Medellín, Colombia - Week 4

Hello Family and Friends,

For our final week in Medellín, we made time for something that ended up being extra special. We made time to go up to Guatapé, which is another little town about 2 hours outside of Medellín. It is known as the most colorful town in Colombia due to the "zócalos". Zócalos are colorful paintings at the bottom of homes that were used in the past to indicate the type of business of a home.

At the base of the homes you can see the "zócalos". The "zócalo" to the left with the pack mule means that this home is where you can find transportation.

We also found some beautiful art work. If only we had space in our luggage and a home to bring them back to.

The other thing that makes Guatapé special is a huge rock, "La piedra de Peñol". There are over 675 steps to get to the highest viewing point.

Me conquering la piedra de peñol.

It's a little bit of work, but the view at the top is absolutely stunning. To look out and see the collection of little islands is definitely worth the effort.

Brett and I at the the overlook at the top of la piedra de peñol.

Another stunning view from the top of the rock.

We spent a night in Guatapé and Brett again showed off and scored us excellent accommodations at The Brown!

Maria and Brett sitting in the sunken fire pit, surrounded by the pool, looking at the remainder of the sunset.

We also enjoyed a boat ride around the various islands surrounding Guatapé from our hotel.

There is a reason we love being on the water, it feels so free and open.

Brett and I with a view of La Piedra de Peñol from the water.

The water surrounding Guatapé has interesting history. It is the location of a sunken city that was flooded in order to create a hydroelectric power plant.

The home in the distance with the red door is the only home that is left standing from the sunken city. It was the home of the town doctor.

Another famous home along the water is the home of Pablo Escobar. Pablo Escobar was a Colombian drug lord and leader of the Medellín Cartel. He monopolized the cocaine trade into the US between 1980-1990s. Maria (along with most Paisas are not a fan of his, because he gave Colombia and specifically Medellin a bad name. She says that he never did anything against the Colombian people directly but the war between him and the other drug lords is what made Colombia so dangerous. His bombed out home is now used as a tourist attraction. You can even have a paintball fight in his home if it suits you.

Pablo Escobar's home was bombed by another drug cartel. He named the property "La Manuela" after his daughter Manuela

We also visited another accomodation near Guatapé that Brett had seen online, The Bosko. It was described as a tree house and we weren't sure how accessible it was. It is very much a luxury tree house complete with an outdoor shower. The accommodations are nice, but a little difficult to navigate if you're traveling with mobility issues.

Me living my best life, sunning on the hammock overlying the trees beside the pool at the Bosko.

Also this property is an adult only property, so no kids allowed. Speaking of kids, we left Atlas behind for our little adult guilt-free Guatapé get away with a good friend of Maria, Tatiana and her two year old son Kylian.

Kylian and Atlas having the best of time together while Brett and I were away to Guatapé.

We first met Tatiana when she was recommended by Maria to help me with some housekeeping. The first time that she watched Atlas, she asked me if she could bring her son Kylian. Atlas and and Kylian instantly bonded. By the end of that evening my heart was so full because Atlas had made a good friend. Both Tatiana and her son are such beautiful people and made our stay in Medellín just a little sweeter!

Two best friends just having the time of their lives.

Medellín is definitely a place we could see ourselves settling permanently. It is very easy and comfortable living. I say that it is "casi perfecta" (almost perfect). Brett and I made a little scoring rubric so that we can easily compare Medellín to other possible living locations.

Food: B+

The variety of food options are very good. If you want Chinese you can get Chinese, if you want pizza you can get good pizza. However, the authentic Paisa cuisine (people from Medellín refer to themselves as "Paisa") is a little boring and bland. There is no spice. Even things that are marked as spicy, are not. Anything with even a little bit of spice is referred to as "Mexican hot". The best flavored, local food that we had in Colombia was in Cartagena, which is where the black Colombians are from.

Service: D

One strike against Medellín is that the service is abysmal. It is probably worse than in the states. And coming from Mexico, where service is first class, it was a distinct difference. If you want service in Medellín, you have to call the server over. And if our server disappeared, we would have to just grab another one.

In Home Convenience: A+

You can get literally anything from the comfort of your home. I was considering getting my hair dyed and the beautician told me it would be easier and cheaper if she just did it at my house. If you want it, it can come to your house. You literally don't have to ever leave you home if you don't want to.

Neighborhood Walkability: C+

Where we stayed was in the middle of a very large hill, so we didn't walk very much, but Ubered everywhere. However there are areas that we would visit when eating or shopping that had better walkability such as Laureles and Envigado. For example, we went to visit a property that Maria owns with her son right in the heart of Provenza, . The location couldn't be beat. Right out of the front door are restaurants, shopping and a pharmacy. A grocery store is located just around the corner.

Weather: A-

Medellín is considered the "City of Eternal Spring". The temperature is always somewhere between 70-85 degrees fahrenheit. Humidity is fairly low at 60%, but not too dry. The reason we gave it an A- is because a little variety in the weather would make it perfect. Now, there is something seriously wrong with weather prediction in Medellín. One of our tour guides told us that the weather is bipolar. If it says it's going to rain, it will be sunny. And it is true, the temperature is the only thing that was accurate with the weather. I just stopped looking at the forecast. I would just walk out onto the porch to see what the weather was doing, because the prediction algorithm was terrible.

Pollution: C-

Oh, it's bad in Medellín. There are more motorcycles than there are cars and they put out a lot of fumes. Medellín is the 8th most polluted city in all of latin america. This is one reason why we like to go "pueblear". You get to go up into the mountains and above the contaminations of the city.

Publear: A-

Speaking of pueblear, a thousands times yes!

People: B-

People are polite and not rude in Medellín. But they aren't quite as engaging as in Mexico. We would have to work a bit in order to find friends. Let's just say that our last day in Mexico we spent in Xomilcho with friends we had met while in Mexico. In Medellín we wanted to have a cookout at our place, but never did because we hadn't met anybody. :-(

Safety: A

No problems whatsoever. I did always carry my bag on the front, but I did the same thing whenever we visited cities in the states. However, we didn't take much public transportation besides our metro tour. Tatiana did take public transportation and whenever she was at our house late, she would just spend the night. We did hear multiple stories of men being taken advantage of (drugged) by Colombian women. I would say be smart and don't take a hoe home.

Driving: B+

Brett drove quite a bit when we would pueblear with Maria and on our trip to Guatupe. There is a system and rules of the road that people actually follow. Unlike Mexico where red lights were a suggestion. People aren't very aggressive in their driving and right turns from the left lane aren't a thing, talking about you again Mexico. However the hills are difficult especially for some of the underpowered cars and signage is limited. It's not always clear where you are and where you are going. Also the abundance of motorcycles makes driving a little more difficult as they weave between the cars.

Infrastructure: B+

One thing that the Paisas are proud of is their infrastructure. We got the sense that they feel like their government and money is working for them. They have a lot of civic pride. The tap water is safe to drink, powerline's are organized and they have a one of a kind cable car system. The metro is clean, but just travels through the center of the city. The bus system is not easy to navigate especially for foreigners. There is no regulation for car emission, which contributes to the pollution. However they do have "pico y placa" which is a restriction on driving according to your license plate one day a week.

On to Peru to see one of the Wonder of the World, back to the states for some turkey then on to Santiago, Chile (again for me...)