{"id":14191,"date":"2014-03-31T10:08:53","date_gmt":"2014-03-31T15:08:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/seecolombia.travel\/blog\/?p=14191"},"modified":"2016-03-31T12:22:50","modified_gmt":"2016-03-31T17:22:50","slug":"cocora-valley","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/seecolombia.travel\/blog\/2014\/03\/cocora-valley\/","title":{"rendered":"The Cocora Valley: One of Colombia&#8217;s Natural Wonders"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Colombia is home to a <strong>startling abundance of spectacular natural phenomena<\/strong>: vast coastal deserts, diverse coral reefs, rainforests teeming with life, and a remarkable array of birds, plants and animals. Which is why choosing a favourite spot amongst these wonders is an almost impossible task. However,<strong> you&#8217;d be hard pressed to find a more beautiful (and surprising) place than the <i>Valle del Cocora<\/i>, or Cocora Valley<\/strong>. The valley is located near Salento in Colombia&#8217;s verdant Coffee Triangle, and must surely rank as <strong>a Colombian travel highlight.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Cocora is probably best known for its <strong>gigantic wax palm trees, the national tree of Colombia<\/strong> in fact. These trees, also known as the Quindio Wax Palm (or <i>Ceroxylon quindiuense<\/i>, Latin fans!) have been known to grow as high as 200ft (60 meters), and are <strong>unique in the wild to the Cocora Valley.<\/strong> You might spot the occasional ornamental one in California or Australia, but for the real thing you&#8217;ll have to visit Colombia. They were first observed in 1801 by Alexander Von Humboldt (definitely in my Top 5 explorers&#8230;), and<strong> they are now a government protected species.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_14195\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-14195\" style=\"width: 600px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"http:\/\/seecolombia.travel\/blog\/2014\/03\/the-cocora-valley-one-of-colombias-natural-wonders\/chris-and-wax-palm\/\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-14195\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-14195\" src=\"http:\/\/seecolombia.travel\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/Chris-and-wax-palm.jpg\" alt=\"Chris and wax palm in Cocora\" width=\"600\" height=\"800\" srcset=\"https:\/\/seecolombia.travel\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/Chris-and-wax-palm.jpg 600w, https:\/\/seecolombia.travel\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/Chris-and-wax-palm-225x300.jpg 225w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-14195\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Wax palms in Cocora (spot the blogger!)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>But enough with the science, <strong>we&#8217;re a travel blog after all!<\/strong> The best way to visit the valley is to stay in Salento, <a href=\"http:\/\/seecolombia.travel\/blog\/2013\/05\/living-in-a-coffee-paradise-salento-colombia\/\" target=\"_blank\">worth a day or two in itself<\/a>, and wake up nice and early to catch a truck up to the valley. The truck will take about half an hour and cost you the princely sum of 3,000 COP. Once you&#8217;re there you have a number of options: the first is to be super lazy and stand around the entrance photographing wax palms. Where&#8217;s the adventure in that though? Therefore, I&#8217;d recommend numbers 2 or 3: <strong>a day-hike all through the valley, or some horseback riding along the lovely rural paths traversing this wonderful natural spectacle<\/strong>. Much more travellery, right?! I&#8217;m rather partial to a bit of a hike myself, so this is the option I went for on my visit, and it was <strong>well worth the time and energy.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_14198\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-14198\" style=\"width: 800px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"http:\/\/seecolombia.travel\/blog\/2014\/03\/the-cocora-valley-one-of-colombias-natural-wonders\/cocora-valley-scenery\/\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-14198\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-14198\" src=\"http:\/\/seecolombia.travel\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/Cocora-Valley-Scenery.jpg\" alt=\"Cocora Valley Scenery\" width=\"800\" height=\"600\" srcset=\"https:\/\/seecolombia.travel\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/Cocora-Valley-Scenery.jpg 800w, https:\/\/seecolombia.travel\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/Cocora-Valley-Scenery-300x225.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-14198\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Beautiful verdant scenery in the Cocora Valley<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Not to worry if you&#8217;re not in the same peak physical condition as I am though: the hike is relatively gentle, with a couple of short, steep uphills. However, it&#8217;s not a huge distance so you can<strong> take your time and stretch the journey out over the day.<\/strong> You&#8217;ll want plenty of time to stop and enjoy the scenery. A good time estimate would be between 5 to 7 hours, but this is when taking your time and not going on some endurance trek. A <strong>particular highlight comes around half way through the day<\/strong>, when a sign will direct you on a slight detour to a place named Acaime: contrary to everything that horror movies have taught me&#8230;DO take the detour through the forest! <strong>After a short climb through some cloud forest you&#8217;ll come to a pretty little <i>finca<\/i><\/strong>, where you&#8217;ll be offered a steaming mug of hot chocolate and cheese for about a dollar. That&#8217;s not all though: at the <i>finca<\/i> you&#8217;ll be treated to <strong>the stirring sight of at least 10 different species of hummingbirds feeding in close proximity to your seat<\/strong>. It&#8217;s a great photo op, and a brilliant chance to tick a few more of <a href=\"http:\/\/seecolombia.travel\/blog\/2012\/04\/bird-watching-in-colombia-the-best-in-the-world\/\" target=\"_blank\">Colombia&#8217;s near 1,900 bird species<\/a> off your list. Even for a non-bird enthusiast <strong>it&#8217;s tough not to appreciate the sights of these little birds buzzing around, flashing their lovely iridescent colours in the sun<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_14194\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-14194\" style=\"width: 800px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"http:\/\/seecolombia.travel\/blog\/2014\/03\/the-cocora-valley-one-of-colombias-natural-wonders\/hummingbird-cocora-valley\/\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-14194\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-14194\" src=\"http:\/\/seecolombia.travel\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/Hummingbird-Cocora-Valley.jpg\" alt=\"Hummingbird Cocora Valley\" width=\"800\" height=\"600\" srcset=\"https:\/\/seecolombia.travel\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/Hummingbird-Cocora-Valley.jpg 800w, https:\/\/seecolombia.travel\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/Hummingbird-Cocora-Valley-300x225.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-14194\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Just one of the hummingbirds you can spot in the Cocora Valley<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Then it&#8217;s on to the wax palms. <strong>The most spectacular concentration of these trees comes towards the end of the hike<\/strong>, when you&#8217;ll wander through a lush stretch of the valley, dwarfed by the hundreds of almost prehistoric palms surrounding you. <strong>It&#8217;s quite simply a unique natural experience<\/strong>, and certainly <strong>a Colombian highlight for all those who take the trip<\/strong>. They might not be as famous as the redwood or Joshua tree (thanks U2!), but Colombia&#8217;s wax palms rival any natural phenomenon in the world for uniqueness, beauty and scale. <strong>Just one more reason amongst many to come to Colombia&#8230;<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Chris<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&nbsp; Colombia is home to a startling abundance of spectacular natural phenomena: vast coastal deserts, diverse coral reefs, rainforests teeming with life, and a remarkable array of birds, plants and animals. Which is why choosing a favourite spot amongst these wonders is an almost impossible task. However, you&#8217;d be hard pressed to find a more [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":14192,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0},"categories":[33,18,4,1],"tags":[2777,2936,2866,2891,2863],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v18.4 (Yoast SEO v18.9) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>The Cocora Valley: One of Colombia&#039;s Natural Wonders - Colombia Travel Blog by See Colombia Travel<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/seecolombia.travel\/blog\/2014\/03\/cocora-valley\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Cocora Valley: One of Colombia&#039;s Natural Wonders\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"&nbsp; Colombia is home to a startling abundance of spectacular natural phenomena: vast coastal deserts, diverse coral reefs, rainforests teeming with life, and a remarkable array of birds, plants and animals. 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