Day 4. Monday 2nd September. Medellin.

Yes, a wonderful gesture last night from Maurico, to feed two complete strangers and introduce them to his friends. A most enjoyable evening.

Medellin (pronounced Megine, the two ll’s creating a ‘g’ sound and the D is almost silent) is noticibly cooler, by about 5 degrees c. 1470m elevation though is enough to sap your energy. Now we know what it was like for the All Blacks, playing at Ellis Park in Johannesburg without acclimatising. The highest point we reached on the way yesterday, was 2970m. We are going to double that at least, further down the continent.

After a modest breakfast in-house we set off to do some exploring of the city. Plaza Botero is a 45min walk from the hotel. The decision was to take a elevated Metro train system, a 10min walk from the hotel. The trains are modern with an efficient service and for about NZ$5 for both of us we arrived close to the square.

Botero Square

As we learned in Bogota, Botero is a big name in Colombia. The square features a number of his oversized statues. Just behind the Square, the Botero Museum. Botero was from Medellin so I guess when in Rome, we visited the museum too. Some more pics of his exaggerated art form :-

The above Botero painting captures the death of Pablo Escobar, the notorious drug boss, in the early 1990’s. I don’t know how Botero squared Escobars escape from the window below?..:) The 1980’s and on, was a period of gratuitous violence in Colombia until his death. I got reprimanded for taking the photo. No photography allowed! Damn.

You may recall in an earlier blog there was mention of one of his statues being packed with explosives, when detonated killing 23 people and injuring scores.

The city is very lively. Everything is for sale!! Finding a suitable place take some lunch is not easy. While there are multitudes of cafe’s and eateries, finding one without blaring music is not so easy.

I like Colombia. The people make a place and we have found the people warm and friendly.

We are still just over 6 degrees north of the equator so I’m hoping we can stay at elevation until we are well south of it and I’m hoping tomorrows drive will not be on roads as congested as yesterday. Poor Jen is a nervous wreck and understandably has a lower tolerance when in the passenger seat. We don’t travel fast but being stuck behind dawdling trucks, is not my scene. Judgement is fine but I’m mindful of the risks

Lets hope a better night’s sleep for both of us. The hotel has a central atrium from the ground floor and sound travels up it, into our window!!

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