September was a month of weekend travels for us! Since this was our second month here in Colombia, Conor and I felt ready to branch out and adventure beyond Cali to explore some of the close-ish destinations recommended by veteran teachers at school.
Our first trip was to Salento, a small town west of Bogota known for gorgeous hiking, wax palm trees, and coffee farms. Conor and I were excited to get out of the city and explore, and the icing on the cake was that Tim, Conor's friend from college, was visiting! The three of us left straight from school on Friday afternoon. Once we were in Salento, our hostel, El Viajero, welcomed us with fresh coffee and gorgeous views of the rolling mountains. The cool air was a refreshing change from the humidity of the city, and the local specialty, garlic trout (trucha de ajo), left us stuffed...and badly needing some minty gum.
We devoted Saturday to the famous Valle de Cocora hike, and luckily, my gastrointestinal region was in tip top shape this time (see previous post for counter anecdote). The hike itself began in the valley, and increased in altitude and difficulty. Sketchy (yet beautiful) swinging bridges connected the trail over the rivers that rushed down the mountain, and Conor and I pretended we were on The Amazing Race as we shimmied across the planks. Three hours in, we took a detour to the Hummingbird House, and for just $5.000 pesos (less than $2 US Dollars), we were granted access to swarms of hummingbirds and complementary hot chocolate and cheese. When we finally got to the top of the mountain, I had to lay down on a bench because the altitude increase literally took my breath away. At the very end, we finally reached the wax palm trees, and with their skinny tree trunks and funny tufts of leaves on top they looked like something out of a Doctor Seuss book!
Another highlight of the Salento trip was visiting the Ocaso coffee farm our tour was led by one human tour guide, and...wait for it...three adorable dog tour guides! We learned about the coffee growing process, and even picked our own beans. Fun fact: Colombia is one of the world's top coffee producing countries, exporting about 810,000 metric tons (1,785,744,000 pounds) a year! Poor Tim got a little flustered when I suddenly shoved some coffee beans into his back pocket (a fellow teacher with a farm asked me to "borrow" some for him to grow). Since I didn't have any pockets (stupid girl pants), I figured Tim would be the next best option! Luckily when he refused to be my accomplice (you know I didn't even bother to ask Conor), I was able to smuggle them into my backpack.
High on life, and maybe coffee, on the the way back I was brave enough to ride standing up on the back of a Willy. Willy isn't a person, it's just what Colombians call the Jeeps converted into minibuses that are the main form of transportation in Salento. Standing on the back basically feels like tubing behind a boat since the ground is rushing under you and the wind is in your hair- see picture below for a visual!
The second trip we took in the month of September was to Calima, a nearby lake region famous for water sports. A group of teachers from school decided to rent out a finca (Spanish for ranch) in celebration of our friend Merri's birthday. With over twenty people going in on the house (and the exchange rate in our favor), we were able to afford a place that looked like it was straight out of Beverly Hills! The view was fantastic, and the sunsets over the lake dotted with with palm trees made us feel like we were truly in paradise. And oh, the steam room with fresh eucalyptus wasn't too shabby either!
Frills aside, this trip was also a wonderful chance to unwind and get to know the other teachers at school. We played lots of board games out on the terrace (Conor obviously brought Catan), swam in the pool, and danced our hearts out to an epic playlist both nights. The best part, however, was a friend brought his adorable, wiggly puppy with him. I promptly snuggled Chon, short for chontaduro (a Colombian fruit) every chance I got. I'm not sure if this made me miss our puppy less or more, but when I got a little teary, Conor reminded me that my parents are taking good care of our dog, Scout, back in Connecticut.
Favorites:
-Celebrating Conor's birthday with our new friends (I got him a Harry Potter book in Spanish, and Tim brought him pretzels...SOS THERE ARE NO PRETZELS HERE)
-Making gazpacho with fresh veggies from the biggest open air farmer's market I've ever seen, Galeria Alameda
-Our first school Sports Day (a big field day celebration...and at our school it happens twice a year, even in high school!)
-Another first- running the Hash Run (an adult game of tag/hide and go seek...I'll do a whole post on this later)
-Conor swinging in our indoor hammock while watching the Patriots
Getting Schooled:
Runner Up: Iguanas at school deciding to make their prime bathroom stop the sidewalk directly outside my classroom.
Explanation: See email
Winner: Our good friend, Hannah, getting trapped on the Recreativo bus, while I tried get it to stop by running after it with my arms outstretched, frantically calling "Hannah! Hannah!" Spoiler- the bus didn't stop.
Explanation: Okay. Let me start by saying that navigating public transportation in a new city can be pretty daunting. Colombia is jam packed when it comes to traffic, so much so in fact that they have a rotating day here where certain license plate numbers can't drive during the busiest hours of the day. One day after school, Conor, Hannah and I couldn't get an Uber to save our lives...enter the Recreativo.
The Recreativo is basically the most Colombian thing ever- a series of buses donning bright colors with no designated bus stops. Yet, these majestic autos are completely functional and do a solid job of getting people where they need to go. On this fateful day, Conor and I convinced a reluctant Hannah to take one with us. We saw it, ran like maniacs, waved it down, and hopped on. Unluckily for us, we didn't fully connect the dots that it was rush hour, until roughly about twenty more people hopped on after us. Soon bodies filled the aisle, and every nook and cranny with limbs- it was standing room only. Just when we thought the bus was bulging at the seams, even more people got on. At this point, Hannah slowly turned around and looked back at me with huge, panicky bug eyes. #clausterphobic. Sorry Hannah!
Once we were in our neighborhood, Conor pressed the stop button about fifty times. The bus driver got the hint, and the bus screeched to a halt. Conor and I squish/slinked our way to the back door, and gratefully inhaled city air once we were off. Suddenly, I realized Hannah wasn't next to me, and looked up to see her through the bus window, still trapped! She was totally squished between bodies, even more bug eyed than before. The bus pulled away with Hannah still inside and I ran after it, like a nut case, naively thinking I could slow it down. Cue all other pedestrians staring at me like I had two heads.
Lesson Learned: Don't take the Recreativo during rush hour.