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A daytrip to El Penol (Photos)

On a previous trip to Medellin we cancelled a trip on the advice of our trusted taxi driver and went to a park in Rio Negro instead. So when an opportunity presented itself this trip I jumped at it!

Later a brother-in-law called my wife to say we were crazy to go there. This time I was determined to go and my wife just sighed and replied, "Okay, just don't cry to me when the guerillas put a lasso around your pelotas and are leading you through the mountains!"

A friend of the family runs a tourist business and arranged for a van and driver to bring us. (Think big honking church type van here) We set out early and went about the city picking up family members until the van was full.

We stopped at one of the open air churrasco style restaurant and I got my chicharron and sausage fix and the rest had breakfast of their choice as well. It had taken us an hour or more to gather family and then an hour to get to the restaurant.

As we were loading into the van Luz Mary opened her bag and showed me a carton of aguardiente and arched her eyebrows Magnum P. I. style. Mary is my sister-in-law and drinking buddy.

About an hour down the road Mary and I were thinking it was time to start drinking when we discovered tradegy. She had forgotten the "shot glasses". The shot glasses are small plastic cups, if you recall the cups from the top of a bottle of pepto bismol you will have an excellent mental representation. I was all for passing the bottle ( er carton) around but this offended someone sensibities. Anyway a short time later when we turned off the autopista the driver stopped and dashed into a tienda and returned with the requisite plastic shot glasses.

Mary and I had a shot of the aguardiente followed by a shot of water. The driver and the rest of our crew passed. Oh well more for us...jejeje. We drove along getting more and more into the country and had a few more shots. As we were getting more and more rural I saw it. AUC presiamente. Maybe time for another shot.

AUC hmmm? I was thinking; man, those are those bad ass guerillas. They don't want to be bothered with dragging you around and trying to ransome you. They just shoot you in the head and gut you so you don't bloat up and bury you. In reality I don't know if they are any worse or better than FARC or ELN that is just where my aguardiente lubricated head was taking me.

Speaking of aguardiente...Mary lets have another couple shots. As we progressed into the countryside we began to see some pretty nice fincas. And in the front of them there were armed guards in camo. Mary listo? We drove along taking in the countryside and I began to form a plan...just in case if you get my drift.

Among our entourage was Benito. Luz Fanny found Benito in the street one day and brought him home to care for him. Somewhere along the line I guess Benito suffered a stroke or some similar fate. He mutters unintelligibly (to me) and is palsied and cannot walk without great effort and has bowel control issues. I was wary of him when I first met him but as I got to know him learned that probably his mind functions fairly well. He just cannot vocalize well and his motor skills are shot. He is also the most appreciative individual I have ever met and I had insisted that he join us for the day.

Anyway I figured I'd just emulate poor Benito if we were stopped and crap my pants and get a little spastic. I had failed to bring any ID and that way my language wouldn't give me away...right?

About this time we entered the town of Penol where there is a Catholic Church built in replica form to El Penol. We strolled about the Church square and then continued on and in short time rounded a curve and WHAM! There it was...spectacular.

We drove up to the parking area and I shopped among the stalls selling tourist trinkets as our crew decided who was climbing and who was staying. I don't recall how many steps there are up the rock somewhere between 698 and 720 I believe. I had planned my climbing strategy as well. I have learned about the Paisa Pace from previous trips. Paisas seem to amble along and stop every five or ten yard to speak a bit or look at something. I drove me crazy on my first trip then I realized they weren't panting and gasping for air.

I'm a flatlander used to living at sea level all my life and this concept pass right by me on my first trip. Anyway I let them all charge off and with the exception of Alexandro who is a budding soccor star finished with them all at the same time.

The stairs remind me of something you might find in some Egyptian ruins. Irregular and steep and narrow. The top is 2180 meters which is near 7,000 feet so you are probably starting off at 6,000 feet. Man was I glad we started the vacation in Bogota!

At the top there is a bathroom, tienda with soda and beer and another gift shop. And at the very top an open air platform with a spectacular view. We enjoyed the view and I noticed a particular accent in the spanish being spoken by the foursome already up top. Sure enough gringos. Turned out they were from Panama, Atlanta, and Alaska.

We worked our way back down the labryinth like stairs and continued on to the lakeside town of Guatape. It had a spectacular view of the lake and we decided to walk along the lakefront.

Getting out of the van the happy babble suddenly stopped. I turned to see my two year old daughter laying on the ground on her side with her head on a twelve inch curb...and she wasn't moving. She wasn't crying and wasn't moving. I was debating on how to stabilize her and transport her when my wife bowled me over and scooped her up like a rag doll. Then the crying and babbling started up again. Small bump and a little blood.

After ten minutes of strolling we were approached by a man with a rental boat wanting to take us on a tour. A bargain was struck and as usual I let my wife handle the money. We ended up paying $40,000 pesos for the "three hour tour" to fantasy island.

Hey Mary got agurdiente? We motored over to the island and were treated to a spectacular view of El Penon from Lake Penon. At the island we were sitting and Juliette decided wading was in order and in short order was up to her neck. Soon there were three of them in the drink including Mary. They were all soooo sure the gringo wasn't going in.

My wife was shocked when I pulled my shirt off and took off my shoes. I dropped my shorts and was going to shuck the underware when a look from my wife warned me " don't". So I didn't. But I had a plan. We swam around a bit and Mary and I had a few shots. The driver indicated that it was time to return and we piled into the boat. I carefully stored my clothes so that they would remain dry. The thirty minute ride back dried my hair and body. The boxers were still wet but what the heck.

I climbed onto the dock in my boxers and pulled on my polo shirt which happened to be an extra tall size. I am six foot and don't need the extra tall but it was on sale. How convienient! It covered my privates and I deftly shucked the wet boxers and slid on my shorts. I had gotten away with it undetected! I was walking about the dock commando style going about the business of getting us all organized when Juliette noticed my boxers and started giggling. Darn I knew I forgot something! The twelve of them couldn't figure out how I had gotten naked unobserved.

We dined at an outdoor waterfront restaurant and I was the only happy dry camper.
It was a fantastic trip and I would recommend it to anyone after checking out the safety factor.

I know that the safety issue has been discussed in other threads but this is an area that does warrant a bit of caution I believe.

Here is a link to my photos. Sorry the albums are not separate; but, I think that you should be able to figure out which photos go with my sancocho, and termales post and which go with this post. I will try and figure out photobucket and separate the albums later.

http://s219.photobucket.com/albums/cc71/tiberonsuave/?mediafilter=imag...

t

By lpdiver on Oct 10, 2007, 22:19 in Friendly Talkzone.

eywed says on Oct 10, 2007, 22:34:

Cant believe you did not go on the amazing zip line that goes up the hill over the lake there. I was told by my family on my trip out there it was not a bad area to be in. We went to alot of small towns out that way. Very nice.

Ay Hombe!!!!!

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Robert Jorge says on Oct 10, 2007, 22:36:

Great post LP. Nice pics too.

--"I believe in making the world safe for our children. But not for our children's children, because I don't think that children should be having sex." - Jack Handy

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scotty says on Oct 10, 2007, 22:56:

Nice pics!

Get Rhythm, when you got the blues. Johnny Cash

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robi666 says on Oct 11, 2007, 04:05:

"As we were getting more and more rural I saw it. AUC presiamente."
What do you mean? What did you see exactly?

"I am a citizen of the most beautiful nation on earth. A nation whose laws are harsh yet simple, a nation that never cheats, which is immense and without borders, where life is lived in the present."

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morphus says on Oct 11, 2007, 06:46:

0909pp

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lpdiver says on Oct 11, 2007, 07:45:

robi666...I mean I saw AUC graffiti...the first of which was AUC presiamente scrawled in red spray paint across a building. I wouldn't know AUC, from FARC, from ELN, from regular Colombian army.

My first clue; I suspect would be covered faces.

Also I suspect some of the uniformed guards probably moonlighted for FARC, AUC, or ELN.

t

"cook some rice!"

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morphus says on Oct 11, 2007, 07:48:

Look for rubber boots! You won't see any guerillas at El Penol. They were there a few years ago but they are gone for now. The Colombian military now has control of the area.

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Morrongo says on Oct 11, 2007, 07:53:

Thanks for the fotos and story......thats a mean looking bowl of Sancocho..one that you dont see in a 3,000 peso almuerzo!

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lpdiver says on Oct 11, 2007, 07:53:

Rubber boots eh? Yes it was a few years ago that we declined to go.

t

"cook some rice!"

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robi666 says on Oct 11, 2007, 08:09:

Oh, graffiti then!

As Morphus said, the army is all along the road from Marinilla to Guatapè.
The AUC is not anymore a "super structure" army group type but a mafia type group in that zone, no uniforms then. Still well present anyway.

Three years ago, I was told by a tourist guide of Medellin not to follow the road after Guatapè, but they always exaggerate to scare the tourists and I did and spent a few days in San Roque (beautiful church) at a friend house.

It has been interesting hearing an old lady, family friend, telling the story of when the guerillas took El Penol one night some years ago, got the police station and killed one.

Last year, I had to stop with the car on the way for a "derrumbe" and get a small boat to cross (1000 COP) and a "coletivo" (2000 COP) to El Penol. So always ask about the condition of the road, because a landslip is frequent in wintertime.

If you go there, I strongly advice you to take some time to buy some vegetables, chorizos and meat at the market place there, or, even better, in Marinilla. You won't regret it! Finally, i found some tomatoes that tastes similar to the one in Italy... :-)

I absolutely love Marinilla. Two years ago, Conavi was selling a finca there, 500 meters up from the church. A "remate": 4 ha. land and 200 m2 house for 100 millions. I thought about it, but I was not sure about how safe it was to live there, so I let it go... I wonder what's the price now.

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Disclaimer: always make a deep investigation before buying a finca or go to live in a rural place. If you ask the locals, they will ALWAYS say that there are no problems where they live. Spend some time at the place and after knowing them better, let's say the third time you seat with them drinking a beer, ask them to tell about the past. Then move the conversation to the present time...
Usually, there will be a price for ha. that you will have to pay. Nothing bad.

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