Day 58, 59 and 60 - Park Arvi, Guatape, and the Piedra del Penol

Day 58 - Friday 18.11.2022
A nature park 'in the middle' of the city - Park Arvi

After being able to make our own breakfast again, we naturally did that as well. Fried eggs, toasted white bread, and fresh homemade guacamole gave us enough energy to start our hike through Park Arvi. The nature park itself is not very well-known, but the cable car that goes directly from the subway to the park is something that everyone has seen or at least heard of. For us Austrians, it was very unusual to sit in a cable car and travel over houses instead of snow. On the way up, you have to change cable cars once, but during the ride, you have a breathtaking view of Medellin. Unfortunately, the windows were already scratched or wet from the rain, so we couldn't take any really good pictures of it. When we arrived at the top, the woman at the information desk greeted us with a warm smile and explained that there was no entrance fee and the park was free to access. She also handed us a map and off we went into the 'wilderness'. Just 500 meters later, we stopped at the first coffee shop we saw. We grabbed a cappuccino and the accompanying cupcake, and then we were ready. The first path led us through a small jungle, past the campsite, to a beautiful river with some cute bridges. Afterwards, we decided to march to a viewpoint about 5 kilometers further. Unfortunately, we were running a bit late as the park closes at 5:00 pm, so we had to hurry. Driven by the clock, we hiked at a fast pace through the wet forest trails and even sank into the mud a couple of times. 15 minutes before reaching our destination, it started to rain so heavily that we decided to turn back. Of course, we had left our rain jackets and Gore-Tex shoes in the apartment, probably because we were not used to rain anymore (it hardly rained in Mexico and Cuba). On the way back, a really nice Colombian woman offered us a ride to the cable car in her car. We gratefully accepted the offer and let her drive us back. Once we arrived there, we looked for a Wi-Fi connection to call Anna's sister. Fred, Anna's father, had a big concert planned for tonight (in the afternoon for us due to a 6-hour time difference) and we really wanted to be there too. After that, we made our way back to the apartment, and we were really looking forward to a warm shower as we were soaking wet except for our underwear and it was getting cold.

Day 59 - Saturday 19.11.2022
Guatape and the spectacular Piedra del Penol

Today, it was time to get up early again. Anna booked a tour to Guatape that started at 7:00 am in the morning. We met our guide Johan, lovingly called Hans by us, and found ourselves in a bus with a lot of Spanish-speaking people. We were afraid that the tour would be in Spanish, which it was, but Johan explained everything he had previously said in Spanish again in English. The first stop was in New Penol, where we took a boat ride on the Emblase del Penol, a reservoir with beautiful villas around the water. Here, we could also see a finca owned by Pablo Escobar. Unfortunately, the building had been almost completely destroyed in an attempt to capture the drug lord in Colombia, and it now resembles more of a ruin. Next, we went to the Piedra del Penol, the world-famous rock with the zigzag staircase. Johan explained that the rock is privately owned and the family is now one of the richest in all of Colombia. There is also an interesting legend about the mountain: The head of the local family is said to have played a poker game with the devil on the rock. The stake was either the man's life or unimaginable wealth. The devil lost the game and was so angry that he hit the rock with his fist. This is said to be how the crack in the rock, where the staircase now goes up, was created.
Of course, we climbed the nearly 800 steps to the top. We felt really fit as we kept overtaking tourists on the way up who, at least it seemed so, were on the verge of a heart attack. Most of them were panting like a buffalo and had to take a break every 5 steps. When we arrived at the destination, we had to make some space for ourselves as the observation deck was full of tourists. We took some photos, also took several photos for other visitors, treated ourselves to an ice cream, and enjoyed the beautiful view. Despite the extremely commercial approach, it was definitely worth visiting the mountain. Unfortunately, we didn't have much time and had to go back down after about an hour.
The last stop on our tour was Guatape. This small town is world-famous for its colorful rows of houses and the 'Walk under the Umbrellas'. Anyone who is on Instagram, Facebook, or TikTok has seen a photo of it. Of course, we also took countless photos of the city, took a little walk through the beautiful colorful streets, and enjoyed an excellent cappuccino. Unfortunately, we had little time here as well and had to be back at the bus after about an hour. All in all, it was a really nice trip and we had a lot of fun, but if we have the chance again, next time we would come to this part of Colombia without a guided tour. We would have liked to have more time to enjoy these wonderful attractions. On the way back, we got caught in a traffic jam because a truck was blocking the entire highway and the passing motorcycles simply wouldn't let him back up a few meters so he could make the turn. After waiting for almost 1.5 hours, he finally made it and we could continue driving.

Day 60 - Sunday 20.11.2022
Once again, a new Airbnb

It was that time again, we had to change our accommodation. The new Airbnb was in the same neighborhood as our first apartment, so we had high hopes that the quality would be similar. The room was nice and had a good view, but unfortunately, it was not very well equipped and outdated. At first, we thought we had to start the washing machine with a hand crank because the device was probably already 20 years old. But everything necessary, except our beloved coffee maker, was available and we were quite satisfied. We did another big grocery shopping, cooked, and spent the rest of the day planning and lazing around.