Colors of Colombia
The story of my solo trip to a very beautiful country in South America
What I learned during my last years of frequent travels is that there’s usually much more to discover about the country than its’ bubble of stereotypes widely known in the world.
The same thing applies to a country I’ve been dreaming to visit for the last couple of years—Colombia. When my friends asked me how did I come up with traveling to such a dangerous destination I was wondering why no one is asking about the beauty of this land in the first place.
Knowing exactly what I want to see I had a pretty tight schedule and at the end of my trip, I realized that the danger to make my plans change were the main definitions of 2020—curfew and lockdown.
Latin America special feature
It was my second time on this continent and what I already knew is that the people there are very open, joyful, and friendly. I call it a killer feature — one of the major attractions of this far-away land.
Colombia wasn’t different from this, my hosts and people I’ve met in general were very friendly and always ready to help. Of course, there’s also a language barrier and I still hardly know Spanish I intended to start learning a year ago, but still, this barrier is different in Asian countries, for example. As I call this challenge — it’s an experience!
Anticipated and excited about a new meeting with Latin America I took 13 hours flight from Istanbul to Bogota eating cold Turkish airlines sandwiches because of Covid and arrived in a new country. Without any further questions, a border guard in the airport put a stamp on my passport. Voilà, I’m in Colombia!
Bogotá color palette. The beauty of greenery under the heavy clouds
You always should prepare for the trip first making decent research. Being an experienced traveler, I did mine.
I already knew that the weather is constantly changing in Bogotá. It starts with a sunny day but as my host said “Be sure, by 15:00 there’ll be heavy rain”. And he was right 3 days out of 4. The heavy dark clouds covered Monserrate mountain and the old streets of La Candelaria were immersed in a different color palette.
On top of that, one of my first strong impressions was the observation of so much greenery around. Especially after the classic grey winter in Ukraine, such contrast and different color mode impress a lot.
My assumption is that weather conditions actually have a huge influence on people's behavior. And in Colombian reality, there are other places that conquer for the title “the best spot for a happy life”.
Colorful Filandia and Salento
Nature
You haven’t seen this before as a classic catchy title would say — the Cocora valley with 60+ meters tall wax palms is a place to attract thousands of tourists. Well, not when it’s 2020.
Still, it was open to visiting and I must admit it was one of the best impressions I got through the entire trip. Nature does look very unique and the scenery is constantly changing which makes you feel you’re the main actor on the stage.
Architecture
When it comes to the towns nearby such as Salento and Filandia, they have another unique feature. The old, traditional buildings are very bright but there’s a different color approach—the main canvas areas to paint are windows, balconies, and wooden elements on facades, if there are some.
And what’s even more interesting is that they use many colors in one small area, usually 3 or 4 color combinations.
The funny thing is that while I love sketching during my trips and I do love very much the bright colors, it was a real challenge for me to draw these buildings. They have such color detailing that it’s getting very hard to present on the paper unless you’re a meticulous sketcher.
Coffee
I can’t skip this theme especially when in this region. Coffee is another “color” of Colombia, a very distinctive feature.
I was lucky to visit Finca De Don Elias — a small family coffee farm where the beans are grown and prepared in an organic way. I’ve met Don Elias himself, an old man in a sombrero, a very hospitable owner of the coffee farm. Talking in different languages, Spanish-English-French, we tried to understand each other and it was a fun and memorable moment.
The views on the Finca are extremely impressive and so is the coffee taste. Drinking it back home I realized it’s one of the best coffees I’ve ever had.
Medellin&Guatapé
A miracle
I’ve spent little time in Medellin but what I managed to see was Communa 13. Nowadays it’s a very popular tourist destination. It’s that kind of a story we all love — the transformation of the dangerous district with a bad reputation into an artistic area with peculiar updates on the urbanism side.
Communa 13 is the place where you’ll constantly see the colorful murals and graffitis. It was kinda familiar to me and resembled the streets of San Paulo. Thanks to a local guide living in this area, I and one more traveler discovered the ideas behind the art and harsh reality of transformation.
Guatapé
While I could spend many days hanging out in the hipster El Poblado area in Medellin, I couldn’t miss visiting a town 2 hours ride from the city—Guatapé. That was another must-visit place for me thanks to its’ landscapes and colorful streets. I even realized they are too colorful (remember, I’m a color lover, ha!).
As for nature, the main attraction is Piedra del Peñol, kinda a Colombian version of Rio de Janeiro’s Sugarloaf mountain or as they said—the rock with the best view in the world.
That’s true, the views are splendid and in order to get there, you have to make a decent workout and climb 740 stairs. Don’t forget your mask.
Caribbean vibes. Welcome to Cartagena
Last but not least, Cartagena attracted me with its’ bright buildings and sunny weather. I must say walking the streets of the old town for the first time I did realize that I see a new picture—a different kind of colonial architecture. In a way, I imagine Cuba’s Havana to look like that though it could be a wrong assumption as I haven’t been there yet.
Being unique and very instagramable, at the same time, Cartagena has a very annoying feature—way too many street vendors want to sell you their goods. That’s where you feel you’re a gringo the most.
Conclusion
A far-away land Colombia showed me its’ most bright colors and beautiful places, and I’m very grateful for that. I must even say, it was one of the most remarkable trips I’ve ever had! (yes, I used to say that 9 times out of 10, but still).
During the trip I shared photos and stories on my Instagram, my friends often were surprised by the beauty of these places. From my perspective, I assume that Colombia isn’t well known as a travel destination with few exceptions like Cartagena. It’s an omission and an advantage at the same time. For you as a traveler, it’s an opportunity to see the country in a more realistic way.
I wish everyone who decides to visit Colombia to fall in love with it the same way as I did.
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