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Published: November 19th 2010
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Medellin, Jardin, El Carmen & Minca Days 1 – 5
A whirlwind start to our journey, the days have seemed incredibly long because we have packed so much in, very early starts and very early nights! We arrived into Medellin airport, Colombia about 9 pm on Sunday and were met by Richard’s uncle Robert. It was straight to a nearby hotel, a quick meal and into bed. We were meeting our driver Don Hector at 10.00 the following morning.
After a hearty breakfast and a shower with a nice normal towel which we relished knowing it could be our last for a while we made our way to the centre of Medellin city and to Bolivar square and the museum celebrating the work of Medellin’s most celebrated son, artist Botero. Medellin is experiencing rapid growth and there were some signs of wealth but it was very hot, busy and dirty. Then we set of for an old colonial town called Jardin about 2.5 hours drive from Medellin.
Robert is director and founder of a conservation charity in Colombia called Pro Arves (for birds) who have reserves of pristine forest all over Colombia and employ 40 people. He also
Too many arepas and cervezas!
The Botero museum in Medellin organises tours of the reserves using local staff so he is the perfect guide for the start of our trip! Because he is so well connected and knows where is good to go and organises how to get there we will pack far more into our 3.5 weeks in Colombia than we would have been able to do otherwise.
In Jardin we met 2 people who work for Pro Aves educating the schools and locals about conservation. We took a small cable car up to the top of a hill (in the central Andes) overlooking the town. They were using the cable car to transport bananas down the hill and while we were waiting a camera crew arrived who were making a film about tourism in the local area and asked to interview Robert, he was chuffed to bits and managed to get lots in about Pro Aves which was a bonus for them. Then the three of us had to say something about how great the local area was in Spanish into the camera. We had no idea what we were saying and mainly mouthed it but maybe we’ll make it onto Colombian TV!
The next day
we were up at 5.30 and went for a walk in search of “cock of the rocks” a rare local bird! Helen spotted the only one we saw which made her very happy and clearly impressed Rob. After breakfast back in town we had a jeep waiting to take us up into the higher hills to see some forest and get a better look at the countryside. We had a walk of about 3 hours and saw local farms high on the hills, mainly they farm cattle on land that has been deforested and turned into pasture but it is poor quality land and so steep that you wonder how they do it.
After that, a 2 hour car ride and then 2 hours in a jeep took us to El Carmen a much smaller more remote town. The jeep was required because there has been a lot of rain in here recently as a result a lot of landslides onto the road as well it being in a generally poor state . The most exciting part of the journey was where a lorry load of cattle had run aground and the cows were all over the road. Robert
quickly took control of the situation and herded the cows out of the road so we could pass, he was very pleased with the photo we took. The scenery was just amazing, step mountains covered in forest, shrouded in mist.
The thing that struck us the most is that both Jardin and El Carmen get only a few tourists but mainly local ones from Medellin who until recently were unable to safely travel out of the towns and cities for fear of the guerrillas who controlled the area. It seemed all so safe to us because of who we were with and we had all the transport and guiding we needed but we were the only foreign tourists there. It was an experience we will certainly treasure and probably not one we will get to repeat once we leave Colombia.
Once in El Carmen we met Huvenei, the park ranger. We were invited into his house for coffee, it was a breeze block construction with 1 room for 4 people. Then it was a quick dinner, a couple of beers and bed by 9pm. The next day we were up at 5am and on our way to one
of Pro Aves reserves by 5.30am. Arriving as it got light meant we saw some even more spectacular scenery to the day before and some indigenous and rare birds. We had our lunch at 10am after about 3.5 hours walking along mostly well marked but steep paths, then the guide asked if we’d like to try a route that would take about 2 hours but was ‘difficult’ i.e. he hadn’t cut the path yet. So we scrambled over landslides and fallen trees, up and down steep ravines and across streams, Helen was lucky enough to be carried across a stream by the forest ranger, a man half her size. It was indeed ‘difficult’ and we got soaked by steady rainfall but it was a great adventure in awe inspiring unspoilt rainforest.
Early dinner and to bed by 8pm! Up again at 4am the next day for a jeep ride and a car ride back to Medellin airport to fly north to Santa Marta and then onto a town called Minca where we are now. We went to visit a hotel Robert has bought and is currently doing up, we were supposed to be staying there tonight but it’s far
from ready, full of builders and rubble, so we managed to persuade Robert to stay in a hotel in town. It is hot and steamy and tomorrow we head off at 7am (a lie in!) to do a 5 day trek to the Lost City, hopefully our clothes and boots will have dried in time. So far our walking boots and rain coats have been the most useful, shorts and t shirts are still in the rucksacks.
Photos to follow when we have more time to upload them.
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