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Photos of Colombia from 2017

July 12, 2017 Erim Leave a Comment

A few months ago I published a post on Cartagena. Then I got busy actually traveling through much of the rest of Colombia, and well, you know how it goes.

Anywho, I did see a number of other places, and take a fair number of photos of Colombia, so here you go…

Medellin

medellin panoramic view

Ah, the “City of Eternal Spring.” At 5000 feet above sea level, Medellin is apparently almost always about 75 degrees and sunny. That was mostly my experience anyway. It’s a lovely city in the mountains of the Antioquia province; modern, sophisticated, has a great Metro and is all in all a very pleasant place to hang out.

Medellin attracts a lot of digital nomads and expats for this very reason. It’s inexpensive to live there, easy to get around and actually quite safe. I think the past troubles with Pablo Escobar, the near civil war and his subsequent assassination by police may have had something to do with the progressive urban planning that followed.

I mean, check this out. That’s a nice library in a Metro station. How cool is that?

medellin metro library

Botero Plaza

One of the most popular sights in town is Botero Plaza, named for the famed Colombian artist Fernando Botero, who apparently was a bit of a chubby chaser. He specialized in bronze sculptures of various chubby people, animals, things, etc. Check it out…

medellin botero plaza hand sculpture
medellin botero plaza soldier sculpture
medellin botero plaza woman lying down

The plaza is a popular spot to hang out, chat with friends, enjoy an helado and what have you.

medellin botero plaza flying toy
medellin botero plaza ricos copitos
medellin botero plaza view

There’s also a very pretty cathedral on one side of the plaza, in addition to the Museum of Antioquia and the Rafael Uribe Uribe Palace of Culture.

Botanical Gardens

How can you not love a good botanical gardens? I guess you could not be a plant nerd. That would probably do it. In any event, the one in Medellin is pretty cool. Lots of cats and iguanas!

medellin botanical gardens iguana 3
medellin botanical gardens iguana
medellin botanical gardens cat 2
medellin botanical gardens cat 3
medellin botanical gardens cat
medellin botanical gardens iguana 2
medellin botanical gardens sculpture
There’s also this cool sculpture, which I’m sure has a story behind it. Alas, I failed to take note.

The Entomology Museum

Speaking of nerds, guess who spent a few hours trying to find and then checking out the entomology museum at a local university? That’s right.

medellin entomology museum beetles 2
medellin entomology museum red bug
medellin entomology museum butterfly
medellin entomology museum butterflies
medellin entomology museum butterflies 2
medellin entomology museum giant bug
goats in medellin
And here are some goats in a field I found near the uni with the insects.
view of calle 70 in medellin at night
I spent a week or so staying in the Laureles area near Calle 70, which has a pretty happening night life.
medellin blues brothers car
“It’s 106 miles to Bogotá, we have a full tank of gas, half a gram of cocaine, it’s dark and we’re wearing sunglasses.”
view of the hills in santa elena
Santa Elena is a small town outside of Medellin where I stayed for a few days. It’s a lovely spot, but it rained most of the time I was there. But I did make a new friend (see below).
dog in santa elena checking out backpack
dog in santa elena sniffing backpack
dog in santa elena with backpack
dog clawing my face in santa elena
dog in santa elena being friendly
santa elena dog side eye

Salento

In the heart of the coffee growing region, Salento is a quaint little town nestle amongst beautiful mountains. It’s pretty popular with tourists and on the backpacker circuit. For good reason, as there’s lots to do, good restaurants and bars, and great weather.

salento view of town

salento view of hills

Don’t go to Salento without checking out a great bar called Donde Mi Apá. It’s funky and the owner is cool as hell.

I say that partly because he hooked me up with several free shots of rum, but also because he has a truly epic collection of 20,000 vinyl records from all over Latin America. He plays awesome music constantly and his bar is adorned with cool antiques and random stuff.

salento donde mi apá vinyl collection

salento donde mi apá antiques
salento donde mi apá antiques and vinyl
salento donde mi apá 2

Coffee Farm

Touring a local coffee farm is a popular thing to do while in the area. It’s worth the time, and the couple mile walk out there is very pleasant as well.

salento coffee beans
salento shelling coffee beans
salento coffee beans husks
salento dog at coffee farm
salento coffee farm beans and cups
salento cat

salento bike and statue at coffee farm

And, of course, there are lots of dogs around town.

salento sleeping dog
salento dog
salento dog 2
salento dogs digging
salento dog beggin for empanada
salento dog on sidewalk
salento pool hall
This badass pool (billiards technically) hall is right off the main square. Good coffee and cheap beers.

salento funky cart car

The light was pretty amazing one rainy night.

salento street at night with dog
salento street at night 4
salento street at night
salento street at night 3
salento street at night 2
salento statue of simón bolivar
Last but not least, mainest man Simón Bolívar: hero of Latin American independence.

Taganga

What is there to say about this small fishing town on the Caribbean coast? Lonely Planet has some not so flattering words.

Taganga is something of a cautionary tale about the overdevelopment of small towns. What was once a tiny fishing village set in a beautiful, deep, horseshoe-shaped bay 5km northeast of Santa Marta, seemed to have hit the jackpot when it became a big backpacker destination a decade ago. It drew a diverse crowd of locals and travelers, and lead to the creation of a new middle-class of hostel, restaurant and other small-business owners. Business was booming, but many locals found it hard to get a slice of the pie; as a result, drugs began to be sold to the backpackers, and this further socially fragmented the tiny place.

While I didn’t personally find it quite that dismal, there is a lot of truth to this description. But it’s a sad and not uncommon story for towns like Taganga that get a sudden influx of tourism.

taganga pizza my friend restaurant
taganga launching a boat with a tractor
taganga cats around a brush pile
taganga brawler cat
taganga cats feeding at night

Palomino

Down the coast east of Taganga lies Palomino, a small and dusty town that is in the early stages of tourist influx. Hopefully it won’t go down the same path, but at this point it’s all dirt roads, backpackers and motor bikes.

The Palomino River, which runs down from the high peaks of the Sierra Madre de Santa Marta, flows into the sea here. You can rent an inner tube, catch a motor bike up to the trailhead and enjoy a couple hour float down the delightfully chilly river.

I recommend bringing a few beers, smoking a joint before hand and kicking back. It’s a beautiful trip through the jungle.

Speaking of the Sierra Madre de Santa Marta, the local indigenous people believe these peaks are a kind of lynch pin for the Earth. It’s their job to protect the area in order to ensure the survival of the planet.

If you look at the area on Google Earth, you can kind of understand why. These peaks are 14,000 – 15,000 feet (with glaciers no less) at the north tip of the Andes.

palomino boy with dog
This little dude and his dog were kind enough to give me directions when I was a bit lost. I dig his haircut.
palomino tree and field
palomino horse in road
palomino cat at restaurant
palomino beach at sunset
Can you beat a nice sunset on the beach? Pretty tough in my opinion.

Minca

Up in the Sierra Madre de Santa Marta lies the small town of Minca. Come here to enjoy the cooler temperatures, do some hiking and chill out. I stayed at the Emerald Green Guest House, which is a cool place if you like cats (which I clearly do). There were eleven of them (including kittens) when I was there.

minca cannabis plant on cafe table
This friendly establishment was a cafe right across the street from the Emerald Green Guest House.
minca grey cat
palomino emerald green guest house kittens 2
palomino orange and white cat
palomino sign at emerald green guest house
This seems a little demanding, but hey, whatever floats your boat.
minca fried food palace
I was happy to see fried food get its own palace at last. It was long past time.

Cartagena

And back to charming and romantic Cartagena before I flew home. This city has much to recommend it, including history, architecture and killer ceviche.

cartagena city wall with cannons
The legendary city wall to keep out the pirates. Pretty impressive.
cartagena priest with boy
Here’s a statue of a Catholic priest explaining to a young indigenous boy why god needs to take his foreskin.
cartagena kgb bar entrance
The KGB Bar, while overpriced and a bit hipster, is a cool place to hang out and enjoy some sweet AC.
cartagena kgb bar manequin in uniform
cartagena kgb bar liquor selection
cartagena kgb bar tvs
cartagena portrait of tommy chong
The Museum of Modern Art is worth checking out. Oddly enough they have this portrait of Tommy Chong for some reason. Not sure what’s up with that.
cartagena big hat ceviche stand
I hit up this great ceviche stand several times. It’s on Avenida Venezuela and close to the clock tower and old city. Makes my mouth water thinking about it.

That’s it, folks. I hope you enjoyed.

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