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Colombia 2015

June 2015
The Honeymoon Trip Read more
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  • TravelerColombia 2015
    Day 4

    Parque San Antonio

    June 22, 2015 in Colombia ⋅ ☁️ 28 °C

    After the Pablo Escobar tour, I went to Parque San Antonio to view the Birds of Peace sculptures. In 1995, a bomb was detonated at the base of the original statue during an outdoor concert, killing 30 and injuring many others. Botero refused to allow the original damaged statue to be removed. Instead, he donated a second identical statue to be placed next to the original. The two statues - one damaged, one undamaged - stand side by side. The names of the bombing victims are displayed on a plaque at the base of the original statue.

    https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/the-birds-o…

    https://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Colomb…    Read more

  • TravelerColombia 2015
    Day 5

    Metro Line K

    June 23, 2015 in Colombia ⋅ ☁️ 27 °C

    Escobar was not universally hated, though. Many economically disadvantaged people considered him to be a modern day Robin Hood because he did things that benefitted them. In the aftermath of his death, city officials realized that one of the key reasons why people in disadvantaged communities - many of which were built into steep hillsides fringing the city - supported Escobar was because they were physically isolated from the city and its economic and educational opportunities. For this and other reasons, the city built a metro to connect the people, and for the hillside communities, they built cable cars lines that connected with the rest of the metro network. I also understand that several long escalators were built into other hillsides. Collectively, this was an effort to include and engage the communities on the periphery.

    On my third day, we took the metro to Acevedo station where we connected to the Line K cable car. The first section of the cable car, which has four stops from Acevedo to Santa Domingo station, is included in the single trip metro fare of COP 2,000. Along the way, we passed over the communities built into the hillside and saw glimpses of life there. I was impressed by how many public spaces there were. There was also a large library and community space.

    https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/gondolas-of…

    https://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Colomb…    Read more

  • TravelerColombia 2015
    Day 5

    Metro Line L & Arvi Park

    June 23, 2015 in Colombia ⋅ 🌧 23 °C

    At Santa Domingo station, one can connect to Line L that goes to Arvi Park for COP 4,600 each way. This was a very long line with green and scenic views with no stops along the way. Arvi Park was at the end of the line, and we stopped there to look at the shops and eat some fresh fruit. It looked as if there were other sights in the area but some members of our party were wiped out from the competition so we made our way back.

    https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/parque-arvi…
    https://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Colomb…    Read more

  • TravelerColombia 2015
    Day 6

    El Penol

    June 24, 2015 in Colombia ⋅ ☁️ 23 °C

    Jeff, Susie (one of his master's diver friends) and I took a day trip to Guatape the day after the conclusion of the Pan American Master's Diving Competition.

    Early on Wednesday, we took the metro to Caribe station and then used an overpass to cross the highway to the Northern Bus Terminal where we secured seats on the public bus for COP12,500 each. The bus left the terminal soon after we bought our tickets and it wound its way up the mountains that fringe Medellin. Before long, we were surrounded by pretty countryside. The bus ride took about two hours. I'm not sure if the bus driver deliberately played English songs because he had gringo passengers (we were the only ones) but we had a fun time rocking out to Supertramp, Midnight Oil and Men Without Hats.

    The bus dropped us off at a gas station near the village of El Penol, and from there we walked up a steep-ish road to get to our first destination of the day - La Piedra ("the rock"). La Piedra is a granite monolith with a fissure in it, and a staircase was built into this fissure to aid the ascent and descent of visitors. A signboard on the road up proudly proclaimed in caps that this was "The Rock With The Best View In The World".

    We bought our tickets for COP10,000 each, took a collective deep breath, and tackled the monster. I made it up in about 15 minutes. I was impacted a little by the thin air at this high altitude (7,000 feet).

    So, was this the best view in the world? I have seen nicer views, but I have not seen such a nice view before from a rock. The view of the artificial lake and the countryside surrounding La Piedra was indeed pretty spectacular.

    There were food stalls at the summit. Susie and I both had some fruit while Jeff had ice cream and we sat and chatted for a bit - mostly about diving and deaf education - before we tackled the last 81 steps which were up a spiral staircase inside a brick structure which first led you to a souvenir shop before letting you out onto the roof. So, 740 steps in all.

    After hanging out on the roof for a bit, we made the journey down La Piedra on a separate staircase for descending. At the bottom, we negotiated a fare with a tuk tuk driver to take us to Guatape for COP10,000. Just as we set off on the 10 minute drive, we discovered that his dachshund was tucked underneath his seat! Our driver deposited us along the main lakeside road in Guatape.

    https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/el-penon-de…

    https://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Colomb…    Read more

  • TravelerColombia 2015
    Day 6

    Guatape

    June 24, 2015 in Colombia ⋅ ☁️ 26 °C

    Guatape is an old colonial town best known for colorful tiles on the lower half of the facades of its buildings. These tiles depict everyday scenes, natural features, agricultural produce, and other natural and cultural icons. We had an enjoyable time strolling through the streets and admiring the buildings.

    We ate a vegan lunch at Namaste Cafe and then strolled around some more before heading back to the lakeside road and hopping onto the next bus back to Medellin. The bus ride back seemed faster than the ride out and I think it was because there were more downhill coming back.
    https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/guatape

    Muchas gracias to Susie for her invaluable Spanish language skills. We would not have had such a smooth day trip if not for her.

    https://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Colomb…    Read more

  • TravelerColombia 2015
    Day 6

    Parque Explora

    June 24, 2015 in Colombia ⋅ ☁️ 28 °C

    After our day trip to El Penol and Guatape, we stopped at Universidad station and visited the Parque Explora. Our main goal was to visit the aquarium, which has an extensive collection of South American fish, but we also visited the reptile house and played with other exhibits. It was fun to see many children at Parque Explora interacting with the exhibits. There is also a well regarded botanical garden nearby which we did not visit.

    https://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Colomb…    Read more

  • TravelerColombia 2015
    Day 6

    Medellin: Parting Thoughts

    June 24, 2015 in Colombia ⋅ ☁️ 21 °C

    Many of my friends reacted with surprise and consternation when they learned I was going to Medellin. Is Medellin safe? Well, I felt safe in most of the parts of the city I visited, but I was aware how much I stood out. The people are friendly and helpful. There was a noticeable police presence, but most of them were patrolling on foot instead of in cars, which made it feel as if they were in the community. I especially loved the fact that the public infrastructure was built to integrate and include.

    I guess the people have been isolated for so long that they were genuinely pleased to see visitors. Strangers would make sure we got onto the correct platform on the metro, and they would offer us their seats. Service staff would try hard to communicate even if they spoke no English. A taxi driver transporting one of Jeff's diver friends called his English-speaking daughter in Miami to make sure his passenger understood where she was going and what she should expect at her destination. Other visitors to the Parque Explora aquarium told us the names of the various fish species. I could go on and on. In short, my already positive impressions from our 2011 trip to Cali were reinforced

    Apart from the metro system, Medellin also built a lot of public spaces. We were impressed by the many parks and public squares, and Botero himself donated many of his statues (worth millions) to those parks. Medellin has also built some world class sports facilities and the city hosts international sporting meets such as the one Jeff competed in. This was, in fact, his second visit to Medellin for diving.

    It would be naive to say that Medellin has put its past behind it. As Paula told us on the tour, most Colombians don't want to talk about the past. But all this infrastructure that has been put in place can only be a positive development in support of the healing process.    Read more

  • TravelerColombia 2015
    Day 7

    Les Lazards B&B

    June 25, 2015 in Colombia ⋅ 🌙 32 °C

    While researching places to stay in Cartagena, I chanced across Les Lezards B&B in the Getsemani area and saw that it had very positive reviews. I knew we would be in for a good stay when minutes after booking our room, Marcus, the owner of Les Lezards, emailed me to ask for my flight information and told me that he'll send a driver to get us with his compliments. We were certainly off to a good start!

    Jeff and I left Medellin on June 25th and landed in hot, sultry Cartagena to find our driver waiting for us as promised. A quick 15-minute drive later, we were at our accommodation. What a cute little place this is! Our room was small but cheerful, and we had an outdoor shower which was a lifesaver as Cartagena is hot and humid. More delights revealed themselves as we stayed there - there was a friendly resident kitten who entertained us, and there is also a tortoise on the property. Apparently our room is special for the tortoise as it likes to sneak in whenever the door is opened. Imagine our surprise when we looked down on the floor and saw it there! Dandy, the neighbor's chihuahua, was a delight to play with. Every morning, we woke up to squawking from another neighbor's birds. This was critter overload!

    Marcus and his assistant Luis were great hosts. They arranged activities, recommended things to see and do, where to eat, and called for taxis when we needed them without being asked. When we set off for Volcan El Totumo, Luis saw us off and handed us towels as we got into the car, and he was at the front door waiting for us when we returned. Even though our departing flight was well past check out time, Marcus let us return to use the hot tub and shower before we set off for the airport. Les Lezards also offers complimentary breakfasts which were good with toast, freshly made jam, fresh fruit and eggs.

    I rarely rave about my accommodations but I would gladly return to Les Lezards again.

    https://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Colomb…    Read more

  • TravelerColombia 2015
    Day 7

    Centro

    June 25, 2015 in Colombia ⋅ ☁️ 32 °C

    We spent some time wandering the Centro area. I especially enjoyed the brightly painted houses. Of particular interest were the vividly painted doors and their unique door knockers.
    https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/door-knocke…

    Other sightseeing highlights in Centro included:

    Museo del Oro: The Museum of Gold in Cartagena is small compared to the one in Bogota, but since we weren't going to Bogota we decided to visit this one. Admission was free and all the signage was bilingual. We both liked this museum a lot as it told a coherent story of gold in Colombia (especially how it relates to the Zenu people) and struggles over this resource.

    Palacio de la Inquisicion: There wasn't much English signage in the Palace of the Inquisition but we could more or less figure out what was being communicated in the exhibits. The torture and execution instruments on display on the ground floor were pretty horrifying - they included gallows, a guillotine, instruments for garroting and pulling people apart.
    https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/the-palace-…

    Museo Naval del Caribe: We were warned when we bought our tickets that there is no English signage but we enjoyed this museum nonetheless. The highlight was playing with a submarine mockup on the upper level.

    Churches and Squares: Almost all the churches were shut, including Santo Domingo. The only one that was open was Iglesia de San Pedro Claver, and even then large parts of the interior was blocked off for renovation or restoration. Plaza Bolivar was good for people watching.

    https://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Colomb…    Read more

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