Jason Out

Ryan and I headed out from Darién and on to Salento to check out the town and the wax palm valley there. On the way, we had to stay in Armenia since the buses to Salento don't run all night. The chicken joint near the bus station was a disappointment after the legendary pollo of Darién, but it was fun watching the shop owner shoo away crackheads for us. We later learned from a few folks that the people we saw were on a base form of cocaine and they only came out at night to do drugs and hassle people.

Once in Salento, we beelined for the Valle de Cocora. We missed the morning jeep out there and decided to make the 3 hour walk to the park. About an hour in, we stuck our thumbs out for a water truck and caught a lift up to a construction site at the beginning of the hike. A few hours of beautiful scenery and mud later, we made it to the top of the mountain and hiked down into the palm valley. They were certainly impressive as the next bunch of photos will show...
The funnest dog in the world

Got a lift from the water truck driver when we missed the jeep out to Valle de Cocora

The beginning of nice views in the valley

The trail wasn't as nice as advertised. The same trail for people was shared by horses and cattle, making it a mud pit.

Luckily there was barbed wire and electric fences to keep you on the path...

The aforementioned mud pit.


The bridges weren't the fanciest in Colombia.

For some scale

The ride back on the jeep bumper was fun until is started pouring...

After Salento, it was time to take a bus up to Medellín. It was nice to relax in a city for a few days...



Good view of south Medellín

Flying high

From Medellín we took off for San Gil, which was advertised as an action sports mecca. The city didn't quite live up to that reputation, but the bus ride in certainly did. The driver got us into Bucharamanga a full hour before we were scheduled to arrive. Unheard of down here as we had become accustomed to 1-2 hours late on a regular basis. Needless to say, people were throwing up in the back of the bus as the driver careened through what I would assume was beautiful countryside if I wasn't so focused on not getting sick.

Luckily, we survived the drive into San Gil and spent the next few days caving, hiking, and climbing up the local waterfalls. A freak rainstorm on our second day turned the very steep city roads into torrential rivers and brought the river through town up a couple feet. All of the rafting was canceled, which was fortunate for us since they charged a fortune to take you down the rivers here.Since the cave was sealed by water when we went in, there was no wind moving through. Your breath built up in front of you as you stood there.

Needle formations half way through the cave

Finishing the dive into the cave

Ryan acting a fool at the waterfalls

2 of the 1500 residents of Guane

Colonial streets

Ryan and I split in San Gil as he heads off to the north to party at carnaval and I head south to Bogotá to get home. It's been a fun ride...