Armenia - Solento

From Bogota we headed to the coffee growing region in central Colombia, ‘eje cafetero’. This was our first experience of South American long haul buses, something that we expect to become a staple in the coming months. We opted for a bus in the day to Armenia as it was only (!) 8 hours and we didn’t want to both wait around Bogota with all of our bags until late at night and then be dropped off very early in the morning. Travelling by day also meant that we could fully take in the views on the journey, and they were spectacular, firstly as we descended from the Andean plains that house Bogota, and then as we traversed mountain passes between Ibague and Armenia. Some of these weren’t kind on the stomachs of Becky and the kids, but they all made it through and we pulled into the pus station as dark was falling. If we had been travelling without kids we probably would have tried to push on another bus for an hour up to Solento, but we thought it made sense to stop in a cheap hotel for the night and start the day well fed and rested. 

Armenia itself was a lively place, with lots of activity around the central square (Simon Bolivar again). The square is dominated by a cathedral that was rebuilt in prefabricated concrete after a major earthquake in 1999.

We settled on a grill and fast food restaurant as it was a) open, and b) not empty, and ended up sat next to a language teacher who lived in New York. He helped us to order local specialities while the kids and burgers and nuggets. Another example of the warm welcome that everyone we have met has given us.

In the morning we headed up the hill towards Solento, firmly on the backpacker trail for Europeans (particularly Italians, French and Dutch it seems) and also a big draw for domestic tourists from the rest of Colombia. It is a very pretty town, famed for its brightly painted houses and access to the Cocora Valley (Valley of the Wax Palms, the national tree of Colombia).

We stayed a mile of so outside of the town, down a steep hill at the Eco Hotel Piedmonte, attracted by the large family room and space for the kids to explore. The hotel dog 'Lupita' also featured prominently in the reviews and she was a lovely addition to the experience, lounging in the shade and happily playing with the children while hope to scrounge some food.

It was a simple trip on the local buses up the hill, about 40p each on collectivo buses that seem to run when they are full and stop where ever needed on their route.

Solento is clearly dominated by tourism, with restaurants, gift shops, hotels and hostels everywhere you turn.

This was a big contrast to our experience in Colombia thus far. It also meant that there was a significant increase

in the amount of English spoken. It's a great place to visit for a few days, with good restaurants,

loads of options for accommodation and stunning scenery.

Solento is very much a ‘must do’ on the tourist trail in Colombia and was a great place to spend a few days.

Solento highlights:

Cocora Valley

This is the most famous attraction in the area. You take a jeep, known as a ‘willy’ (due to the name of the American manufacturer) from the town square in Solento up to the start of the walk. We were a little later than planned and had to join a fair size queue at 9:30. The organisers of this service really pack you in and Alistair was very disappointed he wasn’t big enough to be one of the three people that get to stand on the back for the journey.

We took the shorter walking route (about 3 miles), to the view points, climbing up to be able to take in the full beauty of the landscape. On the climb up we also saw hummingbirds eating from flowers by the side of the path.

As much as it is a complete tourist cliche to visit, and you had to dodge instagrammers at every photo point, it was definitely worth the visit and the kids agreed (though Hannah wasn’t keen on some of the uphill section of the walk).

Santa Rita Waterfalls

A bonus of our accommodation at the bottom of the hill that Solento sits on was the ability to do this walk from the door of our hotel. We followed the road along to the nature reserve (after I had taken us on a slight wrong turn half a mile up a steep hill initially heading to the wrong nature reserve) and paid the small fee to enter.

    

We all agreed that this was a highlight of our to Solento, a nice, lightly undulating walk (about 5 miles), to a powerful waterfall that formed a natural pool (you can swim, we didn’t), followed by a walk through a cave to see smaller waterfalls and views over the valley.

We had had some powerful thunder storms over our few days in Solento (Colombia is apparently the wettest country on Earth) and this made the waterfalls all the more impressive.

Solento town and local food

Exploring the town and climbing the steps to the mirador was great, and the kids certainly enjoyed being in a more tourist focused place for a few days.

The local food speciality is grilled trout, which was delicious, as well as traditional fare from the Colombian countryside (pais), grilled santarosa chorizo, chincarron generally served with beans, rice, plantain, avocado and some salad. We’ve managed to get the kids to eat local food at lunch times at the least (often in exchange for an ice cream on a warm afternoon), which feels like something of a victory.