Arriving to Medellín from the south, we unfortunately found ourselves stuck in a one hour traffic jam meaning we had travelled a full five hours to get there. Not the best way to start our visit, but nothing we could do about it.
We stayed in the El Poblado area of the city, which was quiet, safe and relatively central (usually three pretty hard things to find with a 7 metre long camper van in a large South American city)!
We took it relatively easy on our first full day, strolling through the local streets, playing in the park and treating ourselves to some local cuisine. We then took care of some travelling admin (children’s shoe shopping) before a enjoying a quiet night in.
Our second day was more active, with a trip to the Parque Explora. This children’s science museum was very impressive, with a huge array of interactive exhibition rooms for both kids and adults to enjoy. It was so good in fact that we ran out of time for the last couple of rooms (and we had gone there relatively early in the day). There are also other museums and places of interest located right beside the Parque Explora, such as a planetarium, aquarium and botanic gardens. Unfortunately for us, our timeframe and budget only allowed us visit one, but we were really happy with our choice.
We crossed the city the following day to visit the famous Comuna 13 neighbourhood. This was once a very dangerous area of Medellín, notoruious for many years due to the violence from drug, paramilitary and military operations there. The area has however undergone a complete transformation in recent years. It is now a tourism, art and cultural hub, famed for its many murals, music, street performing and community projects.
Our visit there enabled us to see at first hand how the locals now live in a safe and thriving environment. While we did enjoy the steps, escalators and winding pathways that brought us through the neighbourhood, we left with the sensation that things may have gone a touch too far in terms of attracting tourists to the area. For the couple of hours that we travelled through it, we probably never went 5 metres without someone trying to sell us something. Never done in an uncomfortable way I would rush to say however, it certainly did detract slightly from our enjoyment of the day. Nonetheless, definitely somewhere worth a visit, if purely to see how a neighbourhood can regenerate itself given the right circumstances.
We had hoped to visit a couple of more areas in Medellín, with the Plaza Botero in particular high on our wish list. However, a brief illness inside the camper van, combined with heavy rains, put paid to any further sightseeing.
Located 130km south of Medellín, Jardín is a small town that packs a very big punch. We absolutely loved our time there, enjoying everything that this little gem had to offer.
Surrounded by rolling green hills, Jardín is ideally located for some nice family friendly hikes. We spent two wonderful afternoons trekking to the Cristo Rey statue and the Cascada La Escalera and Cascada del Amor waterfalls. We went through banana plantations, beside coffee farms and alongside rivers to reach these idyllic spots. Both hikes were between 7-10km in length with moderate inclines, and really hit the sweet spot for what our family enjoys.
Another fun activity is to visit the Jardín de Rocas on the edge of town. Here you can see some amazing local Gallito de Roca Andino (cock of the rock birds) each afternoon. For a small entrance fee, you can enjoy seeing and hearing these rare locals in their natural habitat.
The town of Jardín itself is really picturesque and inviting. We particularly loved the mix of tourism and locals going about their own business. Very often in Colombia we have found either one of the other – a pure tourist town or a town really just set up to accommodate locals. Jardín had both and it really felt like somewhere we could have spent quite a long time.
The town square and side streets have a huge selections of restaurants, bars, cafes and shops. Prices are noticeably cheaper than other similar towns located around the Eje Cafetero region of the country, while quality and friendliness were second-to-none.
Guatapé is located about 80km from Medellín and is where many of Colombias rich and famous holiday. It is also home to the famed El Peñón de Guatapé, a gigantic out of place looking rock towering 200 meters above the surrounding lakes. Visitors must scale the rock via a staircase with 708 steps built into one side.
We had the bright idea to stay at a carpark located another few hundred steps further below the rocks entrance, so we were certainly puffing and panting by the time we scaled El Peñón! Its was a very enjoyable climb though and the views from the top were just spectacular.
The following day we got a local moto taxi into the town of Guatapé. A little smaller than Jardin, this town had plenty to like and brought a different charm to visitors. While you could certainly notice the high proportion of tourists, the town still had plenty to see and do, and we left with nothing but fond memories.
In terms of destinations, we certainly enjoyed Medellín, Jardín and Guatapé. All different in their own way, any visit to this part of fabulous Colombia would be incomplete without sampling what each place has to offer!
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