Hello!
Here are the highlights from the second half of my trip to Colombia!
Guatapé
Guatapé, "the most colorful town in Colombia," is about two hours outside of Medellin by bus. Its name comes from the brightly colored houses and other buildings that fill its streets. There's also a massive rock just outside of town, called the "Peñol Rock," with an exposed vertical face over 200 meters high. The rock has a staircase built into it with ~649 steps up to the top. James has a friend from college who's living there with his grandparents, so we went to explore and visit him.
Parque Explora
For our final full day in Colombia, we visited Parque Explora, a really awesome science center in town. It reminded me of visiting the Liberty Science Center when I was little. There were a few different sections: a pretty sizable aquarium, an outdoor exhibit area, and three interactive exhibit rooms. Each room focused on a different theme: the mind, time, and on the scene (movies/film). We spent most of the afternoon there.
Here are the highlights from the second half of my trip to Colombia!
Guatapé
Guatapé, "the most colorful town in Colombia," is about two hours outside of Medellin by bus. Its name comes from the brightly colored houses and other buildings that fill its streets. There's also a massive rock just outside of town, called the "Peñol Rock," with an exposed vertical face over 200 meters high. The rock has a staircase built into it with ~649 steps up to the top. James has a friend from college who's living there with his grandparents, so we went to explore and visit him.
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| Our first view of the Peñol Rock |
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| Gorgeous views on the way up |
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| Nearly 360 degree view from the top of the rock |
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| The tower at the top was closed for renovations, so we didn't get to climb it. Also kind of a bizarre (and pretty unattractive) thing to have at the top of this beautiful natural rock formation. |
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| We took a tuk tuk from the rock into town |
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| Iglesia de Nuestra Señora Del Carmen, a very pretty church in the center of town |
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| So many colors! |
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| The colorful designs on the buildings were called "zocalos." |
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| James' friend's grandparents' dog, Canela (translates to Cinnamon in English) |
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| So so gorgeous |
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| "The Snuggly Duckling" This sign made me so happy |
For our final full day in Colombia, we visited Parque Explora, a really awesome science center in town. It reminded me of visiting the Liberty Science Center when I was little. There were a few different sections: a pretty sizable aquarium, an outdoor exhibit area, and three interactive exhibit rooms. Each room focused on a different theme: the mind, time, and on the scene (movies/film). We spent most of the afternoon there.
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| Giant pin art board (not sure what they're actually called?). That's my body with James' and my hand prints around it |
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| Mangrove exhibit! These signs were another really good opportunity for me to practice my Spanish because the English and Spanish text were right next to each other. |
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| Giant river fish known as the arapaima, pirarucu, or paiche |
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| I found her! |
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| Also found him 😆 |
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| Exhibit in the mind room: this was a water fountain in the shape of a toilet, which is a huge mind trip. |
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| Mouse maze game that actually took forever to complete |
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| Stroop Effect test game: kind of a mix between Dance Dance Revolution and the Stroop test...you stood on a platform and had to move your feet along with the arrows on the screen while saying the color that colors were written in (so if you saw blue, you'd have to say "red"). All of which is challenging enough, but then you add in that the words were in Spanish... |
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| Optical illusion in the mind room |
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| The Time room |
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| "Tomorrow is another day" |
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| Film room |
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| Cool marionette that allowed you to move the figure itself and the background waves |
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| View from the outside |
The food :D
Guys the food in Colombia was SO stinking good! We found so many places with great vegan options. In no particular order:
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| Got to try uchuvas at Parque Arvi |
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| I made chocolate chip pancakes for breakfast 😁 |
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| Tried new fruit! There's a pitaya, a tree tomato, and then two unknown fruits. |
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| The inside of the tree tomato |
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| James made really yummy curry for dinner |
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| Delicious mojito |
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| My first veggie burger of the trip |
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| Breakfast one day was an acai sorbet/granola/fruit bowl |
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| Spinach and kale pizzas |
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| Sushi burrito! |
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| Entirely vegan restaurant in town... |
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| ...with an amazing cheeseburger! |
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| I was super excited about this banana cream pie |
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| So I was kind of sad because arepas are a pretty common food to enjoy in Colombia, and James and I hadn't been able to find any vegan versions. Until we got to Guatape. There was an entirely vegan restaurant that offered arepas with chickpeas, soy protein, tofu, and plantains on top. Honestly one of the best things I ate during the whole trip. |
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Kind of bizarre, but there was a small concession stand type place and a souvenir shop at the top of the rock in Guatape. I got some mango biche (green/unripe mango, often eaten with lime juice and salt...definitely worth trying but not my favorite) to enjoy there.
We fit SO much into a few days and had a great time. Overall, a wonderful first visit to South America.
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| Bonus photo: we visited Botero Plaza in Medellin, which featured sculptures by the Colombian artist Fernando Botero |
