Taking a Break in Guatape

People from Medellin know where to go for their weekend breaks: Guatapé. This beautiful lakeside town is located just a short 90 minute bus ride from the city. We took the bus, which was relatively painless and on time, and joined the Colombians on a break in Guatape.

Guatape overview

Guatapé sits on a man-made reservoir built in the 1960s by the hydro-electric company, and offers water sports opportunities. Another draw is the town’s beautiful colorful art decorations. For hikers, the town’s giant rock called El Peñon is a popular climb featuring beautiful views of the water and mountains.

Where to stay in guatapé

Yesterday afternoon, the bus dropped us right across the street from our hostel, Mi Casa, which is a lovely spot outside of town, overlooking the water and El Peñon. The owners, Suzy and Sean, are German and English and couldn’t be nicer!

Hiking el peñon

Since the hostel is walking distance from the rock, that was our first “Must do” activity while taking a break in Guatape. It was a sweaty climb up the 650+ steps to the top but wow the views were worth it! Glad we got a warm-up hike in Bogota.

El Penon in Guatape
El Peñol – look at those stairs!
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Flying Above Medellin 

I took the bus again this morning and this time it was totally worth it! Brian and I went paragliding in the mountains outside of Medellin and we both loved it. Read on for more about our experience flying above Medellin.

Leaving Medellin

It helped that the bus ride was under an hour. Quick and easy bus rides are the only bus rides for me. We left the city at around 9:30am and by 11am we were flying!

Why Paragliding

The mountain locale, weather, and air climate of the region makes for perfect conditions for paragliding. There are a number of businesses offering the service for a really inexpensive price. We paid $95,000 COP each for 10 minutes plus $10,000 COP for a video. Convert the currency and for the low low price of $87 Canadian two of us paraglided and we each got video and photos from the gopro they gave us to use on the flight. How could we NOT do it?!

Paragliding and Flying Above Medellin
View of some of the paragliders

Zona de Vuelo

We flew with Zona De Vuelo because they were the business who confirmed with us online. We probably could have just taken the bus to the drop-off point where all the businesses are and any one of them would have accepted our money. They all charge the same amount and they all fly from the same point of the mountain.

Me Paragliding
Me Paragliding

At Zona de Vuelo, they were very nice and organized. They checked us in, had us fill out some forms and pay of course, took our bags and secured them for us, gave us the photo cards, and pointed out where to walk up the mountain. We walked uphill to the takeoff and landing area and checked in there. We met our pilots – mine was named Jaime and Loves his job! – and got geared up. The mountain was amazing. We joined tens of other people who were just watching and/or getting ready to go on their flights. Everybody was happy and excited. No wonder Jaime loves his job.

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Outside in Medellin: Botanical Garden and Parque Explora

We had a nice afternoon exploring gardens and wildlife – and our minds! – today. The Universidad metro stop has a lot of options for tourists – we enjoyed both the Botanical Garden and the Medellin version of a science centre. The Medellin garden and park are not just for kids, although kids love them too!

The free Jardin Botanico is huge and amazing. Seconds after walking into the park, we heard loud birds squawking, looked up and saw 4 large toucans in a nearby tree. We had to zoom in quite close on our cameras but they were brightly colored, large and beautiful. We even got to see them fly over us. I was already hooked!

toucans Medellin garden and park
Toucans – blurry because they were far but still so beautiful

The gardens also included: a lagoon with ducks and swans, a butterfly sanctuary, a palm garden, a desert area, an orchid area and more! We wandered around for an hour or so just enjoying the lovely weather and views. The fact that this park is free is fantastic but I would have paid to visit.

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