Rumba Time

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We had read about a nice Colonial town of Santa Fe de Antioquia, only a short distance from Medellin but at a lower altitude (600m) so we were in for some warmer weather. On depature from the bus (we were the only two to get off) it just looked like another town and I was a bit worried of my choice of option. But it couldn´t have turned out any better. I wandered around in the heat looking for a hostel we had seen a sign for in Medellin. It was here that I discovered the old part of town, cobbled streets, the lovely architecture a nice large town square with a few bars and music coming out of them. I finally found Hostal Sweet Home and had to quickly race back to Deb, who I had left with feet up over a lovely juice, while I was sweating bullets doing all the legwork. What a lovely hostal it was, even better that Deb and I were the only ones there and had the place to ourselves! Our own private colonial house in Colombia, with hammock, courtyard and all.
There were a few taxis here that are just like the mopeds in Thailand, we hired one to show us around town, a couple of museums in lovely colonial buildings and to an old suspension bridge over the river Cauca, one of the first in South America. Deb cooked a lovely pasta dish for dinner (reward for my legwork).
The following day was something special, something we won´t forget for a long time. We had booked to do the paragliding, we were collected and had a lovely drive up to a farm on the mountain range (I got to practice my Spanish with our guide and his girlfriend). The views were amazing we could see the valley below, Sante Fe de Antioquia in the distance, Sopetran below us and the river cutting through and the other mountain range on the other side. We were in awe and funnily enough we had no idea about paragliding, we thought you start high and finish below, but it was start high, go higher and land where you start. Deb was the brave one who went first, it was amazing up there, in the thermal winds, the feeling of being just like a bird looking down on the amazing scene below. You could see a few farms below with coffee plants, bananas and yuca. The guide did a few acrobatic manouvers also which really left the stomach and head feeling queezy, a feeling which stayed with Deb for a good while after, but no puke. After we went down to the farm for lunch, amazing. The view and the owner and his son were the friendliest people, he wanted to show us around. Around his house there were so many lovely fruits just growing, mangos, oranges, guanabana, zapote, bananas and others. I had tried the zapote and it was OK (plenty left in the teeth). We had the guanabana as a juice and it was fantastic, the fruit looks a little odd but the taste is great. We left after a lovely lunch and a handful of delicious bananas that the man would not let us pay for. An absolute great day, but it was not yet over, Rumba time!
With a bit of luck we had arrived in Santa Fe just in time for the Festival de Tamarindo (another fruit I tried another day as a juice, getting hard to remember them all). In the hostal were now two other American guests. Carolina, the lovely owner of Hostal Sweet Home took us out to the town for the festival. We took in the lovely ambience around the streets, sat outside drinking aguardiente an anise flavoured spirit that you drink straight. In the main square there was music on stage and a great number of people around of all ages. We attempted a bit of salsa dancing with some of the locals who were very friendly and the drink flowed and a great time was had by all. We left some time around 2am, the square was still packed with people of all ages. It really was great to see, everyone enjoying themselves, no one ruining it for others and a great time, would be great to have things like this back home!
Our final day Deb nursed her sore head and I planned a little tubing on the river, only to find a stream of chocolate coloured water, so that was soon cancelled.
Leaving Santa Fe with great memories, I thoroughly enjoyed it and the province of Antioquia in Colombia is one I would happily return to and can recommend. There is more to see there and I hear flights from the US to Medellin are cheap. We may be here again! For other travellers we can recommend Hostal Sweet Home, it is only new and really is a great place. On to the big smoke of Bogota

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