Hola from Medellin.  Today was touring the city and checking it out, and we were able to see things we’d never even thought of.

The day started with a great brunch at Burdo.  Like many places here, the aesthetic is mismatched / found tables and chairs with lots of plants. And attitude. Lots of f$#king attitude.

After brunch, we walked back to the hotel and thought we’d check on a tour of some kind to get a feel for the city and see as much as we could.  We ended up finding a private tour guide would would drive us around for 5 hours – his name is Mauricio.  And wow.  What a day.

I will attempt to relay some of what Mauricio told us, but he talked about a million miles an hour in a thick accent (although GREAT English), and it was impossible to keep up – I apologize to all Colombians if I get the history all wrong.

Ok, first a little it about Maurcio​.  I think he works 7 days a week because he has two kids in university.  He’s a coffee roaster, former taxi driver, and tour guide.  He has actually contracted with Pablo Escobar’s brother, Roberto, to use Pablo’s likeness for his coffee brand – Cafe Patron.

We jumped into Mauricio’s car and started our tour.  It’s really impossible to get away from Medellin’s violent past – it’s everywhere and lingering even though the city has done an unbelievable job in taking its city back from the violence and has made huge strides in making it safer.  Mauricio said that while he was a taxi driver in the 80s, a driver was being killed every couple days in the city.  In fact he said that on two occasions, he is confident that he was being taken to get killed.  The killers might need a taxi to do something bad, or they just wanted to steal the day’s earnings.  He grew up in one of the very poor barrios and had friends who were killers for the cartel – they asked him to do the same, but he said no.

Within ten minutes after passing the house where Pablo was killed the road we were driving was closed off and guys in all white plastic-looking suites are working a scene.  this exchange follows:

Mauricio:  Oh, they probably found a body.

EW: Um, does that happen a lot?  Finding bodies I mean?

Mauricio:  This is Medellin man.

Eric:

 

This is the beginning of our tour.  I only paint this picture because it’s part of the history of this city.  The government appears to be trying to eliminate the Escobar history, and it’s causing a stir because 50% (Mauricio’s number) of the people still love Pablo – he helped them when the government didn’t.  It sounds extremely complicated, and I’m sure that I can’t do the situation justice by trying to describe it.

Now, a quick background on the neighborhoods (Comunas) of Medellin.  There are 16 comunas in Medellin, and they’re made up of 249 barrios (neighborhoods).  This is where 70% of the population of Medellin lives – these comunas climb the hills surrounding Medellin in near-vertical developments.  You may know these kinds of areas as favelas in Brazil.  These neighborhoods have improved greatly over the last 20 years, but during the 80s they were insanely dangerous.

Mauricio took us to Comuna 13, which was one of the most dangerous during the cartel time. I have to admit that getting out of the car and starting up the stairs into the comuna with no information from our guide was a tad nerve wracking, but after ten minutes, it was  clear that it is now remarkably safe. It’s an amazing story and one that I’d like to know more about – this comuna has transitioned from one of the most dangerous and violent comunas in Medellin to now almost feeling like a museum during the day with tourists everywhere. And the graffiti is everywhere and celebrated.

To describe this place – it’s a near vertical landscape so steep that roads don’t really exist, but rather narrow walking paths that are apparently navigable by moto and bicycle.  It’s incredibly dense – Mauricio said there could be 15 people living in each house.  I don’t think that this comuna is representative of all of the comunas, but it’s the one we saw.  There’s actually an escalator that leads up all the way to the top now – built about 7 years ago.  There are small shops selling frozen mango and starfruit, street performers, kids running about, craft merchants and other small tour groups.  The energy was great, and it’s all surrounded by graffiti.  While this is Medellin’s face to the public, it’s still lived in – the residents are living in all this commotion going about their lives – laundry is hanging about, families are together in their living rooms, and the sense of community is very real.

The views from the top are immense, and we could see huge swaths of Medellin.  We sat for a while and listened to some street performers rapping in Spanish.  I’d go back to just sit in a coffee shop and watch it all happen around us.

This was an amazing experience.  Not one I would have missed for anything.  The only downside to this view is that you can really see the pollution from which the city suffers – being surrounded by mountains along with the thick humid air creates a stagnant air system that holds so much of the auto and manufacturing pollution.  In fact, tomorrow and Tuesday are restricted driving hours for motos with license plates starting with 4, 5, 6, 7. 8, and 9 from 5am until 10 and and then 4pm till 8pm.  The fine is almost automatic as they take photos and is $200.

Our next stop will the the city center.  And wow.  This is a different scene.  Mauricio parked in a garage and strongly suggested I keep my camera in my pocket until we got to the square, so i’t unfortunate, but I was unable to photograph the walk.  And I’m not sure that a “friendly” travel blog like this is the place for those kinds of photographs.  The drug problem and the resulting homeless issue is visibly apparent.  We walked over bodies that I’m guessing were alive but looked so battered and decayed that they could not have had a  lot of time left.  This is not the safe part of town.  Mauricio said that we might not be able to see it, but we’re being watched – this would NOT be a safe place to come at night.  He said even during the week it can be more dangerous.

One highlight was Gio having his own MeToo moment as a transvestite followed us into church and got a little handsy with him.  Pretty sure she was in love, but Gio, well, he’s a gentleman and let her down softly.  The next day Gio was still harboring a glimmer of hope when he asked me, “that was a guy wasn’t it?”  Uh yea, that was a dude.  NO question.

Looking into the some of the bars, it was like the bar from Star Wars, and the prostitution trade was obvious.  The area is filled with sadness, desperation, and an influx of zombies.  It cuts deep to walk through this, and obviously you can’t help but feel immensely grateful of not being there, but it’s a hollow feeling of also being helpless to do anything.  I was far more cognizant of their hopelessness and tragedy than my right to live the way we do.

We walked over the main square, and I was able to pull my out my camera and at least take some photos of the art installations.  Fernando Botero donated a ton of artwork including all of the pieces surrounding the main square in the city center.  We got a few photos of these.

We made one more stop on our tour for a few photos of the city and wrapped it up.

Phenomenal day, and the spur of the moment tour with Mauricio was definitely the way to go.

Tomorrow we ride north to Santa Fe Antioquia for some lunch and then down to pretty Jardin.