Villavieja, Colombia's desert

We left Bogota and were heading in the direction of San Agustin to the south west but would be sipping half way to experience the sights on offer. We were travelling in the same direction as an old railway line most of which had disappeared except a few bridges and roads or footpaths in towns where the tracks had been. Evidence of the old railway line including rails.

Most cities and towns seemed to boast a roundabout with some form of adornment in the middle...and here in Episnal was another one...depicting a farmer and some sacks of produce.

The terrain was getting flatter and drier.

And despite the supposed lack of water, here were some fish farms en route.

We were bumping along a dirt track to get to our destination and suddenly we turned a corner and there was a tunnel through a hill...

followed by a bridge across a wide river, Rio Magdalena...

with views up and down the river...

And then we got to the point the journey...Colombia's desert. Although it is not actually a desert as the area receives 1070mm of rain a year, but most of it is captured by the mountains and flows into the rivers and the area between the two mountain ranges is caught in a rain shadow. Rather than water the land, the water runs off into the rivers so there is water for fish farming and rice paddies next to the rivers but other areas are left dry. The area is technically a semi arid tropical forest.

But it looks like a desert to me!

We stopped in the town of Villavieja in the square dominated by the church and other than a small palaeontology museum, there is little else of interest for the tourist.

Then it was off deep into the 'desert' to see some of the unusual formations, the cacti and other flora and fauna.

The area is reputed to have little light pollution and is an excellent area for star gazing and we passed two mall observatories as we made our way through the desert, still bumping along dirt tracks.

It was more than an hour before we arrived at where we were going to camp and went for a walk. There was a trail nd the local landowner had used a local spring to build a swimming pool for hikers and another thing that you don't often see in a desert.

Then it was on down the valley, It was a long circular route to take trekkers past some of the interesting sights, such as these unusually weathered rock formations in cliffs...

some pinnacles of rocks...

and more stand alone pinnacles...

Some of the cacti were starting to flower such as these barrel cacti but there best show would be in a weeks time.

The narrow gorge widened into a flat valley with low sides.

And there were more strange rocks...

and a close up of some some pebbles embedded in the sandstone.

And lastly a picture of me on the right and my tent buddy, Shane in the white T-shirt and our faithful tent, named Spider Monkey which has served well over the last eight months and this was also to be our last night under canvas so it was farewell to Spider Monkey.

Bogota

We left Solento and the coffee growing area and took the main road eastwards towards the capital Bogota. We went through some beautiful mountains although the road had a lot of twists and turns plus some slow steep gradients. There were some major engineering works to improve the route, to shorten transit times and to reduce both gradients and mileage but not all of the pieces of the new road were ready although I could see some long finished stretches.

We arrived in Bogota in the late afternoon and explored the area immediately around the hostel. The next morning I went on a walking tour of the city starting in a nearby park.

I saw a patrol car with armed soldiers but they were the first that we had seen since the border and after a couple of times around the square, I never saw any more.

There was plenty to see such as the oldest church in the capital. In the same square were also the offices of El Tiempo, one off the most popular and influential newspapers in the country, the head office of the Banco del Republica, the national bank and the bishops palace.

Just a short walk further on is the site where Jorge Gaitan was assassinated. He was the leader of the Liberals and was popular with the lower paid and peasants. His rivals, the Conservatives regarded him as dangerous especially as he was taking about land reform which was popular with the peasant farmers but would upset the landowners within the Conservative party. Even the Liberals thought that he was a dangerous loose cannon as he would often go off script and was a great orator who stirred those listening to his speeches. Even the Communists thought little of him.

No surprise therefore that he was assassinated whilst walking the streets in central Bogota. This lead to rioting in which 2,500 people were killed and hundreds of buildings in the city centre were burnt. It also started a period of ten years of civil strife. It also explains where so many of the city centre buildings are more modern than one would expect.

A view of the financial district of the city where many of the buildings are built in sandstone and date from the 1950's except for the pretty little building in the centre of the photo, one of the few older buildings in the area.

Then it was on to the central square with the main cathedral, to the right, the bishops palace,

government buildings both here and...

opposite the cathedral which used to be a department store built of wood, which burnt done and was replaced with this brick building which was half offices nd half shop until the government slowly took more and more space.

A museum to the left of the cathedral which I didn't have time to visit.

A fantastic restaurant next to the cathedral...

where I had Ajiaco Santafereno, a great milky dish with types of potato, chicken, a corn cob and a gorgeous flavour. Although it as also served with rice and avocado so it was very filling.

                                     
And the menu was so good and full of local dishes that I went back to have a tamale which was also very filling.

I also made a particular point of visiting the gold museum which of course is one of my favourite metals. It has four and a half floors of gold objects on view, part of a collection of more than 55,000 items. It is a great collection and I must have spent a whole day reading the labels, learning about how the various different societies traded, mined, smelted the metal and how skilled goldsmiths fashioned some wonderful pieces of art.  And all too soon it was time to leave Bogota for the deserts of Villavieja.

Solento, central Colombia in Zona Cafetera

We left Medellin and went through the mountains to the south with some stunning views in between the trees.

 All the rivers were swollen with the recent rains.

 And we were going through the major coffee growing area and there were coffee bushes everywhere.

 We arrived in Solento and found an area that specialises in fast food, cocktails and beer which was were we would be eating that evening.

 We were exploring the town and in the main plaza were several Jeeps. We would be taking one of these up into the mountains the next day. We were going on a trek and the only way to get there is by four wheel drive.

 On our way up into the mountains we followed a herd of horses being rounded up by motorcycle. There was horse riding available but we were trekking.

 We started our trek and were accompanied on the first section by a mule which was collecting milk from various farms along the track.

 The valley was beautiful, helped by some strong early morning sunlight.

 Along the skyline were some waxy palms  which we would see more of later in the day.

The path climbed into the forest and soon we were crossing streams and trying to walk around muddy sections.

 There were numerous bridges and I lost track of how many there were.

 Ans several crossings were just logs.

 Late morning after climbing high into the hills and the altitude was beginning to take its toll, we arrived at the humming bird sanctuary. There were some great sights but my spare camera wasn't up to the job and so only a few photos were worth keeping.

And the cafe at the sanctuary offered a local drink, hot chocolate with a slice of cheese in it.

We walked on to Valle de Cocoa where there are a number of tall waxy palms. Again there were horses but I was walking.

One of the tall waxy palms.

A general view of the valley through some trees.

Waxy palms on the horizon on a ridge.

More waxy palms.

Next day was a coffee plantation tour to see how the bushes are planted, cared for and finally after three years they yield a crop of red berries.

The coffee beans in various stages of production between red beans to roasted coffee.

Red beans on a bush.

The first of four layers is taken off. Then the beans are soaked and washed overnight to remove a sugar layer which is not wanted as part of the bean.

The beans are dried for a fortnight and here two people are grading the beans by hand.

Then a grinding process removes another layer.

The beans from raw green beans through mature red beans and then the various processes to remove layers and finally...

Roasting which removes the final layer and gives the coffee its taste and determines the amount of caffeine in the final product. A light roasting gives more flavour and less caffeine whilst longer roasting results in more caffeine and a less subtle flavour.

So there is a lot that goes into making a coffee so don't begrudge the cost of a bag of beans next time you are in the shops!