04 Jun Medellín
By Kellie Donoghue
Viva Colombia! Lately went with my friend Tricia, to Medellín, Colombia and it was awesome. Over the course of my year in Coronado I heard lots of great stories and saw some wonderful pictures of Medellín. Luckily for me, Tricia hadn’t been yet, and we were able to score good prices for our flight and hotel.
Traveling to Colombia is super easy from Panama – you don’t even have to go to Tocumen – just a quick drive into the airport located at the former Howard Air Force Base. While this might not seem noteworthy, anyone who has made the trek from Coronado to PTY knows that can be the most trying part of the trip.
One drawback for Canadians traveling to Colombia is the entry tax ($85). The Colombian government implemented what is basically a reciprocity tax, several years ago, in response to the Canadian government charging Colombian citizens a fee when they apply for visitor visas etc. After paying my tax and making sure to stow the receipt away in case I needed it when I left, we sailed through customs and immigration.
Before landing, Tricia had done a bunch of research and gathered names and recommendations from friends in Coronado which is how we ended up with Anderson, our tour guide, and a boutique hotel in the trendy El Poblado Comuna, filled with restaurants, bars and shops.
As we sat with Anderson, sipping some delicious sangria overlooking the park in just a quick walk from our hotel, we were planning out our trip: Everything Escobar, Cable cars and escalators, and graffiti. Now, I don’t usually plan my sightseeing around public transportation but in the case of Medellín – it is an instrumental part of the city’s story.
Everything Escobar
I didn’t know too much about Pablo Escobar before binging the Netflix’s Narcos. After watching the show I realized the far reaching impact he had on at least the Western Hemisphere. If you haven’t watched the show and you aren’t too squeamish about blood it is worth a watch.
Escobar was a polarizing figure and more powerful than one man should be – and definitely richer than Midas. Key things to know about Pablo: to this day, he is still considered by some to be a great man who loved and helped his people. Why? He took care of the people everyone else forgo. He bought them houses, gave them jobs, and protected them. Did he expect anything in return? Of course – loyalty. Seems his golden rule was don’t lie to him and if you broke that rule, well, watch out.
For those who didn’t fall in line and/or were disloyal, the punishment was brutal. Depending on whom you ask, Escobar may not have pulled the trigger often, but he certainly had a team of ‘killers’ more than ready to do the dirty work. He did have presidential candidates, police chiefs, judges, and high-ranking military officials killed. He did bomb an airplane. He did build his own jail, staffed with people loyal to him, and he did manage to run his empire from La Catedral. He did cause so much violence that Medellín was the most dangerous city in the world, and our tour, took us to the (formerly) most violent barrio in the city.
Comuna 13 was dangerous – Medellín was the murder capital of the world. Now it is an example of what can happen when people pull together. The government decided to invest in this barrio and the results are inspiring. The comuna is now filled with art – in the form of graffiti. One of the residents, Chota, is a world-renowned graffiti artist and often travels to do a painting outside of the country. While some graffiti is nothing more than gang symbols and ugly words – Chota’s graffiti and that of others in Medellín – is art.
Chota is a success story and as 20-something has opened his own coffee shop and art studio in Comuna 13. He isn’t the only success story though might be the most famous one.
Escobar almost destroyed the neighbourhood and the people he loved and to see what the people have done, with the help of the government, you have to wonder if that’s possible in other troubled cities? Maybe officials in Detroit, Baltimore, Atlanta, and Toronto can learn from Medellín, now recognized as one of the most innovative cities in the world.
So what was the big change? Public transportation. It sounds kinda funny – buses saved the city not Escobar’s death? Sure – with Pablo gone the city could begin to heal. The government worked hard to get rid of cartels looking to fill the void Pablo left. Are all the drugs gone? Of course not, Medellín is a city of 4 million people and a certain percentage of the population will likely remain involved in drugs. The same can be said of almost every major city in the world.
Medellín is the capital city of Antioquia province and is built in the valley of the Andean mountains with considerable numbers of people living up in the hills. When you walk, cycle, or drive in Medellín you are almost always either climbing up a hill or trying to fly down a hill. It is steep. In some neighborhoods, the roads do not reach all the houses and the people have to hike their way up via worn steps or dirt pathways.
Medellín now has one of the best public transportation systems in the world with feeder buses, articulated double buses, a monorail, several cable car routes, a metro, and escalators. And…almost as impressive as the amount and variety of transport is the fact that it is clean!!! I mean spotless. Medellín citizens take pride in having a clean city and clean transportation.
We rode the cable car from the base of the city to the wonderful nature reserve along the escarpment. The cable cars have made it easier for those living up the hill to get to work, to get to school, and to see more of their own city. As we climbed over the city, you get a different view of life in Medellín. The hill barrios are densely populated and there’s not much hope for privacy and the areas are teeming with life. Each barrio has a public school, a park, medical clinics, and pride. Sure, the sheet metal roof isn’t ideal, and if you don’t close your curtain everyone on the cable car can see into your living room, but people don’t seem to mind.
The escalators are located in Comuna 13 (six so far) and are so well maintained you’d think they built them 3 months ago. I don’t mean to harp on how clean the city is but after a year in Panama – the difference is incredible. Anderson, our guide, explained that people have pride in their city and you will never see someone littering. Now of course there was the odd pocket where the garbage seems to be winning but this is the exception. In Panama the pride doesn’t seem to be there, or at least it isn’t demonstrated in the physical environment.
One other source of pride is their customer service. Colombia has it going on! Again, I may be more easily impressed given my time in Panama but I barely set down my empty glass when someone was there asking if I wanted more or clearing it away.
Also worth a mention: the food is delicious in Medellín. Not surprisingly, Tricia and I managed to sample sangria at just about every restaurant – all of it good. I even dared to try a steak (Panama is not know for beef) and it was muy delicioso.
Buñuelos are a delight as well – how can you go wrong with fried bread made slightly larger than a golf ball? We also sampled some artisan jams and wine at an open market and watched as Anderson threw in the towel on what looked like half a roasted pig.
For those looking for a challenge – cycling is a big deal in Medellín. Cars and bikes seem to share the road well, perhaps because everyone can appreciate the effort required to climb up a Palmas Ave hill with a 6-8% gradient – 1600m over 15km. There are some steeper climbs as well – like the ride up to the La Catedral, narrow windy roads with sharp cliffs and serious tree cover.
What else can I say about Medellín? If you’re a fan of Botero you can check out a number of his statues at one of the parks downtown. If you want to climb 700 steps a popular side trip to Guatapé may be for you. If you want to hang out in the nature park – there are a couple resorts where you can do that. I would also be remiss if I didn’t mention that the weather is much more tolerable (for me) with averages in the mid 20’s and lower humidity.
If you’re looking for a quick escape from Panama, if you’re down here visiting for a couple months, or considering a central/south American vacation – be sure to include Medellín – you won’t be sorry.