Although we left Popayan early in the morning we arrived at the
Monteroca Camping site near Salento early in the afternoon in time to unload the
truck and get everyone sorted out. We were to do our own cooking there so the
truck was just about empty when all the bits had been removed. Some decided to
be in the normal tents, some slept in hammocks, others shared a permanently put
up tent with beds in while I upgraded to a forest house up on the hill over the
camping area. It was quite a weird place as every part was surrounded by barbed
and razor wire, to keep the campers in or others out I don't know. It was
somewhat extreme anyway!
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| The house on the hill |
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| The house on the hill |
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| The shower |
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| My bed upstairs |
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| The bottom bed |
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| The view from the verandah looking down on the camping site |
There was confusion as to who was to go where and how much it was going to cost. This together with not being able to get the truck onto the camping ground, the poor access and parking will probably mean that future trips will not go to the site. As there was a much better site across the river with quad and mountain bikes, horses for hire and cafes and restaurants it seems illogical to go to the Monterca site again.
The following day we went early up to the Cloud Forest in the Colca Valley.
Here we walked for a few hours looking at the Wax Palm trees which are the
tallest palm tree on earth growing to 70 metres (230 feet) in height and living
for up to 100 years. They are also the only palm tree growing at this altitude of
2400 to 2700 metres (7900 to 8900 feet ). The trees are now protected by law aas through
the centuries they were damaged and decimated by the people wanting the palms for
decorations on Palm Sunday.
After the walk we went into Salento town for lunch and then to see coffee
processed in a laboratory. Some was offered for people to taste. I do not
like coffee so had none. The truck had a terrible time manoeuvring round the
town’s narrow roads and the country lanes to the walking area, local transport
would have been more practical for us.
There was quite a bit of large sized bamboo growing around the countryside and it was noticeable how it was used for building work and fencing.
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| Colca Valley |
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| Colca Valley |
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| The wax palms in Colca Valley |
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| Showing the height of the palms |
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| The town square |
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| Toy car being pushed round |
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| The church |
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| The nave |
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| A stained glass window |
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| Coffee is served |
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| Street scenes |
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| And the dog watched everything |
There was quite a bit of large sized bamboo growing around the countryside and it was noticeable how it was used for building work and fencing.
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