Medellín Reál

Medellín Reál (med-aye-JEAN ree-ALL) is Spanish for "the real Medellin." That's what we saw today. Not that the fancy, high-rise apartments and mall with expensive shops aren't real, but most of the population doesn't live that way. Most of the population lives in slums, and that's where we were today. One of the things we appreciate about O.A.T. is that they take us to such places and allow us to meet real people.

The bus took us into the city and dropped us at a Metro station. We rode this light rail train to the end of the line, and then got onto a cable car, very much like in La Paz. The cable car took us to the top of a mountain, over the tops of home-built brick-block homes with wrinkle-tin roofs.

We disembarked the cable car and walked the narrow, broken streets of Communidad Ocho (Community Number Eight). This was vacant land that people with no place else to go started building shelters on some years ago. Before whoever owned the land could react, there were so many people and so many simple houses under construction that there was no turning back the tide.

During the time after the collapse of the Medellin Cartel, paramilitary groups took control here. Sometimes they fought leftist rebels, sometimes they fought one another, but always, they kept control with a reign of terror.

We met Luís, a young man who is part of an organization attempting to revitalize Communidad Ocho. He was a member of the paramilitary in this neighborhood. He says that he now patrols these streets to spread peace and love instead of fear and hatred. He is studying at the university to become a civil engineer, but with the organization, he is working on projects to clean up garbage, run a recycling program, build community pride, and help other paramilitary veterans who can't find employment.

After a tour and explanation of how the organization started, women from the community fed us a good meal at the organization's community center. We had rice and shredded beef, with salad and plantains, and a drink made from a mixture of club soda and beer (not as bad as it sounds).

Once finished with lunch, we were off to the airport. Instead of driving miles out of town to the international airport, this time we went to the much smaller, old airport in the midst of the city. The plane was a small ATR turboprop that bounced us over the mountains and onto a much flatter plateau.

We landed in Pereira, the capital city of the Colombian department of Risaralda. A city of nearly 800,000, it is located in the foothills of the Andes in a coffee-producing area of Colombia known as the Coffee Triangle. From Pereira, we drove to Alcalá, a town of about 25,000, roughly an hour away. Then we kept driving into the country.

We are staying on a coffee plantation on which an eco-lodge has been constructed. It's a bit rustic, but we have the necessities. We stopped at a supermarket in Pereira to stock up on beer and wine. There is a swimming pool here, as well as a game room. We enjoyed a very nice meal this evening, so we are well taken care of. We'll just be a bit isolated for a few days.