I’ve just spent five nights at the Black Sheep Hostel in Medellin which has been great. We arrived late last Wednesday night and on Thursday morning Harry, my neighbour from home, arrived having already spent five weeks in Colombia. Thursday was definitely a food day. After a very delicious breakfast in Al Alma beside our hostel we made our way into town to have a traditional Colombian lunch in La Hacienda. The food was amazing – I had a vegetarian version of the frijoles which is basically beans and rice and the guys had two different traditional meals which also had beans but mainly lots of meat. 

On Friday we did a walking tour with Real City Tours and it was one of the best I’ve ever been on. It was more about the history and the attitude of the city rather than the buildings or monuments. 

Saturday we took a tour from our hostel to Guatape which is a nearby town in the lake district. The tour was amazing. First we stopped at a house in the mountains where we were fed eggs and fruit for breakfast. 

Then, after a few short stops in various small towns we pulled in beside a footbridge. I’d read about people jumping off a bridge during the tour so asked our driver if we would be jumping here. He said he wouldn’t but if we wanted to that was our business! Harry said he wouldn’t jump until he’d seen someone else do it. I felt the same way but no one else was volunteering so I bit the bullet, stripped down to my bikini and made my way back up to the middle of the bridge. It was a long jump and it was pretty awesome (terrifying). 

After a second jump it was time to pile back into the van and onto the main attraction of the day – a very big rock near Guatape town. We walked up the 659 steps and had the most amazing view of the lakes and islands dotted around. 

When we got back down our guides had cooked us lunch in the back of the van and honestly, it was one of the best meals I’ve had since arriving in south America. Curried lentils, rice and potatoes for me but also about five different meat dishes and lots of veg and salad. 

After a short visit to Guatape which is very lovely and colourful we made our way back to Medellin via a pretty cool view point.

Today we checked out Parque Arvi, a national park at the top of two big cable cars and also the escalators in one of the favelas in the West part of town. This novel infrastructure has made life in the favelas a lot easier and literally bridged the gap between these areas and the centre of the city. 

Medellin has more going on than Bogota and seems more progressive and modern. I’ve really liked the city and the people have been really open and welcoming. We’ve just arrived in Santa Marta on the Caribbean coast and it is very, very hot here!