Medellín was once known as the most violent city in the world.  This unenviable title was the result of urban violence caused by the drug cartels at the end of the 1980s. The most infamous was Pablo Escobar’s Medellín Cartel which used the city as it’s battleground.   However, after the death of Escobar, crime rates in the city began to decrease.  In October 2002, President Álvaro Uribe ordered the military to disband the urban militias of the FARC and other groups.  Even after the disbanding of the main paramilitary groups, many members have been said to have reorganized into new criminal bands causing an unfortunate increase in violent deaths.  In 2009 the number shot up 200% to an ‘estimated’ 2,899 violent deaths – that’s an average of 9 people killed every day in 2009. Yikes. That same year, Chicago had about 450 homicides and Chicago’s number is higher than the national average in the United States (this does take into account small towns and suburbs).

Now, to be honest, I didn’t really do this research until after my visit.  I guess that’s a good thing, although I’m not even sure that really matters.  I knew other travelers who’ve gone there and even live there and from everything I read, I really wasn’t worried.   Although during my five days in Medellin, I was given some conflicting reports:

Medellin is a very violent city. And…It’s much safer in Medellin than it used to be…

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During my visit to Medellin, Colombia, I stayed in the lovely 61Prado Guesthouse. It was not in my Lonely Planet Guide, which is often a good thing. They can only list so many hotels, and while they are often good and affordable, they are usually just too busy, since they are in the ‘travel bible.’ I can’t say exactly how I found 61Prado while trolling the internet, but I’m glad I did. I stayed in this tranquil oasis amidst the chaos of Medellin for five nights.

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Medellin is becoming one of Colombia’s largest cities. After once being known as one of the most dangerous cities in the world, it has become much safer since the 1993 death of Cocaine King, Pablo Escobar. Up in the mountains that surround Medellin in every direction, some violence and gang wars still play out, but down in the valley there are some peaceful parks and green spaces amidst some congested street chaos, noise, and grime.

Enjoy this photo essay (it’s free…why not enjoy it?) to give you a feel for Medellin as I saw it.

I was invited to be a guest for the day on a boat trip to the Islas del Rosario, about an hour’s speedboat ride from Cartagena. There are many boat trips to the islands provided by different companies. This particular one runs out two of Cartagena’s poshest hotels: the Sofitel Santa Clara Cartagena and the boutique Hotel Bovedas de Santa Clara.

It was a lovely day at their island Hotel San Pedro de Majagua.

Three caveats:

• If you are looking for an amazingly swanky island getaway or super-fancy luxury holidays, this is not it.
• If you are looking for an expansive, white sand beach, this is not it either.
• If you are looking for tons of sun, this is not the place. The beach faces north. There were enough chairs for everyone, but certainly not enough sun. The way the beach is situated, only a handful of lounge chairs received full sun for the day. My chair remained in the shade the entire time and there was really no where else to move it except into the water.

What Majagua offers is a relaxing getaway on Isla Grande, the largest island of the Islas Del Rosario. The day trip includes a shuttle to the marina, the hour-long speedboat ride to the island, a tasty fresh-juice welcome drink, lounge chairs with towels, a tasty ceviche snack (shrimp or similar marinated in lime juice, onions and herbs), a lunch of fresh seafood, beef or chicken, and a day of relaxation on the beach.   You can also add on extras for a fee like an excursion to the aquarium, kayaking, or snorkeling.  There are two beaches to choose from, each with chairs, cushions, and a bar.

For me, the best part was connecting with some new friends:  I met and hung out with a nice mother/daughter duo from Sydney, Australia.  And I interviewed a very friendly and well-spoken woman and her son from Medellin. Later I met her husband and other daughter. And, in true ‘the-world-is-full-of-nice-people’ fashion, they invited me to meet up with them when I arrived in Medellin confirming my favorite part of travel – meeting and getting to know locals.

For a better feel for the place, take a look at this short video guide to Majagua:

Majagua Beach – Island near Cartagena, Colombia from Lisa Lubin on Vimeo.

If you are interested in the day trip, contact the hotel. Or better yet, maybe you really want to get away from it all and stay a couple nights on the island itself.  There is not much else to do there, but if it’s true peace and quiet (besides the tourists lounging in the shade) you are after, this is the place.

Info:

Nowadays there are said to be approximately 400 million people speaking Spanish as a native language and a total of 500 million speakersworldwide. Spanish is the second most spoken language in the world, after Mandarin Chinese.   Spanish is one of the six official languages of the United Nations and there are more than 20 Spanish-speaking countries in the world.  Are you getting my point? Oye chicos y chicas! (Warning: Non PC/fun writing coming up) Spanish is the new black. Literally. For about a decade now, Latinos have been the largest minority group in the United States, surpassing African-Americans.

So learning Spanish is a no-brainer and literally can be with a download-able language-learning program I just tried out called Bueno, Entonces. If you’ve wanted to improve your Spanish or learn from scratch…now is really the time. Vamos!

To get a feel for the program, here is a clip for you (if you are reading this in email and the vid doesn’t come through, please go to my site to see full video clip):

Click here if video is not above:

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