Day 1 - Arrival in Medellin, Columbia

Colombia Map showing Medellin

After a 11 hour flight from London to Bogata and then another very short internal flight of 25 minutes, we arrived in Medellin, also known as “The city of eternal spring” because of its consistent spring like climate all year around. On the way we learned that Medellin is pronounced "Med-eh-jean". No wonder we couldn't understand the airport announcements for the internal flight.

At 1500m above sea level it is quite high but a stepping stone to the higher cities we will visit later in the trip.

Medellin was formally the capital of the cocaine trade and the most dangerous city in the world due to its historic deadly drugs wars, led by the infamous drug baron Pablo Escobar. He ruled this town with terror until he was killed in 1993 and since then the city has turned itself around and is now modern and stylish and very busy.

It was also the home of the footballer, Andre Escobar, who was murdered after scoring an own goal in the 1994 World Cup.

We were dropped off at the hotel at 8.00 am and, understandably, our rooms were not ready. We were able to access our luggage but not able to take a much needed shower. We were advised to explore the El Poblado and Parque Lleras areas near to the hotel. The area is very hilly and it got hotter and more humid as the day went on. There are some very colourful birds around especially in the parks but they are difficult to photograph as they will not keep still for long. There are a lot of shady park areas which are nice to escape from the hot sun. On the way back to the hotel we had a walk around a garden centre. Most of the plants were familiar to us but a few are not seen at home like this photo of Paul posing with a very tall cactus.

After checking in to our room we freshened up and had a short rest before venturing into the city centre on the Metro. It seems that all Medellin residents do the same on a Saturday afternoon. It was absolutely manic. Around the Parque Barrio area there are never ending market stalls and lots of modern and not so modern malls as well as street shops. About 80% of these were selling trainers and shoes. After that the majority of the others were selling phone accessories and clothes. It certainly wasn't for the tourist. We walked around a very crowded plaza which had lots of bronze statues, some by the Columbian sculptor Fernando Botero.

We had a pizza dinner and an early night.