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| Did the narcos put down their guns and pick up paint brushes ? |
So, we've been in Colombia for about 3 weeks, arriving in Santa Marta and making an excursion to both Medellin and Jardin in the interior. It's totally interesting and nothing like we imagined, although we're not sure what we imagined (or have we been watching too much Narco on Netflix?).
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| Imagine Vail with the per capita income of Bangladesh..... |
To prepare for our three months here Kirstin and I have vastly expanded our knowledge of Spanish (doubling our vocabulary from 25 to almost 50, often mispronounced, words) and we've read several books on that narco trafficking rock star Pablo Escobar. While he met his fate in 1993, the mayhem he unleashed didn't subside until relatively recently. Now that FARC (a Spanish acronym for the main revolutionary army) has taking a break also, tourism is growing exponentially. There are narco tours in Medellin for crime/history buffs, hotels opening everywhere.........change is in the air. We've suggested a line of t-shirts "no FARCing in public" but didn't get a lot of traction on that one. Pablo Escobar is such a revered/hated figure that tour guides won't even say his name out loud for fear of the people around us.....
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| It just keeps going and going...... twice as big as Philly |
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| Comuna 13 - once the most dangerous neighborhood in the most dangerous city in the world....over 4400 murders in a single year back in the 80s......and a 4 day wait to get a grave site anywhere in Medellin. |
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| Even without the frequent warnings from people, the creepy art is enough to keep you out of here after dark. |
We decided to make our first trip away from the boat to Medellin, at one point the most dangerous city in the world. And now that the narco traffickers no longer pay $2,000 per head for a dead police officer, the cops (live ones) are everywhere so you feel safe- at least while the sun is up.
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| Hold it. Am I in Bethesda, MD? |
That didn't stop Kirstin and I from looking at each other with a nervous laugh when the radio in our cab began playing the Guns 'n Roses classic "Welcome to the Jungle" as we were descending the hill into Medellin. As an aside, we have heard enough American "classic" rock and pop throughout Colombia to last a lifetime - need to hear Culture Club classics in every restaurant? Medellin is your dream - can I get another Karma, Karma, Karma Chameleon, please? However, it was at the moment we saw the first Krispy Kreme location that we realized our image of Medellin might be a bit off.
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| Does your local hospital look like this? Pretty sure the "haves" use this one |
Medellin still has plenty of poverty but tremendous effort has been put into creating infrastructure to bring the city's population together - how many world cities have built a full metro system complete with extensive gondola runs and outdoor elevators in the last 20 years? Few. And now add in a still smoldering war to make construction a bit more challenging. Zero, except Medellin.
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| Urban transport - Medellin Style |
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| Movin' on up - Urban elevators in the barrio |
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| Maybe the war starts again when the artists run out of wall space to paint on...... |
Part of the charm of Colombia at this point is that they're more eager for tourists than ready. We experienced something similar when we visited Croatia shortly after the "misunderstanding" there during the disintegration of the former Yugoslavia. I've been having fun tormenting our tour guides with intentionally funny and stereotype reinforcing questions.
Tour Guide- "Please don't take pictures of anyone in the market without asking their permission"
Tom- "If I'm an American, do I have to ask permission ?"
as well as......
Tour Guide- "The metro is crowded so we might have to stand until we get to our stop"
Tom- "Is there a special metro car for Americans ?"
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| Beginning of the bus ride from hell |
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| Drying coffee beans on the side of the road |
Getting to and from Jardin involved a bus ride.........a long, bone jarring, amusement ride kind of trip through the Andes Mountains. Paved roads and guard rails must be still be on the drawing board or stuck in committee because this trip left us both exhausted and with new respect for the bus drivers who do this every day. What struck us as entrepreneurial, but not particularly profitable, was the parade of random vendors picked up along the road selling pieces of mango, sandwiches that looked a bit past prime and plastic tumblers of juice to a very unenthusiastic market of sleepy bus riders. We were glad items weren't big sellers when the local older gentleman sitting next to us took the opportunity of a construction stoppage to toss his used plastic cup onto the side of the road. Now that they have tackled paramilitary gangs, perhaps proper garbage disposal could be next.
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| Jardin must have a good paint store |
Jardin itself was idyllic.........huge cathedral, scenic town square, and lots of small local restaurants. What's funny is that during our stay, we were two of about ten gringos in the city (by my estimation).
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| Stay in a hostel ? Ba-ha-ha-ha........remember we're billionaires (in pesos) |
The rest were broke young back-packers. Everywhere you go, you're very conspicuous........people watch you.........not menacingly, but it's kind of weird - we are a curiosity. Each night local farmers on horses come to the square for an impromptu dressage display - in the same way a single guy in Miami might drive around in his Ferrari looking for impressionable ladies.
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| A parade in the Gringo's honor - you shouldn't have! |
We did a couple of nature excursions while in Jardin -
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| A Gallito de roca- this little bastard is perhaps the world's most noisy and un-melodic bird. |
birdwatching (yawn...), hiking and going to a coffee plantation. We actually were put to work by the owner picking coffee. I stopped after picking about 1/3 of a cent's worth of coffee. I explained that as an American and a billionaire (in Colombian pesos), it's not that I can't help him........it's just that I don't want to.
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| Kirstin = working |
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| "Don't you have slaves, children, or prisoners to do this ? Do you know who I am ?" |
Kirstin was quite a bit more diligent and probably would have earned several cents based on her yield. The next time you are slurping your caramel macchiato at Starbucks remember that coffee picking is hard and completely unprofitable work. In fact the market is so bad that farmers in Colombia are choosing not to harvest their crop as paying a worker the dollar daily wage is less profitable than selling the beans.
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| Mysterious machine in the lab- probably turns coffee beans into cocaine paste or something |
But in terms of first impressions, we feel like Colombia (at least the parts we've seen so far) is turning the corner.
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| Nope, not in India. Tuk tuk dealer did well here |
Each hotelier, guide, and vendor has reminded us to review them on Trip Advisor and other sites............even one tour vendor who had forgotten to put his name or contact details on his business card (small steps). We're encouraged so far.........and the Tom and Kirstin economic stimulus package for Colombia continues as we hemorrhage pesos all over the countryside in true gringo fashion.
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| Minorista market in Medellin - once a no go zone....still has warnings not to pay kidnappers posted everywhere |
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| Bunch of wacky fruit.....(I personally hate pics of food) |
