Colombia-Joyas y Cafe Day 5
Colombia-Joyas y Cafe
Day 5 - Friday, March 28, 2014 - Drive Through Medellin to Discover Guatapé and Its Tiles; Lunch at Local Restaurant; El Peñón, a Monolithic Rock
We left the hotel at 8:00, and on the way out of town, we got a great look at the busy city getting ready for the day. Edgar gave us an overview of the itinerary of our learning and discovery opportunities.
Paulo continued our discussion on the Pablo Escobar years as we traveled northeast. Our destination was Guatapé, one of the Colonial Jewels an hour's drive from Medellin.
As we drove, we reviewed what we had learned yesterday about Medellin. We also had time to discuss a few of the darker issues such as teen pregnancy, vigilantes who extort people and businesses for protection, young children sold or kidnapped into trafficking, and prostitution.
Work stoppages or strikes are also common and have been known to bring the whole country to a standstill. Workers, truckers, and especially farmers have been hurt by free trade agreements that allow cheaper and low quality goods to come into Colombia from other countries, particularly from Asia.
Colombia has come along way toward safety and economical progress, but as Edgar and Paulo were not afraid to admit, there is still much room for improvement.
The countryside is a lush green land and the hills are dotted with small farms. Along with personal gardens, crops of various vegetables are also grown. Cabbage, carrots, onions, peppers, tomatoes, corn, kale, and strawberries are grown for export.
The red earth is very susceptible to mud slides. Migrant farmers were out in the fields tilling and planting young shoots. Most crops are grown three seasons each year.
Our mid- morning stop was at Estadero el Alto Chocho. Media mañana, the meal between breakfast and lunch was arepas, a corn cake fried and served with fresh farmer's cheese which we enjoyed with hot chocolate.
The baker was just taking pan de queso, a little roll baked with a sweet flour and cheese, out of the oven. Vic bought one to compare with our Brazilian pao de queijo. Home cooking is always best!
Close to the restaurant was a military outpost. Edgar arranged for us to talk with Col. Rodriguez who explained that the military is now more of a presence to assure safety. However, 14 years ago, the area was under the control of the right wing para-militia forces.
As usual, we were able to ask questions. He said the most dangerous part of his job now were the thousands of land mines left in the ground. Many farmers, children, and soldiers are maimed or killed each year.
We made another unscheduled stop to see an artist named Ignacio, called Nachos, who is famous for his Zocalos, 3D figures and designs made of concrete that decorate the homes and businesses in Guatape. He just happened to be working as we drove by so we stopped and he described the artistic process he used for his work.
We visited the small town of New Peñol, the old town was flooded when they built the huge dam and hydroelectric plant in the 1970’s. In the middle of the city is a statue of a Phoenix rising from the water, the symbol of this surviving community.
We made a brief photo stop to see El Peñón, a monolithic rock formation near the dam. At the man made lake, we drove to the marina and boarded a pontoon boat for an hour’s ride on the reservoir.
An exclusive and expensive area, many of the homes have suffered from landslides as the lake rises and falls according to the needs for water below. Pablo Escobar’s firebombed summer home is a stark reminder of the violence of days past in this rural community.
We came back to the marina at 12:30 where Raul was waiting for us and the temperature was 77° and the humidity was 53%. We drove into the town of Guatapé for lunch at Balcón de la Avenida and enjoyed a typical meal of rice and beans, fried plantains, sausage and ground meat.
As soon as we finished lunch we got into motor taxis called Moto Chivas for a tour of the city of Zocalos. There were two of us in each enclosed three-wheeled motorbike. Fernando was our driver; we made quite a parade, as there are seldom tourists or gringos as we are lovingly called in Colombia.
We had about 30 minutes of free time to explore and then at 3:15 we met under a big shade tree. It took about two hours to get back to the hotel. We made good time until we got into the city and then the avenue to our hotel was a parking lot. NO cars were moving!
Finally back at the hotel at 5:30, we started the journal and looked at our photos. Dinner was on our own and we had bread, cheese, and fruit from our trip to the market yesterday. Having a light quiet dinner was just perfect as we packed for our travel day tomorrow.
Accommodations: Art Hotel Medellin- - - Meals included: B & L
To receive $100 per person off your first reservation with OAT, mention the following information when reserving your Overseas Adventure Travel Trip: Mr. Victor Garcia Customer #673062
OAT's - Colombia's Colonial Jewels & the Coffee Triangle
Comments
Post a Comment!You make me feel I'm there. You are very observant. Thank you. A beautiful day in Monument, sunny, cold, no snow.
Zócalos of Guatapé - Colorful Cultural Elements (1:05)
Nacho
El Peñón
Pablo Escobar’s Summer Home
Chiva
Street in Guatapé
Featured Journal
Day 13: Azores & Madeira: Portugal's Unspoiled Archipelagos
Day 13 - Saturday, April 22, 2022 - Depart for U.S.
The hotel prepared a box breakfast for us as we had to be in the lobby way before the breakfast room was open.
Last night we found out that our departure flight back to...
