The wax palms of the Valle de Cocora

After leaving Bogota, we headed to Cafetera and the Valle de Cocora above the town of Salento. The Valle de Cocora is famous for the wax palms that grow there and in nearby valleys. The wax palm (Ceroxylon quindiuense) is the national tree of Colombia. It grows to about 150 feet tall and is the tallest monocot in the world. It has a fairly restricted range between 2,000 and 3,000 m in elevation in the central and western Andes of Colombia (with one disjunct population in Peru). The Valle de Cocora near Los Nevados National Park has a high concentration of wax palms.

We arrived at the Valle de Cocora after much traffic including many cyclists on the highway out of Bogota. I'm amazed at the popularity of cycling in Colombia (and of the caliber of top cyclists including Tour de France veterans Nairo Quintana, Egan Bernal, and others). Driving through the traffic in Salento and past the back-up of cars heading out of the Valle de Cocora, we realized that Easter week, Semana Santa, is not the best time to travel in Colombia. Semana Santa is a huge week for vacations for Colombians, and there were many Colombians enjoying their time in Salento and Valle de Cocora. Not quite the nature experience I was expecting. Still it was wonderful to see all the couples, families and friends enjoying themselves spending time together. We camped at a campground and I went on a bit of a hike in the evening.

We got up early the next morning to move on to the next place, hopefully with less people. We headed into the town of Salento for breakfast, then spent some time walking around the plaza and nearby streets. It was nice being there early before it became crowded with the Semana Santa crowds. At the church they were preparing for Good Friday. There were many National Police around with some officers in their dress uniforms. Salento is a nice town with beautiful buildings and not too large.