Manizales to Medellin

The most important thing we learned today was to pronounce the name of this city as the local Antioquenos do, "Medda-jean". Otherwise, it was an up and down day.
We departed Manizales (6,300') for the Cauca River Valley (2,100'), then up to Jerico (5,000'), then back to the valley and up to Medellin (4,900').
Our first stop in the valley was near the town of Irra. During the bad times, the paramilitaries had a checkpoint here and if you looked like a guerilla, they would grab you, shoot you & dump your body in the river. The Cauca became known as the "River of Death" for all the corpses washing ashore.
Up to Jerico for lunch -- a pretty town with well laid out Plaza Major and a pleasing Cathedral.
Enroute Medellin, we went through a long tunnel at Mulatos (2,450 m) and an even longer one at Amaga (3,600 m).
One noticeable change was the dearth of coffee plants in the coffee region. Just like vineyards in Bordeaux, the lower slopes are now too warm and the farmers have had to move up the mountain. As an aside, as part of the Columbian Exchange, coffee came from Africa to America & cacao from America to Africa. Now, cacao is growing again in Columbia on the places where coffee used to be.Read more