The Mighty Colombia...Part Four....

'That's a big un'......The Rock of Guatape.

After riding out of Medellin we meandered across the countryside to Guatape….our mission ...to climb the rock. We'd booked into Hotel Zocalo Campestre right below the rock. In fact there was a gateway just below our cabina which led out straight onto the footpath which takes you up to it. We had so much fun at this hotel. More on that in a minute.

The Rock is just up the road from Guatape which you have to visit if you're here and it's well worth it. There's also places to stay there if the Zocalo isn't for you. Brightly coloured buildings and a vibrant atmosphere, Guatape is situated in a beautiful part of Colombia surrounded by lakes. We jumped in a tuk tuk (look out for the customised ones in Guatape) to visit from the Zocalo. Feeling 'flush'... you can also pay for a helicopter ride to fly over the rock and surrounding area...….seems quite a lot of people were, because the helicopter seemed to be continually up, up and away.

So climbing The Rock of Guatape….. a massive lump of granite with 720 steps carved/built into it. As you walk up the hill to it, you soon come to the tourist shops at it's base. Not tempted to buy anything....we were...we realised we should have bought our Colombia football shirts in Medellin ready for a certain game but had completely forgotten so ended up paying a little more then we should have done. Not to worry and stay focused....720 steps ahead. It's not very expensive to climb, I think if I recall correctly it was about $18000 COP which is almost a fiver in Pound Stirling. Funnily enough the climb went well and all of a sudden we were at the top of the 720 steps. The climb is only about 7000ft. The views are worth it and at the top, more shops and cafes, where a well deserved drink was had. Mission accomplished.

Now to where we're staying. As I write up part 4 on Colombia,I have to especially mention Hotel Zocalo Campestre and it's amazing staff....Ele, Karen, Sneider and Yoanni.. At this hotel you have the choice of renting a cabina or a room in the hotel. We chose a cabina and walk down to the hotel for breakfast and if you can't be bothered to leave your cabina at teatime, they'll bring it to you. The food was great and so was the service...…...but most of all besides the laughs in between the most fun we had was the football......football......yessss…..football.... The World Cup was still on when we stayed here and Colombia were playing England.....eek......Well it had to be done, we had to watch it. These guys organised for us to watch the match with them complete with silly glasses and paper blow horns. Sorry England ….we've gone Colombian......being in South America we both would have loved to see Colombia win. Sadly it wasn't to be but the fun we had with Karen, Sneider, Yoanni and Ele watching the match was unforgettable ❤

Our next stop is Doradal, only about 99 miles down the road. We're actually heading back towards Bogota but the main reason for stopping off at Doradal is that we're going to visit Hacienda Napoles, an estate previously owned by Pablo Escobar, Colombia's well know drug lord from the past. Now.....we're not visiting for that reason.....no narco tours for us.....I'd heard about the hippos that Escobar had brought to Colombia, the only thriving herd/group outside Africa which is somewhat of a wonder in itself , though there's issues arisen since the herd has established itself.

We stayed just outside town in a Hotel/Bar at the side of the road.....Hotel Parador del Gitano…. very pleasant and the owners had cats, dogs and a pet parrot....happy days. On our visit to the Hacienda we just took one bike, there didn't seem to be much point taking two. The photo of us both at the iconic Hacienda sign was taken the day after. The park considering what is once was is now a happy place, filled with families enjoying the waterpark and seeing some of the animals. The whole place has truly been restored to an area where the people of Colombia and the rest of the World can visit happily. A stark reminder of it's dark past can be seen at the Museo Memorial because it's still important to let people know the history of the place and ensure it's not repeated.Ironically a high security prison has also been built within the estate.

When you see the hippos....you can see how and understand why they've thrived. The area they have to roam is big and the climate...well it was hot when we visited and with plenty of water and grass for them, it's as good as perfect and a massive plus, nobody is hunting them for their teeth here. Because of the history of the Hacienda the hippos were as far as I'm aware (correct me if I'm wrong in the comments) the only animals to survive, apart from some that were rescued, after being illegally imported and their care abandoned for some time after Escobar's demise,before the place was 'rescued'. During that time there were some escapees and whilst this is kind of amusing and 'yey' they escaped ...it's also very much of a worry. Hippos are not pets , they're wild creatures and extremely dangerous, causing a massive headache for the locals and people's safety.'What to do about them' appears to still be in debate. We saw some of the escapees in a lake at the side of the road in Doradal. I truly hope there are no decisions made to destroy these hippos who are here at no fault of there own and have made it their home and wish the Colombian Government and the people of Colombia every success in the future management of these fantastic animals.

Of course there's other animals here too, with ostrich, donkeys, zebras to name but a few roaming freely. In fact the Hacienda is on a par with safari parks at home in England, if not better as there is so much room. Thankfully the carnivorous ones are contained otherwise it might have been a bit of a dilemma riding round on a motorcycle 😜😂

TIP - If you decide to visit, go early for animal activity. During the day it gets so hot the animals are doing what we should have been......staying out of the sun 🦁🐯🐵🐘🌳🌴🌤

At this point we are as good as in 'the heart of Colombia' but as I've mentioned we're on our way back to Bogota. We have some things we need to buy and we're also going to use Bogota as a base for a few ride outs not too far from the city that we didn't do first time round. On our way, along the main highway we caught these scallywags 'hitchin' a ride. It seems to be a common thing to do in this part of the World....as dangerous as it is....don't try this at home kids.