We flew back to Panama today. We had such a great time. But, it’s also nice to be home. We are doing a ton of laundry and ordered out for Indian food.
Tomorrow I’ll post a bunch of odd and end photos that didn’t make it into other posts.
Jeff and I went to some hot springs today. We had read that they were super crowded on the weekend, so we went today. How many people would drive an hour through the mountains on a Tuesday?
This is the instagram photo from the hot springs Instagram page. I thought ok I don’t have a dress like that but I can stand serenely. And ok maybe there would be a few other people.
We passed a parking lof of tour buses. But walking in there were few people and it was gorgeous.
Then we got to the waterfall which was amazing. There were other people but not too many.
Then we walked towards the hot springs. I was feeling serene.
And so was everyone else. It’s funny expectations vs reality. But the water was warm and setting incredible. It was a weird color but felt very therapeutic.
You can see how serene I was.
After a few hours we called our driver. Here’s Jeff happy to escape the crowds.
Jeff and I took it really easy today and didn’t start our day trip until 3:00pm. We went to the town of Filandia by bus.
For $2.00 a ticket it was a good way to go.
The town is surounded by incredible views. It’s a small town so there are views all around the town. The town itself is a door lover’s dream. Every door was amazing.
I could have stayec for a year to take door photos.
It was hard to know what to look at doors or the views. But we we’re hungry so we opted for a restaurant with a view. Jeff didn’t want to ask the waiter to take a photo of us. Too bad it would have been a good photo. Instead we did individual ones.
After dinner we got coffee for Jeff and I got my new favorite drink canelazo. It’s a bunch of stuff cinnamon, spices and panela (sugar cane) Its basically all the things that make spiced apple cider good without the thing that makes me not like it, apple cider.
We were able to get an Uber back without a problem. It was more than the bus but going 45 minutes through the mountains in the dark was worth the extra $30.
Jeff and I decided to have a quiet day today. Last nights Day off the candles turned into the night of loud fire crackers until 2:00am. So today we changed plans. We went to the Botanical Gardens.
I was super tired, but avoided sitting on the frog.
The hike was longer and had more ups and downs than we expected.
This doesn’t look hard, but for me it was. I think I still haven’t completely recovered from our hike a few days ago. Without a railing or much energy Jeff had to really help me up and down.
As usual he was patient and happy to help me.
And then I just needed to sit, so Jeff went a little further and came back for me.
Good thing there wasn’t an emergency because I didn’t have the energy to run like this or do jazz hands.
Today we had a chill day of eating and drinking. We started our day at Buñuelos Dias.
Buñuelos are sort of like non sweet doughnuts. We tried one a few days ago from a women selling them from a cart. They were so bad they tasted like balls of sand. So we were really excited to go to a restaurant that specialized in them.
They make them fresh to order which makes all the difference. They are made from yuca flour and white cheese and deep fried. The buñuelo maker was super pysched to show us his process.
We noticed everyone else in the restaurant was drinking a pink juice. Turns out it was guanabana juice…maybe. I think that’s what our waitress said. Guanabana isn’t red so I’m confused.
Whatever it was, Jeff didn’t love it.
Next stop was a coffee shop.
They take their coffee really seriously here. When we walked in Jeff said we wanted coffee. The waitress said, “I need to get a barista.” Then Jeff had a conversation with the barista about what types of flavors we like in coffee.
Andres, our barista picked the coffee and method. It was some really good coffee. At one point point I tried some and yelled out “holy shit.” It was that good.
These are the kinds we bought. You can see at the bottom of each bag it says the type of bean and the processing method.
Today is Noche de las Velitas which means night of little candles. Everyone puts candles out and welcomes people. It’s a uniquely Colombian holiday (according to Google.)
Our neighbors had these candles out. They were so nice I wish I had more of a picture of them than their legs.
Because of the holiday there have been non stop fireworks for hours. They are far away but fun to watch from our balcony. They started at 7:30 and just ended at 10:00.
Then on our way to dinner we passed a family making natilla and more buñuelos. Natilla it’s a pudding sort of like flan. They insisted we have some.
Their homemade buñuelos were really good as well.
And the buñuelo maker was just as happy to share his process.
Jeff and I went to the Valle de Cocora. This is a Natural Park famous for the wax palm.
The wax palm is an endangered plant that only grows here and northern Peru. The trees grow up to 145 -200 feet l. They truly are amazing. The valley was beautiful and then with these giant palms it was amazing.
They had this hand statue which was really popular. I was afraid of falling off the hand, so only Jeff went on it.
The wing seat was a better choice for me.
After the hike we went out to lunch with our driver and tour guide. She ordered a regional specialty, trout soup.
If you’ve never tried Colombian cream of trout soup, don’t. Remember as a kid when your mom cooked fish and the entire house smelled? Imagine that in soup form.
But at this same lunch I learned something incredible. Colombians mix two of my favorite things, chocolate and cheese.
This is how my hot chocolate and cheese was served. The side cheese was mild, delicious and salty. I asked our driver if I was really supposed to put it in my hot chocolate. She said yes, but I thought she was joking.
Later the chef came out and explained that yes you add the cheese when the hot chocolate is really hot and let it melt for three minutes. I can’t wait to try toss tomorrow. After some Googling I learned they also put cheese in their coffee. While I love both things, I draw the line at cheese in my coffee.
We had a mellow day for Jeffs birthday. We started the day with coffee from yesterday’s tour and cookies.
Sven and Sergio gave Jeff a box of leaves for his birthday.
We went to the art museum which was really great, especially for a small town.
Heres a photo that I thought would look a lot better than it does.
And then we finished off the night with an amazing meal at the city’s best restaurant. It was one of the best meals we’ve ever had. The photos of the food look weird like chunks of meat. But it was super good and there was a birthday cake for Jeff for dessert. He’s blowing out his candle in the top photo.
Jeff and I started the day at a coffee farm for a tour. At the front of the farm there were lots of bananas. The owner explained that at Colombian farms in the region they always have bananas at the front for workers and visitors to eat.
The tour started off great. The top picture is from the start of the tour.
We saw the beans growing.
The drying process.
Roasting.
And then the guide talked and talked about how bad dark roast was. Three hours into it we were so bored.
But right before we fell asleep we got to taste the coffee which was excellent.
Tomorrow is Jeff’s birthday so we’ll start the day with coffee from this farm.
We had a great short flight from Panama City to the town of Periera in Colombia.
If you pronounce it correctly you say the name of the town. If you mispronounce it, you say a very bad swear. Something like you are the son (or daughter) of a dog whore. As you can imagine we’ve been practicing and are nervous every time we say it.
I am hoping it would be like if there was a town in the US called. Fook Moo. A person who did not speak English as a second language might mispronounce it but no one would be offended.
Sven didn’t mind being in my suitcase for the flight since he had Sergio to keep him company.
I haven’t told then yet they can’t come on the coffee farm tour tomorrow. They have a strict human only policy.
I feel like a little kid that finally agreed to eat her vegetables. I’m so proud of myself that I had a fried egg for breakfast. The egg aversion has ended.
Jeff and I are going on a trip to Colombia tomorrow. We spent today packing and planning. The sloths are excited. Sven has been several times but Sergio has never been.
