Well, it feels like I´ve started a new chapter in the trip since my last post. A new country could be part of that, as could time with Myriam´s family, and a new travel companion! We arrived in Medellín last Friday morning, spent the weekend in Medellín, and few days in the coffee zone, and are back in Medellín for a very brief stint before we finally make it to the coast. :)
I have loved spending time in Medellín, and have found it to be the most liveable cities we´ve been in so far. I enjoy playing this game with myself of where it would be most fun to live...ha. It´s a bigger city of around 2 million people; it feels modern and clean; public transportation is easy; and the people have been so friendly and warm. People from Medellín will tell you that they really are happier than others in the world...it might be true. It surely helped to be spending time with my friend and coworker, Myriam and her family. She grew up in Medellín and now lives and works in the twin cities. Her family has been a breath of fresh air after weeks of spending time in hostels and with other travelers. They have been welcoming, hospitable, and more.

One highlight was visiting a farm that Myriam and her brother have bought and are slowly developing outside of the city. They are steadily wiping out the weeds and brush on the farm to plant so many amazing and (exotic) plants to eventually sell....avocados, bananas, coffee, passion fruit, oranges, guayaba, limones... It´s a gorgeous area and it was fun to see the excitement and potential they felt in it all. And oh how I would enjoy some of those trees in our front yard. Wouldn´t that be incredible?!

We also spent a couple of days in Salento, which is a small town 6 hours south of Medellín with easy access to Cocora (a nature reserve) and several coffee farms that you can tour. We decided to enjoy Cocora by way of a horse ride...fun, but I´ve had my fill of horses for the year. The coffee farm tour was sweet...a small farm where we learned plenty about how coffee goes from seed to grocery store.

Ali and I have one more day in Medellín, and we´ll get on an overnight bus this evening for Cartagena. It´s time to repack...jeans and long sleeved shirts on the bottom, tank tops and skirts on the top!