Medellin Colombia

Medellin, the city of eternal spring, as it is called. Once again the name of Pablo Escobar hangs over this city. I feel that this drawing is how he should be immortalized.

An early 6am start from Bogota on a Saturday was a guarantee to miss the traffic in that city — NOT!! The only way to negotiate the crazy drivers and motorbikes is to become one of them. Follow the cautious motorbike rider as he weaves in and out of the traffic and have eyes you know where seems to be a strategy that worked for me. After that a fairly uneventful 7 hour ride to Medellin.

As you descend into the valley of the Porce River where Medellin is situated the view is of a vast sea of red roofed and red walled buildings and of the various barrios as they climb up the sides of the valley. 

The city has made a huge investment in public transport over the past ten years or so with new trains, trams, cable cars ready, with hardly a wait, to whisk you down the valley or up into the suburbs that hang on the sides of the mountains. Even with all this the traffic is still terrible.

Public walkways also weave their way through the barrios and into the surrounding hills and coffee plantations. Look at this cool one I found after a train ride, two cable car rides and a walk.

Public art is everywhere

And non more so than in Parque Botero, dedicated to the sculptures of native son, Fernando Botero internationally acclaimed for his depiction of people and animals with strange proportions.

Ok, enough of cities and a 5 hour ride south towards the coffee region and the town of Manizales. I started on the main PanAm highway but had plotted out a more rural route that took me to the small town of Filidelfia. I have written so much about “twisty turny” roads on this trip that I need to find a another way of describing these great mountain byways — how about serpentine?

In this mountainous region most of the local taxis are old post WWII Willy’s Jeeps, restored with loving care and belching out great plumes of black smoke. Here is a local fruit seller who has got his own version of this form of transportation.

I found a fantastic hostel/ BnB in just outside the town of Villa Maria which is a short distance from Manizales. The Hostal Monte Quimbya is run by a young couple, Arne and Lynette. Arne being from Germany and Lynette from Colombia who have a charming 15 month old son, Samuel.

This couple were a wealth of knowledge and directed me up the mountain towards the Parque Nacional Natural De Nevados and the Termales deRuiz with a mountain hotel with hot springs and gardens that hosted an incredible number and variety of hummingbirds ( Colibri in Spanish)

Motobike problems delayed my departure from this beautiful area. The fan shroud at the back of the radiator had vibrated and rubbed hole through which the coolant was leaking. As I write it is in the hands of a local moto mechanic and I am told it will be ready by the afternoon - I did not want to ask which afternoon but it certainly is not a hardship having to spend more time in this area.