My Taste Of Colombian Culture

My Taste Of Colombian Culture

As part of a two week trip to scuba dive Little Cayman and then down to Latin America, I spent a few days in Medellin, Colombia. In general the level of English spoken in Colombia is very low so it was a good thing I took two months in advance to study some Spanish. My very basic Spanish was enough to get me around the city to take in Colombian culture.

I took the public transit Metro system which was really cheap but efficient to areas in Medellin that interested me including Plaza Botero with the distinctive sculptures.

Here is a video showing parts of the cablecar I took up over slum areas higher up in the valley to Parque Arvi. I was quite overwhelmed by the low standard of living that folks residing in these areas have to endure. At least now with the cablecar lines as part of the Medellin public transit system, people from these slums can go down to the city to work in jobs. Before the cablecars, they were quite isolated from the rest of the city.

Of course I wanted to eat local authentic Colombian food rather than dine at any big chain or touristy restaurants. Here is an example of a Colombian meal I ate for less than $10 Cad.

Another area that I really wanted to visit was Comuna 13 which is a former slum area that was turned into a top tourist attraction. The city installed a series of escalators that take residents and visitors up through different sections of the area. Locals then started businesses all along these escalators proudly showing their culture. Here is video I shot of Comuna 13.

Not only was the graffiti art at Comuna 13 quite impressive but the views of the surrounding area were also very interesting.

Another observation I was quite impressed with was closer to the Poblado area of Medellin near a Metro transit station. I was walking underneath an underpass with traffic overhead and below I saw local businesses established which was a great way to use that space especially given the pedestrian traffic that uses this underpass.

I got to wander around in areas of Medellin that were mostly locals with almost no tourists anywhere near (but still safe at least during the daytime hours). It was in these areas I really absorbed local Colombian life. Here are two more quick videos shot from the streets of Medellin including a fun one I did for my Toronto Maple Leafs.

Hope you like watching these videos shot in Colombia as well as my clips from Little Cayman. Next will be the videos from Machu Picchu and Peru so stay tuned for those.