Week 22: Goodbye Colombia, Hello Ecuador: A Week of Hikes, Cities and Holding on for Dear Life in a Jeep
Favourite places from this week:
It’s Monday, a new week and back to work. Starting the day off with a Spanish lesson and then it’s a day of deeeep focused work. I’m taking a day off tomorrow, so I need to hammer through today.
Finishing up the content for my client’s website, sending off to them for approval and then I’ll spend the rest of this week anxiously sitting around with my fingers crossed 😅
Today, for Tuesday, I’m taking a day off and heading to the famous Cocora Valley, home of the world’s tallest palm trees.
As I woke up, what can only be described as “the end of days” outside my window. Or, as we Brits call it, “raining cats n dogs, innit”. I can’t believe I’m about to head out for a six-hour hike in this shit.
Anywho, 6am and my Uber arrived and we began the 90-minute drive to Cocora Valley, which became two hours as there had been a 3-car crash along the route due to the weather.
When I finally arrived, I was pleased to see I was one of the first people there, I got to the trailhead just after 8am (opens at 7) and I took the clockwise route. Immediately as you start, you’ll see the sixty-metre high wax palm trees and it’s honestly an amazing sight to behold.
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As you start the descent, you eventually reach the river that cuts through the valley and there’s an opportunity to take a slight detour to view a hummingbird reserve and I am so glad I did that! Including walking there and back and stopping off for a cuppa and to take photos, it took an extra hour.When I finally reached the end of the trail (the anti-clockwise trailhead) it had taken me just over 5 hours and I’d clocked in 13.5 kilometres of hiking.
At the end of the hike, the only way back is in a “Willy’s Jeep”, the classic 1940s Jeeps, and yeah, these things are definitely 80 years old. They cram you in like sardines in the back and then three of you stand on a step on the back of the Jeep and hold on.
Which I thought would be really cool.
It fucking wasn’t.
We arrived back in Salento, the nearest town, about thirty minutes later. My arms, shoulders and legs were shot to pieces from holding on for dear life. It does make me laugh on this side of the world, health & safety is an absolute myth.
I had a mooch around Salento for about half an hour. This is the town that inspired the Disney movie Encanto. Unfortunately, it was chock-full of tourists and 90% of the buildings here were gift shops. I didn’t stick around.
I’ve got to the point now that I’ve been “travelling” for almost six months and I’m just over it. I don’t wanna meet any more travellers, I don’t wanna buy souvenirs, I don’t wanna go on tours, I don’t wanna stay in any hostels or have forced conversations with people. I’m done.
I still love this lifestyle, I love being abroad, I love being a nomad, I love seeing new cities but the typical “travel aspect” of it all… nah, count me out.
Anywho, headed back to my apartment in Pereira, batch-cooked dinner and then called it a day.
Wednesday and my legs are so, so cooked. On the plus side, before my operation I would have struggled to walk today – so… every cloud has a silver lining.
Starting the day off with the usual; a Spanish lesson and then cracking on with my project.
Took a break midway through the day to explore other parts of the city and then back to work!
That’s all for today, a quiet one…!
Thursday and we are off on an adventure again… I had a Spanish lesson and headed straight out the door to Ukumari Bioparque, a massive zoo/ecopark just outside the city.
I arrived early doors at around 10:30am and much to my surprise there were no people here. This park is massive and could easily cater for thousands of people at any one time and … it’s a ghost town!? Winner.
The park has three distinct areas with different animals roaming around and it was such a cool experience. It’s home to over 100 different species of animals from rhinos, elephants and lions to toucans, parrots and peacocks. There’s even one aviary where the birds are all flying around freely and I’m just stood there chilling next to a peacock… An amazing day out!
Headed back home, knocked out a couple of hours of work and hey presto, that’s Thursday.
Today, Friday is my final day in Pereira and Colombia. It’s been an amazing couple of months in this country and I can’t wait to come back a third time and set up a more permanent base here. Pereira and Bucaramanga have been my favourite. Started the day off by exploring a couple more areas of the city and then spent a few hours working – things weren’t going my way today so I called it a day early and relaxed before packing my bags, I’ve a long day ahead of me tomorrow.
Happy Saturday… and so begins the journey: Pereira > Bogotá > Guayaquil > Cuenca. Two flights and a bus, 12 hours. Wish me luck 😂
I don’t mind long travel days, it’s the comfort I care about and I am dreading this four-hour bus that will no doubt suck balls.
One of my random existential thoughts for the week… I’ve been on the road for close to six months now and whilst I still get my off days; I have not once had a seriously bad day: no drama, no arguments, no burnout – nothing. It really made me think about the amount of bullshit you come into contact with in “typical” life, dealing with some stupid shit at a crappy job or dealing with bollocks from wet weather friends… I could go on. But yeah… it’s just so nice to escape.
Fast-forward to the bus journey and I am sat next to somebody that is due on the next season of Biggest Loser and definitely needs a second seat. What’s even better is that the next four hours are winding roads through the mountains.
Remember when you used to play “Corners” with your friends in the back of a car and you tried to crush your friends as you went around the corners?
Yeah, that was my journey. Safe to say I have booked a private transfer for the return in a few weeks.
By the time I got to Cuenca it was dark and I was exhausted, so I’ll explore tomorrow – fingers crossed it’s a nice city!
Happy Sunday and my first day in Cuenca. Had a great night sleep in my new Airbnb, it’s a lovely little studio that’s been very tastefully decorated. Only £600 a month with all bills and Airbnb fees included, that’s pretty good going.
My studio is close to the Rio Tomebamba so I decided to start my day walking along here, it’s lined with paths and trees and was packed with runners and cyclists… I think I’ve made a good move with this city.
I ended up walking around for two hours, stopped up for a breakfast and soaked in more of the city. It is stunning. We’ll see how the next few weeks pan out, but I think this is going to take the number one spot…
See you next week 👋
