Hiking in Cocora Valley, meeting condors, hummingbirds and coatis

The Cocora Valley is a natural jewel of Colombia and a cool place for hiking. The vistas of green rolling hills and needle-like palm trees are breathtaking. The place is way too touristic though, just like Salento, the town nearby.

The Cocora valley (Spanish: Valle de Cocora) is a valley in the department of Quindío in the country of Colombia. It is located in the Central Cordillera of the Andean mountains. "Cocora" was the name of a Quimbayan princess, daughter of the local chief Acaime, and means "star of water" (Spanish: estrella de agua). The valley is part of the Los Nevados National Natural Park, incorporated into the existing national park by the Colombian government in 1985. It is the principal location of the national tree and symbol of Colombia, the Quindío wax palm (Ceroxylon quindiuense), as well as a wide variety of other flora and fauna (some endangered), all of which are protected under the park's national status.

Source

There was not much going on those two days that we spent in the nature's arms, no crazy adventures this time. All I got to show is some comfy photos from the hike in the valley, some hummingbirds and coatis.

^{As we arrive the valley greets us with perfect weather, indeed, we were very lucky with the conditions this time}

^{That's an Andean condor}

^{The iconic Quindío wax palms, the national Colombian tree}

^{A corpse of a cow, that has fallen from a height. A lot of vultures were feeding on it and more were circling above.}

^{Our lunch in the Andes}

^{First hummingbird encounters}

^{And shrooms too}

^{A hummingbird nest with a chick or two}

^{The hummingbird sanctuary, Acaime. We spent a night in the camping they have on-site}

^{This is not a trash panda, these things are called coatis, apparently}

^{They come during the day and night to feed on the leftovers from the kitchen.}

^{From a viewpoint in Salento}

^{And Salento itself since I mentioned it more than once}

And so went our hike, we went in on the Saturday, spent a night at the hummingbird sanctuary and returned back the next day. To those who are planning to go trekking there, I have an advice to not go on weekends as there will be too many people around.

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