Colombia / Medellin, Guatape

Medellin convinced me 100%! The people here are extremely proud to be a paisa (a true Medellin resident) and do everything to eliminate the bad reputation.

But let's start from the beginning... Micha organized a transfer from the airport for me and as soon as I arrived at the apartment, the food was served! Our Airbnb apartment was located in the safest and most beautiful neighborhood in Medellin - el poblado. We had a great apartment on the 18th floor with a breathtaking view of the city. Since we had an extra room, we rented it out to David, a schoolmate of Micha (which later turned out to be inappropriate...). We also got ourselves a shisha and smoked it occasionally in the apartment (which also turned out to be inappropriate).

Another friend of Micha, Laura, showed us around the city and its surroundings for the first few days and continuously gave us exciting, as well as less exciting, information. We took the metro, which by the way is very safe, fast and clean, to the city center to Plaza Botero. Afterwards, we walked through the botanical garden and had a 'jugo natural' - a natural fruit juice. Throughout these three weeks, this was certainly not the last jugo - I couldn't get enough of the pineapple-passion fruit-mango juice.

A trip to Guatape was a must. After a 2-hour drive, during which we stopped at 2-3 small villages and explored them briefly, we arrived at piedra de pañol. After climbing 740 stairs, we admired the city from its most beautiful side. Besides taking classic tourist photos, I tried the typical food - pandeja paisa - similar to the food in Costa Rica and just as filling. After the 'huge' effort, we relaxed during the hour-long boat tour and enjoyed the breeze.

But Medellin also has its dark side, which is called Comuna 13. It can easily be compared to the favelas of Rio. We took a taxi there and explored the hidden paths of this neighborhood with its wall paintings. We noticed here that the residents seemed very happy - another proof that money is not everything in life...

The city is divided when it comes to Pablo Escobar! Either he is hated or loved. Micha and I couldn't miss a tour of the city and the most interesting places from his time. First, we went to an apartment block where his family lived and where his daughter lost her hearing in her left ear due to a car bomb. Later, we visited the house on the hill of Pablo Escobar, where he had a view of the whole city and the airport. We also visited the self-built prison where he was 'imprisoned' as well as the cemetery where he was buried with his relatives (apparently his wife and children now live in Argentina under different names). Lastly, we visited Barrio Pablo Escobar. In his time, he built hundreds of houses there for poor families - of course, he is considered a 'god' there.

My passion for soccer has not changed, so attending a league game of the soccer club Atlético Nacional was a must - Nacional won 1:0. We watched the game with Daniel and Simón - Micha's host father and host brother. In general, we spent a lot of time with this family and at the same time, they became like my own host family.

Since paragliding did not work out in Brazil due to bad weather, I did this adrenaline-filled activity in San Felix (located right next to Medellin on a hill). The feeling was great and the view was sensational!

The last week was all about the Feria de las flores (Flower Festival). The festival is one of the biggest events of the year in Medellin. First, all three of us from the apartment went on a day trip to Parque Arví! We spent the whole day in nature and even found a rope and climbing park. We showed off our skills at the extreme level and had an incredible amount of fun.

I would like to share a little story about the apartment. As mentioned before, we hosted David in the apartment without telling the tenant (Kiho). One late evening, he caught us smoking shisha in the apartment and was amazed to find out that we were living together as three. On the same evening, Kiho didn't mention anything, but the next morning he told us that we had until 3:00 PM the same day to vacate the apartment. He didn't want to discuss it and threatened to move our things himself if we didn't comply. It was back and forth...We had actually booked the paragliding tour, but were able to reschedule it. Shortly after noon, when we wanted to pack our things, the security didn't let us into the building anymore. Kiho told them that only Micha was allowed to go upstairs to look for a solution. He didn't want to come down and we started questioning his intentions and told the security that none of us would go upstairs alone (for safety reasons). Long story short - after more than 1 hour, he finally came down and we agreed to pay an additional fee for David, but could stay in the apartment until the planned departure date. Of course, the management was informed about this circus and fined Kiho heavily - it turned out that he was not allowed to sublet the apartment for less than 30 days. To avoid paying the fine, Kiho told the management that we were his friends and had never paid a peso for the apartment! However, he told us that he received the fine because we smoked in the apartment and that we would have to pay for it. In Kiho's absence, the management asked us about the whole situation and we told them the whole truth, denying Kiho's statement. Since we were leaving the city, we don't know what the effect of this was and what happened to Kiho...

Lastly, I would like to mention the time spent with Micha. I can confidently say that I have found a friend for life. We got along like an old married couple and had fun like two brothers. In addition, we think frighteningly similarly and often had the same needs. I met a loving and down-to-earth person and I'm already looking forward to seeing him again!

Next stop: Playa del Carmen, Mexico. Soak up some sun and enjoy the beach before returning to Switzerland soon.