For my belated 40th birthday this year, I had the pleasure of trekking down to South America with six of my dear friends. We stayed in Medellín for 4 nights and flew up to the Pereira area. We had a driver take us about an hour away to Salento, where we stayed for two nights. Colombia is lush, green and tropical, so of course I felt right at home with all the plants.
In Medellín, we stayed at the gorgeous boutique Landmark Hotel. It was walking distance to great restaurants, bars and meeting points for excursions. We took a tour of Comuna 13, where all the beautiful graffiti is and got to try some street food and watch street performers.
The following day we did an excursion to the town of Guatapé, where the giant monolith, El Peñon, is located. We hiked up the 700 steps to the top for the beautiful views (with several stops along the way to catch our breath in the high altitude).
In Salento, we were lucky enough to have a friend from there show us around. We went for a coffee tour, where we learned how coffee is grown and made, and even got to plant a coffee bean. We also visited the Cocora Valley, where wax palms can grow up to 200 feet tall, but are skinny enough to wrap your arms around. We opted out of the hike, and instead chose to ride horses up the mountain.
A couple things about Medellín: very little English is spoken, so it's best to have someone with you who is fluent, or at least can get by; its very inexpensive, both food and lodging; pick pockets are common, so be alert & don't have your phone or money loosely out or in your back pocket.
The weather can be unpredictable, so having a light rain jacket or small umbrella is advised. Most people wear jeans or pants and tennis shoes for most outings, and it's a good idea to have a jacket for the evenings when it can cool off.
I loved my time in Colombia and would highly recommend it if you're looking for somewhere to visit in South America that's easy to get to, especially if you want to practice your Spanish!
Some of my favorite restaurants:
Alambique Great for tapas, but the portions are large! They were laughing at how much we ordered.
Hija Mía-Nómada (Located inNomada Hotel Origen) Breakfast was fantastic here
Colosal Fantastic views of Medellín, food is decent, but not the best we had while visiting, but it's a gorgeous restaurant