We fell in love with this small town a few hours outside Medellin almost instantly. Made famous by one of Medellin and Colombia’s most infamous and powerful sons Pablo Escobar, who built himself, his family and his bodyguards numerous mansions here. All of these overlooking the enormous manmade lake, which drowned a town during its construction. This lake and the 7000 foot high El Penon de Guatape (a huge rock towering above the town and the lake, completely out of place) which locals believe is remanence of a meteor that struck earth thousands of years ago, are the other reasons this small town attracts tourists.

Noticeable straight away and also on the way in are the colourful pictures that adorn every building here. Each house, shop, café, hotel etc has a different set of impressive sculptures on the bottom of the walls. These range from farmers with animals to musical instruments and landscapes. We had and still haven’t seen anything like it. It gives this small town something else compared to all other colonial towns we have visited and makes it that bit more special.

The town square much like Santa Fe’s is dominated by the church on one side, a fountain in the middle and a mix of bright buildings around its sides. We picked a restaurant and tucked into the local dish of Platas Pasias – a huge plate of meat, rice, beans, plantain, sausage, eggs and bread. We wouldn’t have to eat for a week after that. On the square was a stage and Christmas decorations and we were lucky enough to catch a local band playing salsa music to the small number of people relaxing nearby. Being on very high spirits we decided to have a little dance, much to the amusement of some local women who probably thought we were two crazy gringos. After the moment of thinking we were the Colombian equivalent of Torvil??? And Dean, without the ice, we went to explore the streets. Stopping for pictures of our favourite houses, dipping in and out of shops and witnessing lots of unusual soups being prepared on the streets (in huge metal pots above homemade fires) meant we spent a good few hours taking in the town. We came across one of the most beautiful and colourful streets, complete with small square we have ever had the privilege of visiting. Hidden away between two of the main streets the square was pleasantly quiet surrounded by cute shops and cafes.

We headed to the lakes edge and decided upon the cheaper version of the lake tour. It was all in Spanish, on a small, cramped boat but was a lot faster than the bigger boats which edged slowly around the lake. As we were only on a day trip it was the only real option we had but would still advise future visitors to take the smaller tour too, not only to save time and money to avoid inevitable boredom. The tour took us across the impressive lake and stopped to point out Pablo Escobars mothers house he had built for her. A big mansion with a very impressive view of the lake. Next was his nieces house and his discotecha, in which he used to hold parties for friends and guests. Next was his home. Or the shell of it.
In this location Pablo Escobar was the target of an attempted assassination. His house was blown up by a bomb from within by his rivals the Cali Cartel, who’s leader also has a mansion situated lakeside. This attempt ripped through the house, destroying everything inside, as well as Pablo’s bodyguards house next door. He managed to escape unharmed through some of the hidden tunnels built into the complex.

Next up was the site of the old town which has been drowned to form the lake. Here stands a lonesome cross to mark the spot. There is a scale version of the old town in Guatape but we didn’t visit due to time restrictions. Passing back by Pablo’s small empire we return to dock. As Christmas was fast approaching and we felt safe around Guatape we each took 50,000 pesos and spent an hour Christmas shopping for each other before meeting back in our favourite square.

The whole time in Guatape we has been in the shadow of La Piedra deal Peñón (Guatape Rock) and it was time to climb it. A bus five minutes up the road dropped us off and we took the short walk up to the base of the rock. 740 gruelling steps later we reached the top.

Sweaty, hot and exhausted, peering out at the view made it more than worth it. The lake spreading far into the distance, interrupted by varying land masses reminded Jonny of Halong bay in Vietnam. The 360 degree view was breathtaking on all sides and we spent a while just admiring before taking out the cameras.

It truly is and will remain one of the best views we have ever seen and reason alone to visit.

Before descending back down to earth we were extremely lucky in what we witnessed next. Hayley noticed a local boy throwing a rope off the side of the rock and upon further inspection spotted a platform sticking out from the side a few meters below. Noticing a young guy, no more than 30 strapping a go pro to a helmet and slipping on a backpack it became apparent what was about to happen, he was going to jump. We stood in amazement and watched him climb over the edge, lower himself to the platform below, check the wind, carry out some safety checks, say a small prayer, count down from three and go. He flung himself off the side of the rock and soon appeared below floating under a parachute. Crazy.

After a brilliant day we walked back to the bus stop and waited for our return leg to Medellin. By this time darkness was setting in and we both agreed we would of liked to spend a night or so here and in hindsight we would of picked this beautiful town over Santa Fe and urge any backpackers to do the same but that is the beauty of hindsight.

Guatape had firmly cemented itself at the top of our favourite places in Colombia so far, if not the whole trip. Don’t miss out!

Jonny & Hayley 🙂