Today I went for a day hike in the valley of Cocora. Locally, it is advertised as one of the most beautiful landscapes in Colombia, so I was curious to see it. Of course, I'm no judge of Colombian landscapes yet, having been here only for a couple of days. But I have to say that the hike was definitely worthwhile!
The hike went along the valley for a while, then up through cloud forest until almost 3000 meters of altitude, and then back down again through meadows with huge wax palms.
Through all of the cloud forest, there was a variety of butterflies around, and some even sat still long enough for me to take a picture.
At the first rest break, an ecological farm called Acaime, they had put up bird feeders - but for a special kind of birds. So instead of the usual grains, the feeders contained sugary water to attract hummingbirds, who feed on nectar, not grains. When I was standing still close to the feeders for a while, the hummingbirds started humming around my head. Hearing their wings flap so close to me was pretty amazing!
The way back down offered spectacular views of the valley below, the hiking path being clearly visible even from up there.
And then, the final highlight: wax palms! They are palms that grow as tall as sixty meters, making them pretty hard to photograph from up close.
The last part of the hike then went through this lovely valley with green meadows and wax palms scattered all over.
I even got to walk up to the palms and examine their bark up close. Along the entire length of the stem, there were rings where some kind of moss or lichen grew, alternating with regular bark. I figure the rings are where branches used to be attached before the palm got taller and the lower branches dropped; now these rings seem to offer something in terms of nourishment that regular bark doesn't. Interesting, isn't it?
The hike went along the valley for a while, then up through cloud forest until almost 3000 meters of altitude, and then back down again through meadows with huge wax palms.
Through all of the cloud forest, there was a variety of butterflies around, and some even sat still long enough for me to take a picture.
At the first rest break, an ecological farm called Acaime, they had put up bird feeders - but for a special kind of birds. So instead of the usual grains, the feeders contained sugary water to attract hummingbirds, who feed on nectar, not grains. When I was standing still close to the feeders for a while, the hummingbirds started humming around my head. Hearing their wings flap so close to me was pretty amazing!
The way back down offered spectacular views of the valley below, the hiking path being clearly visible even from up there.
And then, the final highlight: wax palms! They are palms that grow as tall as sixty meters, making them pretty hard to photograph from up close.
The last part of the hike then went through this lovely valley with green meadows and wax palms scattered all over.
I even got to walk up to the palms and examine their bark up close. Along the entire length of the stem, there were rings where some kind of moss or lichen grew, alternating with regular bark. I figure the rings are where branches used to be attached before the palm got taller and the lower branches dropped; now these rings seem to offer something in terms of nourishment that regular bark doesn't. Interesting, isn't it?
