Don't Give Papaya

Dar Papaya In Colombia, we say that if you leave your hand out with papaya for long enough, then someone will probably take it. So when people tell you “no dar papaya”, it translates as “don't give papaya”, but it is meant as a warning: don't put yourself in a vulnerable position where you may be taken advantage of.

There are two things that I like to do when I am in a new city. The first is the "Hop On, Hop Off" tour bus. It is as geeky as it comes but these never fail to get me orientated, plus it helps discover areas I would probably never have found. The second is a walking tour, usually of the downtown area. They are always advertised as free, but of course you tip the guide when you are done. These can be anywhere from 2 to 4 hours, and like the bus tour, they are always worth the effort.

I chose Capture Colombia Tours as the reviews were decent. I get up with Marcela, the tour guide, and 4 others at their office, which was about a 15 minute walk from my hotel. 

We walked about 10 minutes and jumped on a city bus to get to the city centre.

Botero Square is filled with bizarre statues, incredible architecture and hookers of all shapes and sizes. Although incredibly popular it is another no-go zone after the safety of the sun has gone.

San Antonio Square - The disturbing history is that there was a terrorist attack in the plaza in 1995, when a bomb that had been placed in a Botero sculpture - The Bird - exploded and killed or injured dozens of people, Botero agreed to replace the sculpture, as long as the damaged piece remained. They sit side by side in the park.

The park seemed peaceful enough but Marce made it acutely aware to stay in a group and not wander off and if we were not there with a guide we would absolutely get robbed, even in the daytime. The wolves eyes were everywhere on the edges of the park. La Playa Street, Junin Street and San Ignacio Square were all great places to have a guide. 

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Marcela gave us each a Metro Pass to get back to the Poblado station. Let me say this, once you figure out the basics of a cities Metro, you own that city. Let me talk about the Medellin Metro, the world's largest cities would be so lucky to have such a system.

From Wikipedia.' There are 27 Metro stations, 18 Metrocable stations, 3 Tramway stations (+ 6 stops), 20 BRT stations (+ 8 feeding buses stops) in the Medellín network, all listed in the following table; for a total of approx. 79 stations (14 stops)"

Ok, great, why is the new metro so important? It is because of the MetroCables that rise above the comunas (favelas) and give the citizens fast, safe access to the city. You can buy a ticket and continue on your journey up the metro cables on your route, giving you as a traveller, access to areas in the hillsides that you would never have gone to in the past. You need to be selective and of course always go during the day as nighttime in the hillside comunas of Medellin are still what they are, especially to a wide eyed gringo with a camera phone. I rode all 6 of the metro cables and never tired of the views of the enormity and expanse of the hillside comunas.  I got off at Santo Domingo (Line K) and wandered around and was welcomed with warm smiles. The tourist Line L does not serve a comuna area but is connected to Arvi Park, a peaceful location within the hillsides madness.  Keep in mind that the metro is fantastic and diving into the experience and mastering it is empowering, but you can take an Uber for a bit more and get to your location in half the time, if that is your goal. That being said, getting around Medellin is probably the easiest of any large city I have ever been to.

This is just a quick post about getting a feel for Medellin. After waiting for the holidays to be over, it was exciting to get out and about and start exploring. Free city tours, or any city tour is the way to go in my books. I get teased all the time because I have become a fan of the Touristy Hop On/OFF buses that are usually available in most cities. Get me on the open air top level, with translation headphones and I will be the dorky tourist for a while.