El Penol Rock and Guatape

Today, we drive to Guatape, a colourful lakeside town. Leaving Medellin, we drive through an 8.2 km tunnel, and after another hour of scenic views, stop at El Alto del Chocho for a break.

From here, we proceed to El Peñol Rock (also known as Piedra del Peñol or El Peñón de Guatapé), a massive granite monolith rising 220 meters (721 feet) above the landscape in Antioquia, Colombia, and located near the towns of Guatapé and El Peñol. The climb up is via about 740 concrete steps, with amazing views as you go up to the top.

We drive back to Guatape for a quick tour by colourful tuk-tuks before having lunch. We then explore Guatape by foot; it is an extremely colourful town due to the painting of the zocalos (sculpted bas-relief panels) at the bottom of the houses - this colourful painting was initiated about 15 years ago. The town is located near a large reservoir, the dam of which caused extensive flooding of the valley. It is a beautiful place, and a popular weekend and holiday stop for Colombians.

Later, we drive back for a relaxing evening at the hotel after a big day out.Leia mais