Cocorná

Cocorná is in the middle of the mountains.  How people ever settled here is beyond me, unless they were dropped from the sky or swept down the river.  It takes quite a bit of maneuvering to get here, heading up, down, left, right, for about 45 mins.  Then, when you're almost there, a bus is blocking the road, so it's better to simply park somewhere there and start walking.

We called up a lady, the owner of the resort we were headed to, and asked her to pick us up.  Since I saw the little village from afar, I really didn't think it was that far to walk, especially since it was all downhill.  Boy was I wrong.  Once we got to the village, we then proceeded up the mountain, on about a 40+ degree incline.  I really didn't think the Suzuki Vitara had the legs for it.  Speaking of legs, we crammed three adults and a teen in the back seat, with me sitting up front.  Granted, my seat was so far up that my knees were near my chin.

This is the main hut.  Feels very zen inside...until you're watching Colombia's soccer team suck it and lose in Copa America.  I thought that they dominated Peru, but they could never finish.  Hours later, the same could be said about Argentina.

We arrived at about noon, so it was time for breakfast.  Yes, we are dealing with Spanish time here, which is a perfect Saturday.  No rush to get anywhere or do anything.  They suggested we tour the place (with a guide) while they prepared it for us.

In every direction I looked, everything felt far away and peaceful.

Overall, I feel that the air in Medellín is terrific. So fresh.  Here, it felt even more refreshing.

If you chose to stay the night, each cabin was situated far enough from the others that you would have total privacy.

Talk about smart design for a small place.  Just tuck one bed underneath another.

The water trickles down the mountain, into this warm water jacuzzi and cool down pool beside it.

This serene, straight-downhill-on-slippery-and-sometimes-loose-rocks pathway was designed for those of us under six feet.  So if I focused too much on my foot stability and would forget to duck, I'd feel a bunch of brush hit me in the head.  Good thing that this was the beginning of the pathway to serenity.

 

The journey to this place reminded me of my adventure to the blue-green water.  Laurie, if you're reading this, you'll know what I'm talking about.  Basically, it seemed that in order to reach your place of relaxation, they try to exhaust you first.  We would climb rocks and somewhat muddy terrain, back and forth over the current, with the occasional rope to hang onto for support.

This was where our grand trek ended.  Not a very large pool of water by any stretch, but that made it kind of special, too.  It wasn't there for doing laps, rather for refreshment.  Nice cool water.  I asked how deep it was, and they suggested I do a shallow dive with the water already up to my knees.  Using my keen sense of vision and knowing that "shallow dive" is a perspective, I took another couple of steps along some unstable rocks and sort of coasted in gracefully, like a swan performing a dance while courting another.  Ok maybe not, but I can tell you that with my hands outstretched, I crashed right into a rock that was maybe a foot below the surface.  Good thing I coasted in.  

I'm waiting for Santiago to send me a photo where I've covered myself in Guava.  After you jump (cautiously) into the water, you cover and massage yourself in Guava, chill for a few minutes, then jump back in the water and wash yourself off.  You should do a good job of it, otherwise bugs will be all over your delicious skin.  After we did this, my skin felt more suave than ever before.  Velvety, even.

I'm pretty sure I saw this in Nicaragua, but I love these guys.  Talk about looking busy!  Just hustling back and forth, tearing trees apart one leaf at a time.  Gonzalo was telling that they can pretty much take down a tree in short order.

 This guy was about the size of my hand.  I asked Gonzalo if it bites.  He figured it would. Then I asked if it was venomous.  He said no, most likely not.  Then I moved in about 4 inches away and took the picture.  Safety first, kids.  Well, kind of.

Here's where we stopped for another splash in a natural pool.  Well, I'm pretty sure the slide wasn't natural, but it was pretty fun.  You pick up speed pretty quick.  I flew off the end of it and was in mid-air halfway across the pool.  For a split second, I thought I was going to hit the concrete at the end of pool.  This is Gonzalo, going heels over head.

If you see a vehicle with nobody in it, it's totally cool to just jump right in and take photos.  At least that's the impression I got from Gonzalo.