Thank you Colombia, we had a great time and we loved your people 🙂
From Popayan, we moved down to Ipiales, near the border with Ecuador, for one last night in the country. The route in the mountains was beautiful and I tried to capture some of it through the dirty bus window! We arrived right during the « feria de blanco y negro » -a carnaval where people throw flour and spray shaving cream at each other- but we barely had time to witness it, we had further plans already.
Back in Guatape, we had met with Sam, an English tourist who gave us the contact of a guide in Ecuador to take us deep into the amazon forest. We had an appointment with him in Coca in two days.
(Mary is afraid of everything! She won’t jump in water or ride a bicycle. But tell her to go meet giant anacondas in the deepest parts of the amazon jungle and she signs in right away!)
From the center of Ipiales, a city bus takes us near the border, we get off and walk the rest of the way.
Here also, the stamping of passports is a mere formality and goes smoothly. Only the wait on the Ecuador side is a bit longer.
From there a taxi took us to Tulcan, where we could find a bus to Lago Agrio, from where we could take a bus to Coca!
We reached Coca around midnight, about 14 hours after we reached the border. Again, the route to Lago Agrio, along the Andes, was splendid, but most of it was a painfully slow and bumpy dirt path. (The route to Coca was probably nice as well but it was too dark to tell!)
Time to catch some sleep, tomorrow we’re meeting our guide.
On the route to Ipiales…Feria de blanco y negro: people are ready to get floured!Seats along the side of the road; waiting for the paradeWelcome to EcuadorLeo reflecting in the busThe route to Lago Agrio…The broken bridge
Continuing south from Cali, we reached Popayan on new year’s eve, our last major stop in Colombia.
Popayan is an old colonial town with an all white historical center. Leo kept saying it looks like greece 🙂
Nothing particularly festive on our side for new year’s eve; we just shared some wine and hugs in our hotel room 🙂
The most notable part was the burning of the Taitapuros! All over Colombia (and other parts of latin America) life size human figures made of straw and fully dressed, often packed with firecrackers, are exposed along the side of the road, waiting to be set on fire on the 31st at midnight.
They represent the demons and all the bad things of the past that must be burnt to start the new year fresh and clean. The amusing part is that they often impersonate politicians!
We didn’t do much during our five days in Popayan, it was mostly a chill break from long bus journeys. And an opportunity to catch up with Leo’s schoolwork.
Taitapuros on the roadside Off with their heads!!Inhabitants of Popayan celebrating the new yearZocalo de Popayan White streets of Popayan The traditional lama picThe only two coloured buildings in the center!
Cali is supposedly the Salsa capital of the world, but not a particularly pleasant (or even safe) city. Our plan was just to stop by and go spend a day out in the nearby wilderness of Oasis de la Sirena.
But, while the Sirena looked pretty cool on Google maps, it seemed very complicated to reach by public transport. Moreover we realised that the annual feria was not over and there were concerts all over town, so for one day we might as well enjoy the salsa capital of the world!
Concerts were supposed to begin around 2 or 3pm, but at that time they were merely setting up and practicing, and nothing really began before 5pm, to last until around 1am.
The problem is that from 5pm, it’s considered « night time » and, because alcohol is sold in the arena, kids are not allowed to enter! It’s not like we’re going to fill up our 10 year old with hard liquor, just because it is sold there, but there was no negotiating the rule! I don’t know if this absurd law was imported by our puritan friends from the US of A, or if it’s just a local flavor, but it makes no sense at all!
And therefore the safe arena surrounded by security guards was forbidden to our child, and we had to go further out to an open market with a smaller stage where we could enjoy the festival.
In theory, it seemed a lot more dangerous to me than the first option, but in practice it was very friendly and perfectly fine 🙂
It’s just that, instead of watching the big bands of Salsa, we ended up watching some folk dances. It was fun as well, but not really what we had been aiming for 🤷🏼♂️
One of stages overlooking the cityCrazy energetic street dance band!Folklore dancesSkies of Cali through the tinted windows of the taxi!A couple practicing salsa on a bridge
From Medellin we reached Salento, the first stop on our southbound journey to Ecuador.
Salento is a cute and colourful village located between Pereira amd Armenia, mostly famous for visiting the valley of Cocora. These giant palm trees have become one of the icons of Colombia.
House in Salento Streets of Salento Ready to fly over the valley!Airborne !The billiard bar. But no kids allowed 😥Some 500 steps (rough estimate) up the Salento miradorView of the valley from SalentoGlobe trotters at work!Entering the valley de Cocora (standing at the back of the jeep)Meet the giantsMary and the giantsPalms in the cloudsRaiders of the lost ark!Hiking, always hiking.. can we go back to Paris?!A nice little break Hummingbird at the bird sanctuary
We arrived in Medellin from Bogota, after 10 hours of night bus and reached just on time to watch the wold cup final: France vs Argentina. We reached too early to check into our hostel, so we just sat on the terrace of a café broadcasting the match, with our backpacks around us.
You all know that part of the story already; 75 minutes of boring hopelessness and then the most formidable suspense until the last minute of an unending match!
Since then it’s been: “where are you from?” – « Francia » – « Oh, I’m sorry! » 😅
Medellin is home of the Paisas – that’s how the locals call themselves. Paisas are extremely proud of their city and their region, and everyone kept telling us « Welcome to Medellin! Medellin is amazing, much better than Bogota, Bogota is no good, we’re much nicer! »
Yet, to be honest, our first impression of Medellin was not as enthousiastic as that of Bogota. The centro, where most museums and culture is located, is rather dirty and doesn’t feel so safe. Other neighbourhoods are nicer but mostly residential or with many bars and restaurants (El Poblado, typically is where rich people and foreigners hang out)
When I was young, Renaud was singing the dying children on the sidewalks of Bogota, but it’s in Medellin that we encountered the most beggars, mostly women and children, from Venezuela, selling candy.
Having said that, Medellin has a much better transport infrastructure than Bogota, with Colombia’s first metro and even cable cars to connect the higher parts of this large city surrounded by mountains. (The « metro cable » was apparently installed by Grenoble engineers 🐓)
Medellin was home of the biggest, most famous, Colombian gangster, the one that should not be named in the streets! (initials P.E.) Much to the Paisas regret, PE has become one of the biggest touristic attractions of the city! A private museum is dedicated to him (that we didn’t visit), t-shirts and paintings of his portrait are everywhere and tours are organised to visit his hacienda, in which he had created a private zoo with African wildlife! Apparently, a colony of hippos are still striving and becoming a real issue for the locals!
Medellin was also home of Colombia’s most famous artist, and Plaza Botero displays a fantastic collection of giant bronze statues, all donated by the artist to his hometown.
One statue, of a bird, on plaza San Antonio, was destroyed by a bomb terrorist attack that killed dozens of people. Noone even knows who and why since all terrorist groups revendicated the act! The point here is that, when the destroyed sculpture was removed, Botero called the mayor of Medellin and urged him to keep it back in its place, for people to never forget what happened. He also donated a new copy of the bird sculpture to be placed next to the destroyed one, as a sign of hope.
After years of extreme violence in the 80s and 90s, Medellin has resurrected from its ashes and transformed into a modern city. Yet, petty crime is still present and Paisas are always warning us to remain careful. In a taxi, one day, as the car was beeping, I tell the driver: “You’re like my dad, you don’t like to wear the seatbelt!”. He then explained that it’s for his own security, because thieves can use the seatbelt to strangle him!
In Medellin -thanks to Zenly again- I met with Paul, another colleague, french of colombian origin, who settled in Medellin, married a Colombian girl and together they founded Makata; the graphics designer behind much of Zenly’s cute 3D designs.
From Medellin, we made a two days excursion to visit lake Guatape. This beautiful lake, with a coastline so intricate that makes it look like a bunch of entangled rivers, was created 45 years ago, by submerging an ancient village, to create Colombia’s largest dam.
Many rich Paisas own a country house on the shore of the lake. Including famous PE of course, whose bunker house was bombed with 200kg of dynamite by a rival gang!
Overlooking the lake is the Piedra del Peñol, a gigantic standing rock that can be climbed for 20kcop per person, using the 750 steps leading to the mirador and the tourist shops. It’s crowded with tourists, but the view is indeed a sight for sore eyes!
An hour east of Guatape, we also went to San Rafael, to see some waterfalls and swim in the river. Because who doesn’t like to swim in a river a day before Christmas? 😀
We returned to Medellin on the 23rd and that’s when we really discovered the true, genuine, Paisa hospitality. We were hosted by Mauricio and Liliana who rent a part of their house on Airbnb. We were delighted when they invited us to share their Christmas eve’s dinner. We brought some wine and chocolates and joined the couple, Liliana’s mother, and Phil, a retired American who spent the past 2 years (!) in the second appartment they rent in their house. (Mauricio’s father was an architect and the house is actually divided in 5 apartments, one of which is occupied by Liliana’s mother)
Not only did they invite us for dinner, but they even had small gifts for us under the tree! ❤️ We ate cold cuts and salads and then a chocolate cake with ice cream.
The next day, they also invited us to spend the day with them and some more family, in the finca of Liliana’s brother, in Santa Elena, up on the mountain. It was a beautiful day and they cooked the traditional Sancocho; a big soup of meat and vegetables cooked over firewood, that all families make and share on Christmas day.
We spent the day chatting, dancing, playing music and frisbee! Sharing Christmas with such a lovely Colombian family was the best experience we could wish for ❤️
View of Medellin from our apartment on the 21st floor in El TesoroOn more for the night view 🙂The story of Medellin is represented on this giant sculpture This beautiful building, designed by a Belgian architect, was the palace of justice, before being converted into a giant mall for counterfeit articles !Leo and Eco-Recycle man!The destroyed Botero bird in plaza San AntonioLeo in the Metro station In the metro View of the city from the metro cableBotero’s dancers overlooking the metro and the palace of culture Botero’s view of misogyny A cute little skatepark in el PobladoThe famous Christmas illuminations are brought to you by Disney to promote te movie Encanto!Boat ride on lake Guatape The 3M$ country house!The remains of Pablo’s bunker villaLa Piedra de Guatape from the lakeUnder this cross, the submerged village of Guatape French and English lessons with local kids and our friend Sam, by the river in San RafaelBike ride with Leo around the lakeBike ride around the lakePassing the Piedra, Leo is exhausted by the hilly bike ride around the lakeReady to climb the 750 steps!Vertigo!Pano of the view from the PiedraLeo the Lion in Communa 13Hip hop freestyle in Communa 13The night is falling on Communa 13Christmas eve with (left to right) Betty, Phil, Mauricio and Liliana Selfie on Santa Elena PlazaLeo is cutting wood with the machete while the sancocho is cooking Sancocho is cookingThe delicious sancocho is ready !Leo trying to walk Guapo the dog (or rather Guapo walking Leo!)Guapo is not always cooperating !Salsa lesson with Nora« Mary show us the indian dance! » View from Santa ElenaView of Medellin while driving down
A bit like we did from SF to Mexico, we changed our initial idea to travel all the way by bus, to a leap by plane directly from Guatemala to Colombia. Mostly for lack of time -because, yes, even when you’re traveling for a year, you end up running after time! – and also because some routes we weren’t sure of, especially to enter Colombia from Panama where there doesn’t seem to be any route except for narcos infested jungle tracks.
Another reason is that we (Mary) managed to find plane tickets from Santiago Chili to Easter Island end of February, so between now and then we’ll have to focus on the main places we want to visit: Colombia, Peru (hmm, let’s talk of this one later) and Bolivia.
The cheap version of what could be a 2 hours direct flight from Guatemala City to Bogota, took a first flight to Costa Rica, a second to Panama, and a third to Bogota. So in a very superficial way, we did travel a bit across Central America in the end 😛
It’s hard to explain why but, without knowing what to expect, we immediately liked the vibe of Bogota. Everyone seemed very nice and attentive, the old neighbourhood of the Candelaria is vibrant with students and art and museums and bars and music…
Of course, when I say Bogota, I mean mostly La Candelaria, which is the historical, political and touristic center of this huge city spanning over 2000km2 (about 20 times Paris!). But not only; we took a bicycle tour of the city with Leo, which took us to various other pleasant neighbourhoods.
In Bogota we reviewed the deeds and history of famous Simon Bolivar and Santander whose collaboration lead to the independence of Colombia (on the easy to remember date of 7/8/1819!) and soon after of all of South America.
We learned about the terrible riots of “Bogotaza” in 1948, following the assassination of political leader Gaitan, and the heavy mystery and many theories behind his death.
We learned about the sickening “6402 false positive” reported cases. When, between 2002 and 2008, the army was given incentives for every guerrilla member they could kill, they started murdering innocent civilians to dress them up as guerrilla members and get the money! (So much for management by KPIs)
We learned about the indigenous people who took down the statue of a colonial spaniard during the covid protests and then buried it with traditional ceremony, to make peace with the past!
We learned about the assault of the palace of justice in 1985 by the M19 first and then by the army, and again the media censorship and the many questions around the dead magistrates.
Colombia has such a tumultuous and violent recent history that it’s hard to get around any of this.
On a brighter note, we visited the Botero museum with his paintings and sculptures completely out of proportions, and the gold museum of course, since, as everyone knows, pre-hispanic civilisations used to build whole cities out of gold! (Or not)
Like many latin american cities, Bogota also has fantastic street art. We also learned how until recently you could actually get killed by the police for painting on walls, but after Justin Bieber came to the city and painted a big canadian flag in 2013 under police escort, the controversy opened the gates for many street artists!
One evening, after Leo and Mary went to bed, I thought I’d stroll around a bit more in the neighbourhood. Walking next to a bar, I heard a familiar tune, I entered and there, in the heart of Bogota, a local band was playing the music of Django Reinhardt! That’s how I met the Hot Club de la Candelaria! I went back to fetch my guitar and we jammed together ❤️
We woke up at 2am for a flight at 5am 🥱Panama from the sky (sorry if you’d have preferred a pic of Costa Rica, but I wasn’t allowed a window seat on that flight!)First view of the city, next our hostel Skies of BogotaStreet artStreet artStreet artStreet artStreet artLibrary by architect Rogelio SalmonaLamas of BogotaBotero museumBotero museum Botero museum (painting through the door!)Botero’s Mona Lisa 🙂Night out with hostel friendsYarumo tree on plaza Chorro de quevedoMask in the Gold museum 6402, the new number of the beastIn memory of the 6402 victimsThe Hot Club de la Candelaria MilesLet’s not forget that Colombia produces some of the beat coffees in the world!Tired of climbing up MonserrateReaching the top of Monserrate, congratulations from Coca Cola (sin azucar!)And running back down!Bike tour with Dexter and family Street artLeo in the Ramen House fully decorated with Manga characters Visit of theatre Christopher Columbus
Raahi - A traveling family 