Let's go to Colombia

Let's go to Colombia - or better known as: "Why your friends and family freak out when you tell them about your travel plans to Colombia." :-D

After the last few intense travel weeks in Central America, we have slowed down the pace here in Colombia. Like many others, as we heard, we got stuck in the 3 million city of Medellin for a week. This city enchanted us with its moving history, which is primarily shaped by the drug lord Pablo Escobar, but also because of the incredibly hospitable and positive-minded residents.

The city is built in a huge volcanic crater and cable cars and electric escalators serve as public transport here just like buses and trams.

During a free walking tour of the city, we learned a lot about the past of this country, which was shaped by violence, fear, and displacement, and specifically about Medellin.

But Colombia has developed very positively in recent years. The violence has decreased significantly due to military operations and police presence, and as tourists we never felt in danger. However, as in any big city, caution is advisable - in Medellin, there is even a special expression for this: "No dar papaya" - "Don't give papaya!", "Don't be careless!", or "Don't give anyone the opportunity to steal something as delicious from you as a papaya!"

You can learn a lot from the residents of this city. They sometimes look back on the past with sadness and anger, but they live in the here and now and do not dwell on the horrors of past years. They are cheerful and optimistic about the future and enjoy their lives despite some hard blows of fate.

Another tour of District 13, where it would have been unthinkable for a tourist to set foot just 5 years ago, underlined these stories again.

The hospitality and friendliness shown to us in Colombia, and expected in return, accurately describes this picture, in our opinion.

("One coffee" - costs 2,000 Pesos; "One coffee, please." - costs 1,500 Pesos; "Good morning! One coffee, please." - costs 1,200 Pesos)

After this positive first impression, our second destination, the city of Manizales, also did not disappoint us. There, we even had the opportunity to celebrate the victory of the Colombian national team in the second match of the World Cup group stage against Poland with the locals. And yes, it's true, Colombians know how to party! 😊

After the exhausting celebrations, we had to recover at the nearby hot springs...

... before heading to our next destination, the small town of Salento surrounded by coffee plantations.

Here, we took a very informative tour of a huge coffee plantation and learned a lot about the cultivation and processing of coffee. We have of course already forgotten many things, but here are the most interesting details: Colombia is the third largest exporter of coffee worldwide behind Brazil and Vietnam. The Arabica bean is exported, and a coffee plant is active for about 20 years, producing about 8kg of coffee per year. The coffee tastes excellent. 😉

We also used a, unfortunately somewhat rainy, day to explore the beautiful Valle de Cocora. A 5.5-hour hike up to 2690m rewarded us with a break with a Colombian specialty called "chocolate con queso", observing hummingbirds and other beautiful birds, and a somewhat foggy view of the beautiful valley and the wax palms, the tallest palm trees in the world.

Our final destination in Colombia was the capital, Bogota.

First impression: huuuge!!

Here, we took the obligatory free walking tour, but unfortunately, we realized that there aren't soooo many sights in this huge city, although there are many culinary delights. 😊

And we did find some highlights, such as the Museo del Oro, which lives up to its name...

...the Museo de Bogota, which includes some works by the most famous Colombian artist, Fernando Botero, and by the way also a few by Picasso, Monet, etc.

And look, we found the real Mona Lisa:

...the viewpoint Monserrate with a breathtaking view over the city and a pilgrimage site.

We also tried a free biking tour for the first time, which made Matthias want more.

It's a pity that we now have to leave this impressive country, of which we could only see a very small part. We have made some very nice acquaintances, had incredibly interesting conversations with moving stories, and also found some little friends, all of whom we will probably not forget so quickly.

However, we are really looking forward to the next three weeks in Brazil and the time with Martin, Luana, and their family.

Many kisses,

Matthias and Lisa