Foothills of the Andes and Cocora Valley/Wax Palm Trees

This is just a quick post to let you know we are fine.  Still running around Colombia.  We got tied up on some dirt roads that ended 5 miles in and other dirt roads that were closed because of landslides.  We ended up backtracking and had to ride through Medellin traffic anyway, as much as we tried to avoid it.  We have spent the last few days in a little town called Salento,  which is more or less the gateway to the Cocora Valley which leads to Los Nevados National Park.  This area is famous for the wax palm, which is the national tree of Colombia as well as the most scenic area in Colombia.  The wax palm tree is unique in the fact that it grows taller than the forest canopy all around it.  We went for a five hour hike up and down the mountains checking out the scenery. We were hiking at 7-8000 foot elevation in a cloud forest.  We should be moving on in a day or two,  we want to go horseback riding tomorrow.   That should be an adventure,  I've never been on a horse except for a short ride on the back with my cousin when I was a kid.  So, not many captions, just some scenery and then the palm forest hike.  

 

Now for pictures from the hike...