Salento

On the first day we walked down a muddy track to find an organic coffee farm. The tour was almost too good as I can't remember most of the details but basically they are trying to recreate an older system of coffee growing. The Arabica coffee they grow needs shade, for which they grow native trees and they use other plants to fix nutrients instead of chemical fertilisers. The coffee was good too, I bought two bags.

Today we went to the Cocorra valley. Starting with a half hour jeep ride, which so full I had to stand on the back board - great fun winding along the mountain roads. Then it was a five hour hike, up a river valley crossing several times  on hanging bridges with gaps in them. Up to a hummingbird sanctuary where you can drink hot chocolate while watching hummingbirds on the feeders.

From there we descended to the valley and climbed again through the cloud forest to a viewpoint before following the route down. This was a wide track with a gate at one point to stop cars getting up and sweeping views of the valley and surrounding mountains. The route passed several groups of wax palms, the tallest palm trees in the world. Before eventually returning to Cocorra village and the jeeps. This time I got to sit down.