Sunday night Meg and I met up with a Colombian guy, Andrés, who essentially Meg had gotten set up with through the señora she lives with. Turns out this guy is the son of a friend of a friend of the señora's... yeah pretty removed. Turns out a friend's boyfriend's friend from Australia was also staying with him so he joined us as well. These guys were super sweet and we ended up planning a trip to San Jeronimo and Santa Fe de Antioquia for Tuesday. We of course got off to a later start than expected... this is Colombia and Meg overslept her alarm. I was punctual per usual (its almost a fault i have). Medellín is surrounded by many small pueblos some are warm and some are cooler (depends on where in the mountains they lie and at what elevation). San Jeronimo and Santa Fe de Antioquia lie north west of Medellín at a lower elevation and are fabulously warm (but alas as I learned in Ecuador warmer and lower=bugs.. and thus i was confronted with the return of the evil bugs from Mindo and have bites all over my body. yay!). As we started driving out of the city I was instantly reminded of Ecuador. "Here is where the similarity lies" i thought to myself, geography. The Andes sprawled before us as we winded through them encountering waterfalls and busses in our lane around the corners. As we winded down and up and down and up the scenery got more lush and tropical as the air got more humid and warm. Andres informed us we would be stopping for the best chorizo in the world... we stopped at a random little restaurant with an amazing view and got chorizo and coke... classic :)
the view.
Chorizo, mandarina (to put on the chorizo) and arepa.
We were then quite close to our destination Parque Tamarindos (a water park!!!!!) when we encountered a horrible car accident. A truck driver had lost his breaks going down the mountain pass (talk about a complete nightmare) and ran into the mountain. The truck was split into three pieces and totaled but the driver somehow managed to escape with a few cuts on his face. Qué Suerte!!
The cab of the truck
the trailer
So we were forced to wait for an hour at a random restaurant (they were stoked for so much added business) since we had just eaten we had juices and goofed around, entertaining ourselves by having coin spinning competitions. Then they got one lane cleared, and we were able to continue onward to our next destination parque de los tamarindos, a FABULOUS water park. Obviously I don't have pictures of this and we all lamented the fact that you can't have documentation of water activities unless you have a water proof camera... (mom and dad: christmas gift suggestion... ;) ). I'm a huge fan of water slides (RIP windsor waterworks) and in my experience waterslides in Latin America are freaking insanity (waterslides in Mindo and Tena). On weekends parque tamarindos is said to be ridiculously packed, but on a tuesday we were pretty much the only ones.. which meant we could dictate when they turned on what slide for us. The best one being the blue body slide. Absolute insanity. As you shoot down the blue tube there is one moment in the first turn that i would find myself bummed feeling like i was slowing down, but not for long, then you are shooting down at an incredible speed with so much water spraying your face you can't see and for a second you feel like you are going to suffocate until you shoot out the bottom into a big circular vessel going at a truly incredible pace, you go around and around a few times before you drop out (i never was able to do this very gracefully, usually head first or ass first) the hole in the bottom into a pool. After the first time down we had large amounts of adrenaline pumping in our veins and spent the next 4 hours at the park reliving our childhood and being proud of it.
We then continued on to Santa Fe de Antioquía, the old capital of the province Antioquía. Medellín is the capital now and there is really no comparison. Santa Fe de Antioquía is quaint, small and colonial. We arrived as it was getting dark and went immediately to el puente occidente one of the oldest bridges. It was absolutely beautiful crossing over el Río Cauca. We then headed into town to the main square where we had a much deserved dinner (we were starving) and walked around the plaza. My time was short in Santa Fe de Antioquía, but gave me a taste and a desire to go back for a whole weekend when possible.
Meg and I at the bridge
Paul, Andres and I at the bridge.
We headed out of Santa Fe de Antioquia as it started to rain and Paul djed us home with some of my favorite tunes as Andres drove us through the rain. They dropped me off at my house and I sat on my bed exhausted from a day of feeling waterlogged and a day of 100% fun.
Two days later, Thursday, I found myself on a bus heading out of Medellín again. This time to the Northeast to a place called Guatapé, this time with dear Pitzer alum Sonya Fierst and her friend Anna. It was raining in Medellín and raining the whole way to Guatapé. One main attraction of Guatapé is El Peñol a huge rock with 264 stairs that gives you an amazing view of the winding waterways that make up the region of Guatapé. You can also go on boat rides through the waterways (something to do on my next trip). Apparently these waterways are man made for hydro-electric use, but breathtakingly beautiful and very natural looking. We got off the bus at El Peñol after wishing the whole way there that it clears up, it was raining, hiking the Peñol at this moment would suck and the view would be very disappointing, we chased after the bus and it took us into the city as we waited for it to hopefully clear up. It was cold and drizzly so we went to a restaurant and ate bandeja paisa's (a typical plate of Antioquia which consists of four kinds of meat and is incredibly large and crazy, but delicious in its own way).
The bandeja paisa that has brought back that lovely feeling in my stomach I was so familiar with in Ecuador and the reason I am home on a Friday night.
Then in a food coma and still in the rain we wandered down the street to get cappucinos with a shot of baileys to aid with digestion... as we finished our cappucinos the sun started to peak and feeling slightly lighter we started walking back up towards el peñol. We then decided to hitch hike to save us time as Sonya and Anna were hoping to get back to the city by 6.
Anna, me and Sonya in the motor-taxi headed up to el peñol.
We got to the base and began the climb (all stairs) to the top with the view grower more and more amazing.
incredible no?
repping my favorite town at the top!
view through a window of the building on top of el peñol.
the stairs that carry you to the top.
view of el peñol from the bus on the way home.
When we got to the top the view made every step and bead of sweat more worth it than anything! After sufficiently soaking in the view we headed back down, almost got charged too much for a ride down and again ended up hitchiking this time with an American family travelling by private car. We caught the bus and bounced our way back through the mountains to Medellín where it was still grey and drizzly.
So it was certainly an exciting and fun few days off, unfortunately it left me quite exhausted and stomach sick. But nothing i'm not used to and i am actually beginning to feel better, but it should also be bed time as tomorrow I must work at 8am.. grrrr.... There are a few other amazing things happening in my life right now, but things I will have to write about at another time.
I hope you all enjoy the many photos i've included in this post as well as the stories of my first two trips out of Medellín. The best part of both these places are that they are easy day trips but also wonderful places to spend the weekend... who is excited to come visit me???
sending love from Antioquía. xoxo
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