Blogs from Medellin, Colombia, South America - page 12

Geo: 6.23593, -75.5751Colombia is DANGEROUS - since that's what everybody says about the country, it must be true, right? Robberies, muggings, drug cartels, armed conflicts with FARC and paramilitary groups - there's no shortage of horrible fates that could befall a traveler while in this country. You could get killed! You could get kidnapped and held for ransom! Never mind that only political figures or rich businessmen are at risk for being kidnapped, it could happen to YOU!!!I don't want to downplay anything - there are definitely risks associated with traveling in a country such as Colombia. There are regions and neighbourhoods that should be avoided, and it's wise to not carry too much cash with you, or wear any flashy jewelry, or hang a fancy camera around your neck. There's always a chance of something ... read more

As we only had a week left in Colombia, we decided to try and squeeze in as much of this fantastic country as possible, and opted for a night in the small town of Guatape. It was only a couple of hours away by bus, and was recommended by various travellers we had spoken to. We made our way to the North Bus terminal in Medellin, bought our tickets and were away…no hassles. The bus journey despite being short, still had it’s usual amusing quirks, this time being the vendors. Basically, they boarded the bus throughout the journey at various points, produced their sales pitch, and were then dropped off a few miles down the road. I think we had around 6 vendors board the bus in total within the 2 hour journey, all of whom ... read more

The Feeling of Home Have you ever been to a foreign place that felt like home? There's a feeling of familiarity. There's strangers who remind you of people you know. It just feels comfortable.....Welcome to Medellin. Being back, over three years since we had first been there, felt like we had returned home. In July of 2010, Sarah and I had randomly (with some quick research) jumped on a plane to Colombia, to spend five days in a city called Medellin. Back then, most people thought we were crazy. "Why was this young couple going to a risky country like Colombia to stay in a dangerous place like Medellin - didn't they hear that was where Pablo Escobar was killed?!" Luckily, we like to make our own mind up about things and we had done enough ... read more

"Delightfully tacky yet unrefined" Hooters' motto. Me and fourteen others stepped foot on a catamaran called Fritz the Cat, captained by an obese Austrian called Fritz the Cat whom got both the name of his boat and his nickname from the infamous animated film, the first of which to receive an X rating (or 'R' to those not from the UK). Fritz greeted us with lots of jokes about girls bunking up with boys and vice versa and generally struck me, initially at least, as a bit of a twat (most people do, you'll have noticed*). He gave us a very rudimentary safety talk and we set about bonding with one and other over the gargantuan amounts of booze we'd stocked up on, bearing in mind we were potentially staring at five days on a boat ... read more

Due to only having two weeks left until our return flights, we travelled through Colombia pretty rapidly to allow some time to relax on the Caribbean coast. Our first stop from the Ecuadorian border was in Cali, about a 13 hour bus journey from the border. There wasn't a huge amount to see in Cali, other than a zoo which is supposedly the best in Colombia, so we spent a couple of hours checking the zoo out. We only stayed for one night before getting the night bus to Medellin further north. Medellin used to be known as the "most murderous city in the world" a few years ago when Pablo Escobar's cocaine business was at the height of it's power but now it's pretty safe. We really noticed the police prescence everywhere in Colombia. It's ... read more