Blogs from Medellin, Colombia, South America - page 8

Après notre seule semaine de travail depuis plus d’un mois, nous décidons de nous octroyer un petit week-end de relaxation bien mérité :-) à Medellin, une ville que tous les Colombiens nous conseillent pour LE CLIMAT ! Tous s’accordent à dire que la température y est idéale… Medellin était malheureusement bien connue dans les années 80/90 comme plateforme mondiale de trafic de drogue et l‘une des villes les plus dangereuses du monde… Mais même s‘il y a encore des quartiers fortement déconseillés, Medellin a su redorer son blason et est aujourd’hui une ville incroyable à visiter. Par ailleurs, nous avons de la chance, nous y sommes justement le week-end de la fête des fleurs, l’événement le plus important de la ville ! Pendant la semaine, les « campesinos » préparent des « silleteros », c’est-à-dire des ... read more

Ecuador and Colombia The Galapagos were out of this world. The one down side was that they had lapped up the majority of our Ecuador time. It meant that we now only had a week to see the delights that the mainland had to offer. We were busy trying to plan this out and decide what we wanted to do when the Capitan put on the fasten seat-belts sign for landing. Becky's movements were a lot brisker and she spoke curtly as she stowed her table tray and returned her seat to the upright position. She checked and then double checked her seatbelt to make sure it was securely fastened. I had picked up on her palpable tension when we were taking off and thought some tough love may finally get her over her fear of ... read more

Tuesday 11th March (Odyssey Day 123) We were having a very late start today, planning to leave at 1200 and have lunch on the road. So we had our eggs for breakfast before spending some time catching up on the internet and packing our bags. I have too much stuff at the moment, and really need to do a bit of a clean out of my luggage. No point in carrying things around that I won’t be using any more (or that are broken). I’ll make time for that at the next hotel. Kelly and Eamon decided to remain in Medellin for another week and meet up with us in Cali, while Joanna and Ann decided to spend one more day in Medellin and get a bus to Guatapé tomorrow to meet up with us there. ... read more

Day One - 27 December 2013 – Friday – Flight from Aruba, Caribbean to Medellin, Colombia. We awoke a few times in the night, a little worried that we might miss our early morning flight. We got up just before 5am (had to wake a receptionist), checked out and drove to the airport. We checked in for our flight and then returned the rental car. We had to wait for someone to show up for work (supposed to arrive at 6am, got there around 6:30. A manager-type man was in the office early but he wouldn’t check the car back in. ‘Just leave it,’ he said). That is Aruba. Short flight to Curacao, twenty minutes. Then the flight to Medellin, less than two hours. Local bus into town. Glimpses of the mountains surrounding the city in ... read more

After another bumpy ride through the mountains we arrived to Medellin, the capital of the Antioquia departemento. Nowadays Medellin is peaceful, but it used to be the most dangerous city in the world 20 years ago, when the gangster king Pablo Escobar terrorized it. Today most of Pablo Escobars heritage has been wiped out; instead the presence of the other famous son of Medellin, Fernando Botero, is much more visible with statues in several places around the city. We had our hostel within walking distance from the city center, so our first morning we decided to stroll there. Our initial positive impression changed once we got to the smelly river separating our peaceful neighborhood from the city center, after that we entered a shady looking part of the city that apparently acts as an open door ... read more