On my last day in Medellín, there were some parks left that I wanted to see. One of them, Parque Arví, is connected to the metro system via two cable cars. The first of them is even included in the metro fare - you pay 90 cents once and get to go on a train and a cable car, isn't that amazing? This is the first cable car seen from the base station:
The second cable car ride took a really long time, and when I finally arrived at the park, there was no trace left of the big city nearby; no faint car noises, no smells, and certainly no visual. Just pure nature!
There was a visitor center right next to the cable car station, and it turned out that they offer free guided walks every thirty minutes. So I decided to do with a guide instead of on my own - and promptly had him to myself! Apparently nobody else was interested in learning more about the nature in the park. But then again, most of the other visitors looked like they were on a day trip from their retirement home - they even had shirts saying 'Club de vida / tercera edad' (club of life / third age) - so I'm guessing they had their own people to guide them.
Interestingly enough, the part of the park that I saw consisted mainly of pine forest. If it hadn't been for the big eucalyptus trees standing between the pines, I could have believed to be right in the middle of Germany. It certainly smelled like home!
The way back offered a nice view of Medellín from above. You can really see the predominant building material used throughout the city: red bricks. And who would care to paint their house, anyway?
My next stop, just a couple of metro stations away, was the botanical garden. They were in the process of mounting a big orchid exhibit scheduled to coincide with the huge flower festival in August (which, sadly, I'm going to miss). As a consequence, the orchid garden was closed - what a shame! I would have loved to see it. But the rest of the gardens was very pretty, too. For example, I found this gorgeous red flower:
Finally, I had read about a barefoot park in downtown Medellín. I think I had expected something a little bigger, but for my tired feet at the end of the day, the park was just perfect. There was mainly a kind of rough sand or gravel to walk on, plus a water basin to cool your feet. The basin was fed by a big fountain, and the sunset light combined magnificently with children playing near the fountain. Beautiful, isn't it?
The second cable car ride took a really long time, and when I finally arrived at the park, there was no trace left of the big city nearby; no faint car noises, no smells, and certainly no visual. Just pure nature!
There was a visitor center right next to the cable car station, and it turned out that they offer free guided walks every thirty minutes. So I decided to do with a guide instead of on my own - and promptly had him to myself! Apparently nobody else was interested in learning more about the nature in the park. But then again, most of the other visitors looked like they were on a day trip from their retirement home - they even had shirts saying 'Club de vida / tercera edad' (club of life / third age) - so I'm guessing they had their own people to guide them.
Interestingly enough, the part of the park that I saw consisted mainly of pine forest. If it hadn't been for the big eucalyptus trees standing between the pines, I could have believed to be right in the middle of Germany. It certainly smelled like home!
The way back offered a nice view of Medellín from above. You can really see the predominant building material used throughout the city: red bricks. And who would care to paint their house, anyway?
My next stop, just a couple of metro stations away, was the botanical garden. They were in the process of mounting a big orchid exhibit scheduled to coincide with the huge flower festival in August (which, sadly, I'm going to miss). As a consequence, the orchid garden was closed - what a shame! I would have loved to see it. But the rest of the gardens was very pretty, too. For example, I found this gorgeous red flower:
Finally, I had read about a barefoot park in downtown Medellín. I think I had expected something a little bigger, but for my tired feet at the end of the day, the park was just perfect. There was mainly a kind of rough sand or gravel to walk on, plus a water basin to cool your feet. The basin was fed by a big fountain, and the sunset light combined magnificently with children playing near the fountain. Beautiful, isn't it?
