The town of Salento, Colombia

Yesterday, we relaxed for the morning and then went into Salento in the afternoon. This morning we are checking out of where we are staying and they only accept cash. We stayed two days more than we planned, plus we have to pay cash at the next place we are staying too so we had to find an ATM.

Otherwise, our cash supply would have been running low.

Hike to a waterfall

Ruth doesn't like being cooped up, so despite the fact that she was not feeling 100%, she wanted to get some fresh air. So she said she felt well enough to try the hike to the waterfall, and if we had to take our time and rest along the way, then so be it.

She did come for breakfast and get some food down, so that was a good start.

Not a great day

Yesterday's post was titled "Ruth is feeling better" but unfortunately things went downhill shortly after that and she had a bit of a rough morning. She spent most of the day in bed, and by afternoon was resting and feeling a bit better. Not much of an appetite for dinner, but she did come and sit up in the common area for a while in the evening.

So, no hike to the waterfall to show you yet, and we've extended our stay here until Saturday morning.

Ruth is feeling better...

Ruth has been having some pain and irritation from a bladder or kidney infection of some kind. Like most women, she's had these before at times. Not fun, and they're even less fun when you're traveling. So yesterday we decided we had better do something about it and get some antibiotics.

One of the girls at the hostel had some with her and gave some to Ruth to get treatment started before we went in to town.

Travel day! It's always an adventure...

Before we left Kolibri Hostel in Pereira, we walked over to the nearby Bancolombia and used the ATM. This time, we hit the button for 600,000 pesos ($292 CAD) and it worked fine. So we seem to have found a bank that works with our Canadian debit card. Two out of two times so far.

We went back to the room and packed things up. The bus to Salento was supposed to leave the terminal at 11:30am, and we wanted to be there early in case it fills up. Supposedly there's not another one until 4:30pm.

We've had enough of city life...

When we woke up yesterday morning, the sun was shining. We were trying to decide between a walk up the road into the hills behind the hostel, or a walk into downtown to see the cathedral. I checked google maps, and the road up into the hills only goes for 2 kms (1.3 miles) so we decided to head into the city.

Pereira is a modern looking city of about 380,000 people. Not a lot to do here in the city itself, and it's certainly not on the radar for most visitors to Colombia.

A lot of effort goes into the perfect cup of Colombian coffee!

What a fun and interesting day we had yesterday! No trip to Colombia is complete without a visit to a coffee farm, and when we heard great reviews about a small family run operation that was nearby, we knew this was the perfect one for us.

Don Manolo coffee farm is located just ten minutes outside the Pereira city center. It cost 9,000 pesos ($4.41 CAD) to take a taxi from Hostal Kolibri to the farm itself.

Travel day! Manizales to Pereira, Colombia.

We got up yesterday morning, had the included hostel breakfast at Hostal Kaleidoscopio, and asked the owner Martha if we had time to go for a walk to the monument overlook before check out time. She said "sure", and so we got our bags packed first, and then went for a walk.

This is the monument we were trying to get to a couple of days ago when it started raining and then we were sidetracked by paranoia!

Change of plans

Originally, we were planning on going from here (Manizales) directly to Salento. However staying at a hostel means that you're often talking to other travelers from around the world and sometimes that can give you ideas for different things to do in the area.

I had read that Pereira was more of a working class town, and there's not a lot to do there. But we spoke to five young guys visiting from Ireland and they had toured a small coffee plantation near Pereira and they insisted that it was such a good tour that we really should do it.

So we are going to!

Better to be cautious...

Yesterday morning we did some internet and then went to the common room for breakfast. Breakfast is included in our room cost of 60,000 pesos ($28.00 CAD) here at Kaleidoscopio Hostel, and our host Martha even cooks it for you.

She was a little surprised when we asked for arepas instead of toast...most people want the tourist breakfast. And she was so apologetic that she didn't have any and promised to have some for this morning's breakfast.

October Expenses

Yes, I know...we never did publish our September expense report. I've been trying to be so good about that too, because I know that some of you are interested.

But rather than rehash old news, I'll just give you the total. We spent about $1,400 CAD in September. About $550 of that was motorhome related...new shocks, a new inverter, and the inspection and registration for Saskatchewan plates. Not a bad month overall...I wish October had been that cheap!

Travel day! Medellin to Manizales...

Yesterday was a travel day for us. It's only 192 kms (119 miles) from Medellin to Manizales, but it's on a twisty two lane mountain road where you're lucky to get over 60 km/h (36 mph).

Lots of beautiful scenery though, to keep you occupied for the four to five hour bus ride!

Grocery shopping in Medellin, Colombia

Yesterday was a day of rest...up until we had to climb the hill back up to the house where we've been staying!

The city of Medellin is in a valley, but the suburbs have grown up into the very steep hills of the surrounding mountains. So it's not bad walking down to the grocery store, but walking back up is definitely exercise.

The best view in the world?

Maybe. It certainly ranks right up there among the best views that we've ever seen.

Yesterday we did a day trip to El Penol and the little tourist town of Guatape. El Penol is a rock monolith that has 740 steps that you can climb to get to the top, and it overlooks a beautiful lake that was formed when the Colombian government built a hydro electric dam in the early 1970's.

Exploring central Medellin

Spent the day yesterday exploring central Medellin. The temperature has been great...lows at night around 16C (62F) and highs during the day around 25C (77F). But, it's only just now getting towards the end of rainy season, so although it can be nice and sunny one minute, it can be raining the next minute.

And that's pretty much what happened yesterday.