crucial of them all. To assist the British Foreign Office, who I'm sure are frantically busy writing N1H1 warnings for every country, I've drafted the below summary:<br><br>"Travellers are advised to note that driving ...

... a nice visit and discussed what our plan for the day.<br><br>Luca took us to a National Park that was about 25 minutes outside of the city. We had a wonderful lunch of Sancocho (the local soup) and agua de pañela (a hot water drink made with sugarcane). On our way further up the mountain Luca had us stop at a small stand to ask for a snack. We shared the Abrhado and it was amazing.. I think ...

... again and he suggested that we go on the waterfall-repelling excursion for no extra cost. We were really starting to love Colombia for all their generosity and kindness. Later that evening the children from the local burrio discovered us and had many things to say and ask. We all settled down for another amazing sleep, as the weather was cooler due to the higher elevations and it was peaceful up near the jungle.<br><br>We decided to meet for the ...

... trout with a spanish chick and this swiss guy from the hostel. After lunch I headed to a coffee farm with the spanish girl.<br>It was a family run farm that is in a couple of those international slow food books, the guy showed us the write ups in his cafe before we left.<br>Basically his plantaion is all natural, under forest, no chemicals, etc, etc. He runs it with his family and they do everything from growing the coffee to roasting it.<br>We toured his property before ...

We weren't exactly sure of where we were headed today, we were thinking we might go to Manizales which had just started a "Festival de teatro", festival of theatre. I was not keen on this option as it was a 4 hour trip north, and our ultimate destination was south. Anyway, we had another sumptuous smoothie and cereals, strapped on our bags and headed for the Plaza in the centre of Salento, we needed to make the 7-50 bus to Periera which is where we would change ...

... about 3km occasionally taking the lead to guide us. The children named them Jack and Rose, and were disappointed when the dogs finally halted and looked at us as if to say, that&#8217;s our lot, you go on from here. The final ascent was quite steep and then we came to a place called Acmie. It was two large huts surrounded by trees. There were no views, and there was a compulsory $3mil per person charge for which in return you could have a coffee, aguapanela, chocolate, juice ...

Today was another chill out day so we decided to get some laundry done and look around Solento some more. The hostel owner offered to show us around his Coffee Plantation which we decided to do. He took us, and some other guests, the 200metres or so down a road, or should I say pathway since it was not really accessible by vehicles of the four wheel type. He was just explaining this when some very trendy looking motocross enthusiasts came ...

... still fun, the queues were small and the park was lovely, integrated into a coffee plantation with plenty of beautiful trees and plants. <br><br>There weren&#8217;t a great deal of people here even though it was a Saturday. The throng of people consisted mainly of Colombians from other areas of Colombia on holiday and there was a large number of young men in military uniform, this time instead of checking ID&#8217;s they were having a load of fun. I think there is a large ...

... ever right from the garden. <br>this town also has its own gang of street dogs, but man they are the coolest dogs. for some reason they love tourists, and for no reason they stick can stick with you for a whole day. we had this little dude follow us all day while hiking the cocora valley, and since we couldn't afford a guide, so we decided the little dog was the one.<br><br>This life of always exploring, learning, knowing and then leaving brings faces which ...

... just dropped our bags on the street and ran... lucky man because he may not have been able to run too much more if we had caught up with him... finally after travelling for 20 kmph for 4 hours more we arrived at our destination Salento in the heart of the coffee region.<br><br><br>Salento was definitely one of the highlights of ...