The Best Two Days in Salento Colombia

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quindio wax palms in carbonera valley — *The town is famous for the Quindio Wax Palms, which can grow to over 200 feet tall!*

Salento Colombia is one of several towns in the Eje Cafetera, or Coffee Axis, that is visited for its charm and colorful buildings. The town is small, but full of restaurants and hotels. There’s also several well-known destinations nearby, including the renowned Cocora Valley (but I’ll tell you about a better place!).

Getting there

The most common way to get to Salento is to fly to Pereira and then take either a bus or a taxi to Salento. From the Pereira airport, you’ll have to take a taxi to the bus station. Negotiate a price before you get in; it should be around 14,000 COP. Buses run about every hour between 6:30am and 7:30pm. It will take about and hour and a half to get to Salento.

Salento is also accessible from the town/airport of Armenia, which is to the south. We took a taxi to Armenia and flew out of its airport to Bogota. I don’t think there’s public transportation between Armenia and Salento.

Where to Stay

The jacuzzi and views from Kawa Mountain Hotel — *You can reserve the jacuzzi and enjoy the views at Kawa Mountain Hotel*

We stayed at Hotel Kawa Mountain Retreat in the Deluxe Double Room with Balcony (king size bed). This was not really a budget stay at $88/night, but it was very luxurious for the price. All of the staff were very courteous and helpful. It was at the same service-level of something you’d pay several hundred dollars a night for in the US.

The room at Kawa Mountain Hotel — *The balcony has a hammock and overlooks a valley. You can hear the river below.*

It is on the edge of town but is accessible to the city center by about a 15-minute walk, thanks to an internal trail connecting the hotel to the city’s mirador. There are stairs and some steep inclines to get to and from town.

Breakfast is included and all the food was absolutely wonderful. We stayed here 3 nights and I highly recommend it. My mom still dreams of it and is trying to convince my dad that the stairs aren’t so bad.

What to do

If you only have two days to spend in Salento, I recommend visiting the Carbonera Valley and visiting a coffee farm.

See the Wax Palms

Carbonera Valley wax palms — *The lesser known Carbonera Valley*

One of the most popular things to do in Salento is to hike through the wax palm forest in Cocora Valley. I had been planning to do this, but other travelers we met recommended that we visit the Carbonera Valley instead. There are about 2000 Quindio palms in Cocora and over two million in Carbonera!

Coincidentally, our hotel advertised a full day tour in Carbonera which was a walking and vehicle tour. They picked us up in the morning and drove us through the valley. We had lunch at a community member’s house at the bottom of the valley, had some time to walk around ourselves, and then headed back. The only negative is that it was a lot of time in the car (2 hours each way), but I think the views make up for it.

yellow-eared parrots in the carbonera valley — *The extremely rare Yellow-eared Parrot! Do you see both?*

I got to see several exciting bird species here, including the yellow-eared parrot! This endangered bird only exists in wax palm forests and is therefore extremely restricted in range.

If vehicle tours aren’t your thing (I get it), it’s also possible to visit the Carbonera Valley on a mountain bike! They drive you to the top and you get to ride down. It sounded really fun, but be prepare to get muddy!

Visit a Coffee Farm

Coffee farm near salento — *Las Acacias Coffee Farm near Salento*

The other activity we did in Salento was a horseback ride to a coffee farm. There had been so much rain that the river wasn’t crossable on horseback, so our tour was longer than usual. We both decided horseback riding wasn’t for us.

The coffee farm was interesting to learn about and they had bird feeders up! We also scheduled this tour through our hotel. There are several coffee farms around, so plenty to choose from!

horseback tour to a coffee farm in salento — *We decided afterwards that horseback riding wasn’t for us*, *yet somehow I found myself back on horse a week later in Manizales*

Birds

I was starting to see a lot of the same birds, but the most exciting ones were the Yellow-eared Parrot and Beryl-spangled Tanager. Both of which I saw in the Carbonera Valley. The birding at Kawa Mountain was also very good.

Full list:

Bay-headed Tanager
Beryl-spangled Tanager
Black Vulture
Blackburnian Warbler
Collared Inca
Glossy-black Thrush
Green Honeycreeper
Green Jay
Palm Tanager
Torrent Duck
Yellow-eared Parrot

Plants in a trunk at Kawa Mountain in Salento Colombia Hotel — *I loved the plants at Kawa Hotel*

Have more time?

If you have more time, here are a few additional suggestions of things to do in Salento Colombia. I only had two full days here, but if I go back these are some things I’d look into.

Play a game of Tejo

If you have more energy than I do, head to Los Amigos Bar to play a round of Tejo in the evening. It’s kind of like horses, but there’s gunpowder involved so it makes a bang when you hit the target. It’s a popular game throughout Colombia.

Visit Los Nevados National Park

There is an entrance into Los Nevados National Park in the Cocora Valley. There are multi-day treks available into the park. The area is prone to heavy fog and it is required to visit with a guide.

Go on a Birding Tour!

If I go back to the area, I would definitely want to go on this tour. Throughout my whole time in the Antioquia region, I never got to go on a true birding tour, just a lot of solo birding with the help of Merlin.