Thewesternprovinceblog

Hola todos, for this backdated blog I will go over the events of a very cheap and fun tour I did of Guatapé, famous for it’s giant Granite Rock and colorful colonial Town and lake. I had sorted this tour via the hostel and it closed 109,000 COP which is around £22. This included a breakfast lunch and boat tour as well as a guided bus tour there and back. Very good value for money.

It was a 0700 pick up from the hostel which was very reasonable for me and we were soon on way. It was a busy busy full of mostly other people from other Latin American countries and the tour was done in both English and Spanish. His name was Luis or ‘Lucho’ as the nickname is for Luis here. He explained everything very well and was attentive to answer any questions we had. 

First we stopped off for breakfast in this comedor (restaurante) and this place fills up fast with other buses as well. Breakfast is scrambled egg with an arepa and some cheese. Very traditional for these parts. It was good and included as part of the tour meaning no extra charge which is refreshing as in other countries they do this to rip you off.

After this we head to the rock of Guatapé while passing though Nuevo Peñol – he explains that is is called new peñol becaus the old peñol was flooded in the 1960s by a company based in Medellín to create a reservoir to supply the city and nearby towns. Everyone moved accept for one guy who lived at the highest point who refused. Everyone else was relocated to the new peñol that got built during and after the flood…….cofiwch Dryweryn anyone?¿?

After this we arrived at the rock and this bloody thing is huge. Lucho Tells us it was first climbed in the 1950s by a Colombian explorer who’s name I forget but after this it got turned into a tourist attraction when the lake was made and they built the stairway up there. I did not go up as was a big queue and not much space to move round on those stairs with all the people and I would have had to pay to do so. That said was an excellent thing to see even from below. Even below your several hundred feet up from the lake. I feel for the drivers of these buses having to manouever up these hills without much room with sharp drops off the side. Bastante Trabajo!

After this we have an hour in the town of Guatapé itself. It is a very colonial and colorful place that looks like it really hasn’t changed much from the days of el Renacimiento. Included here was trying some sweets, coffee and a local liquor for free plus an hour to explore round town. I was impressed and had I not been in the school would have probably looked to stay here for a few days.

After this we have again as part of the tour a one hour boat trip round the lake. They show us some of the mansions on the banks of the lake belonging to various people mostly footballers though there is one delapidated estate which belonged to Pablo Escobar. He never actually lived there but kept 120 guards there at all times back in the day. Today it’s a museum and been purposely left that way as a way of telling local history. The boat ride is pretty cool you can get a beer and a light snack for very cheap and everyone has a good sing song and dance on there. 

After this we go back to the same restaurant as breakfast for lunch. It was a nice chicken Pechuga. Here I chat to some Argentinians who were on holiday here and tell them what I’m up to and where I’m going. They wished me luck but didn’t swap details.

The final stop of the tour was Alto del Chocho which was a farm with a petting zoo where you could feed and pet alpacas and llamas. I passed on this as San Jose was a bit too fresh in my head for chancing another episode of that nature. It was soon wrapped up and I was dropped back at the school hostel.

Sunday evening was uneventful and I got settled in for another week of melting my mind with more spanish!