Medellin- the city of eternal spring. Indeed, the weather was almost perfect with the occasional unpredictable rain that we could never anticipate. However, the day that I decided to go paragliding was 10/10 for time in the air- nothing but sunshine. When heading out to the paragliding site, we were lucky enough to take the metro line close to our apt because the north-south line had mechanical issues and was closed for the day! I can’t imagine what a mess that was for the working people. We took it to the end of the westbound line and caught the cable car up. Once at the site, I had to wait 2 hours even though I made an appt with a company. Even though that was frustrating, it was fun to watch the others go and enjoy the sunshine. Mom got bit by chiggers in the grass and is still paying for it now!! She’s a scrath-aholic. Once it was my turn and I was strapped in, my tandem flyer Luis just started running and so I just started running too, with zero instruction. Easily enough, I was up in the air in no time and it was such a peaceful flight. The whole twenty minutes, I was not scared at all as Luis and I discussed how long he’s been flying (25 years) and which cities we could see below besides Medellin. Here are some fun photos from that experience- so happy I was able to have my first paragliding experience here!
The rest of that day was spent walking around Laureles, getting coffee, and once again getting caught in a downpour on the way home. I hate waiting, so while underneath the soccer stadium basically getting drenched anyways, I suggested walking home and just drying our clothes with the fan. The streets had turned into rivers in a matter of minutes, and of course, once home, the rain stopped within 20 minutes- oops.
The following day we headed out to our day trip on a cacao farm. We got to Terminal Norte to find out some roads had been closed due to mudslides, so we had to re-route ourselves. We got back on the metro to the northernmost stop, walked out to flag a bus to Barbosa, got off in Barbosa, found a taxi to take us out of town to this cacao tour. He dropped us off in a place that we didn’t know, but after asking some friendly people on the street we found this farm. The farm is owned by a woman from the US who has essentially relocated to Colombia. She leads women’s retreats for spiritual healing and does ayahuasca ceremonies, the cacao production is on the side. Regardless, we got to learn about how chocolate is made starting from planting cacao trees, to removing the fruit/drying the seeds, crunching them into nibs, and finally processing it into chocolate. This woman owns Origen Cacao, and what she proceeds is made from 3 ingredients only: cacao, cocoa butter, sugar.
Now we cannot support chocolate makers such as Hershey and Nestle knowing how many additives are going into that chocolate while not supporting local farmers. We learned a lot over this day and got to spend some time with women who were at the retreat (we just happened to barge in). We were lucky enough to drive home with a woman who relocated permanently from the US to Medellin and everything she told me about living in Colombia seemed too good to be true… not good for my grand-plan making self. We got dinner at a sandwich shop before me realizing I didn’t have my phone. Mom’s phone had totally died the night before w/ hardware issues, so this was not good. Luckily, the woman who drove us had stopped at her home, so I could retrace my steps there. I waited for someone to let us in and asked for the “apartamento de la gringa y su hija” and luckily I got to her apt. It turns out it was in her car, and I was so elated and feeling grateful that she had stopped at her house otherwise we would’ve been sunk trying to find her!!
On Thursday we did a tour of Comuna 13. At the end of the westbound metro is a neighborhood named San Javier where the tour began. We had a guide Laura who grew up in this area and now gives tours to teach visitors about this place’s violent past and how it’s transformed. Comuna 13 is a hillside community that once was disputed territory between the narcos, the left-wing FARC, and the right-wing paramilitaries. Because the community is poor, many kids and young adults were offered huge amounts of money to kill police officers and other innocent people for the aforementioned groups. After Pablo Escobar was killed, this neighborhood became even more dangerous because FARC and paramilitaries were trying to take control. The government attempted to “help” the situation with a raid called Operation Orion in 2002, but really this just ended up killing many innocent people and to this day, hundreds of individuals are unaccounted for. In 2011, escalators were placed on this hillside, making the 45 min stair hike to the top much more bearable for residents and improving their quality of life. This, coupled with a boom in graffiti and art, musical storytelling, and residents efforts to improve their own situation, this area has become a new place. This was probably the most interesting part of the trip, at least for me, and so now I’ve got a book describing all of this in much more detail. To be able to safely walk the streets of what was Colombia’s most dangerous neighborhood only 10 years ago is a true testament to how much this country is changing its stereotyped history for the better.
During that same night, we attended our first fútbol match in South America, watching the more supported Medellin team, Atletico Nacional, vs a Chilean team Colo Colo. We got great seats for $13, had perfect weather, and were so excited; yet, to our dismay, the game was quite boring! The score ended up at 0-0, but we did get to experience the true atmosphere of the fans jumping/screaming/singing the ENTIRE game and got to see how proud these fans are of their soccer team. Yes, Ohio State football games are spirited in this way, too, but this game was a different type of feeling. It’s like this soccer team could solve the city’s problems by bringing people together because it’s so important to them. Plus, we were 2 blocks from the stadium, so how could we pass it up?
Saturday we planned another day drip to Santa Fe de Antioquia, which used to be the capital of the region until 1826 when it moved to Medellin. Because the location moved and the town wasn’t destroyed, the colonial architecture has remained and it’s now protected. Once on the bus, we had a 2 hour beautiful mountainous drive heading down in elevation. We even passed through the longest tunnel in South America en route. After descending 3000 ft, the heat became sweltering hot and the bus was quite stuffy. After first eating lunch in the shade, we got a tuk-tuk to take us to Puente de Occidente.
At one point, this was the largest suspension bridge in South America (built in late 1800’s), and it connects Santa Fe and Olaya across the Cauca River. It’s supposed to mimic the style of the Brooklyn bridge, as the architect worked in New York before designing Puente de Occidente. Back in town, we had some super refreshing mora juice and limonada/coco juice – wow were those out of this world in the heat. Heading home, we thought we bought bus tickets, but turns out we bought microbus tickets. We were squished full in this large van for the ride home, with no windows opened, and feeling every bit of bump on the way back. During moments as these, I feel grateful I have a mom that is adventurous as mine. I know not many would have enjoyed that ride back and would do the cheapest mode of transportation because oftentimes, it makes for the most uncomfortable but also the best stories. So shout out to Mom for sticking with me on these budget friendly trips!
Our last full day was immensely rainy, so we were happy to have spent most of it at inside locations. First, I took my mom to the city’s largest market. I made a very poor choice in taking a road that we probably shouldn’t have on the way there, but at the end of the day it means that we are able to see all the sides of Medellin- from the poorest to the wealthiest. Medellin is not just what the typical tourist sees. 
Once at the market, we sat on some benches after touring the array of fresh fruit, veggies, meat, grains, and more. The people here work harder than most I can picture in the United States, and it puts into perspective how sedentary many of our jobs are. These people are out transporting heavy boxes full of fruits and veggies all day long in the heat and the rain and don’t take a break for themselves- feeling lucky. For the rest of the day, we visited Museo de Antioquia which houses many of the works of Fernando Botero, including his famous painting of thedeath of Pablo Escobar. Afterwards, we walked to Casa de la Memoria, a very unknown, free museum that exhibits the history of Medellin and brings together all major events from the 60’s to the early 2000’s in order to understand the history. Even though most of it was in Spanish, I was able to translate for mom. Unfortunately, we didn’t know it closed at 4pm on this day, so we had to leave early, very saddened we didn’t make it through the whole thing.
That night, we got a $12 full steak dinner, packed up, and pretty much stayed up all night till we caught a ride to the airport at 2am. We were the first flight out at 5 am, and since I hadn’t slept all night, I really crashed all the way to Chicago. Usually I can’t sleep on planes/trains/automobiles so that was a pleasant surprise. We made it back to Chicago, got some Giordano’s pizza amidst the million visitors in town for Memorial Day weekend, and made it home around 10pm. All in all, it was a successful trip without any problems, and another trip in the books that increases my love for latin culture. All the adventures that happen in Colombia- expected and unexpected- make for the best vacations. I’m especially glad we got off the gringo trail for the most part in Medellin, as this way we got a more authentic experience.
The whole time in Medellin, I felt just as safe, probably more safe, than I do at home. The stereotypes of Colombia still continue to be outdated as I’ve mentioned before, and I would highly suggest visiting this country, and any part of it. I’m not sure why, but this place pulls at my soul to keep coming back. Well, I do know: the people are among the nicest you’ll ever encounter, the culture is so vibrant, and the landscapes are hard to beat, especially in comparison to the midwest flat. I can’t seem to stay away. Though if Colombia still remained somewhat of a hidden gem, I wouldn’t be too upset.
If you made it through all that, thanks for reading! It was quite a lot of detail, but I also had a lot to say. Until the next adventure, wherever that may be. ~ Samita