Medellin & Salento (E)

A quick update on the blog design: Blogspot does not seem to be able to provide proper updates, making it impossible for me to place picture where I want them to be... let's hope they come up with a solution soon...

I met Cyrill & Regula in Medellin after a good night’s sleep in a comfortable bus, only interrupted by two passport checks at army checkpoints. We spent four days together exploring the city and went to two parades of the flower festival.

The first of the parades was a horse parade and consisted of thousands of horses and their riders showing themselves as well as their riding skills to the spectators. We were beginning to understand why Medellin is known as the silicone centre of Colombia…

The other parade we visited was called “Chivas & Flores”. Chivas are old buses used as public transport in rural areas of Colombia. About 80 of these buses have been decorated for the festival and were driving around the city filled with party people.

 

As Colombia is one of the biggest coffee producers in the world, I made my way back south to Salento to visit the Zona Cafetera where most of the country’s coffee is produced. The plantations are nestled between picture perfect green hills and together with other people from my hostel we went to visit one of the smaller plantations where we were shown around and tried the delicious brew.

Another day we took pick-up trucks to the Valle de Coroca, famous for the up to 50 meter high wax palm trees which only exist in this small area of the country. We explored the area for four hours on horseback and took a break at a little sanctuary where dozens of hummingbirds flew around, feeding on the sugar water the owners provided.

Some thoughts on security in Colombia:
The overall security situation in Colombia has improved considerably in recent years, making it much more appealing for travellers to explore this beautiful country. With the exception of the Caribbean coast, where package tourism exists, many parts of the country are visited by backpackers only but I’m sure this will change within the next few years.

The national tourism board came up with the nice slogan “Colombia - The only risk is wanting to stay” and so far it totally reflects my opinion. The Risk of muggings or robberies does certainly exist but I don’t think it’s worse than in other South American countries.
Most travellers coming from Ecuador seem to stick to a route going north to the Caribbean coast through the centre of the country via mayor cities like Bogota and Medellin, thus avoiding potentially unsafe regions where guerrilla groups operate. The main highways and most central streets within cities are heavily controlled by police and army to ensure safety. It takes some time to get comfortable with seeing armed forces at every corner but police officers are usually extremely friendly and helpful.

Sadly there was a car bomb attack in Bogota whilst I was travelling in the north of the country – most probably it was intended to weaken the newly elected president. It’s to hope that these incidents won’t happen more often as it certainly doesn’t help changing people’s preconceptions towards this lovely country.