Salento: The town of coffee, expats, and palm trees

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The coffee process from leaves to grounds

The coffee process from leaves to grounds

Salento is a lot of foreigners’ favorite place in Colombia, and yet most Colombians in Bogota have never even heard of it, much less can point to it on a map. Largely popularized by expat investors and small business owners, the town in the cafeteria between Armenia and Pereira is a gorgeous spot where visitors can enjoy an abundance of visual and gustatory delights.

Much of Salento’s development over the past ten years has been credited to Tim Edwards, the owner of Plantation House, a hostel and coffee farm at the edge of the town. A stay at the Plantation House will set you back about 30,000 pesos a person, depending on the room you reserve, and a 10,000 COP tour of the coffee farm is a must. You’ll learn all about the cultivation of coffee from seed to grounds and finish the morning off with a beautiful cup of fresh brew.

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Caño Cristales: Colombia’s Slice of Paradise

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A section of Caño Cristales

Water flows through magnificent rock formations at Caño Cristales

It’s been called the River of Seven Colors, the Most Beautiful River in the World, and the River that Ran Away from Paradise, but superlatives don’t even begin to do Caño Cristales justice. Located in the Serrania de la Macarena in the Meta region of Colombia, about 170 miles south of Bogota, Caño Cristales is a natural wonder that has yet to be seen by too many eyes. Due to the Meta region’s history of guerilla violence, it has developed an unsavory reputation and has been isolated for many years. However, now under the control of the Colombian army, the region is much more secure and is a growing destination for ecotourism.

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A Homecoming in Brower Park

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Elia is finishing the night shift at the hospital, her petite body exhausted from the work of the past 12 hours. She peels off her scrubs, leaving them in a pile on the locker room floor. She puts on her street clothes and thinks about her current patients: the young girl whose foot was severed in a bicycle accident, the comatose father of two who fell off a ladder while building a tree house, the infant boy injured in a freak crib collapse. As their faces flash in her mind, her heart hurts for their loved ones.

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My Jenny

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She’s beautiful, with soft, blonde hair and enormous brown eyes that seem to fall out of her head. Her face looks hard and rough at first, a result of her laborious life working in the mountains. But at night, when I am holding her, when sleep fills those cavernous orbs and she rests her head on my chest, she becomes soft and vulnerable. I stare at her, sexual satisfaction weighing my body down, and I know that my purpose in life is to be with her and to protect her. She is my Jenny.

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