Take me to a place where I don’t recognize anything around me. Where I can walk through clouds and feel them on my skin. Where I can walk for hours past horses and over streams and rickety bridges, to the find the world’s tallest wax palm trees.

Reaching up to 200 feet in height and living for up to 100 years, the trees in Cocora Valley are scattered throughout the hills and valleys of the Andean foothills of Colombia, a hauntingly beautiful scene reminiscent of a science fiction film.

What most visitors are unaware of, is that parts of the forest have been cleared as grazing land for cows. With extremely slow growth, low germination rates and seedling being eaten by livestock, not enough new trees are being grown. If more isn’t done to preserve these trees, this valley’s beautiful landscape could drastically change in the coming years, and this area will be nothing but a far away memory.

SARAH PALMER

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