Parque Arví

January 26, 2016

One of my big plans before leaving Medellin was to go to Parque Arví, a big ecologic reserve on the hill way above the city.  To get there meant a metro ride to a cable car, and then another cable car transfer.

Like a ski lift, only bigger

The cable cars are kinda fun, though I can see if I had to do it every day it would lose its novelty.

Going up above the roofs of small barrio areas, its easy to imagine one of those movie chase scenes where everyone is doing parkour across roofs and balconies.  It definitely looked possible to me.  Well...not me exactly...but you get the point.

It was also fun to see some of the roofs of the owners who realized that lots of people would be looking at the tops of their houses.

Gorilla and flamingo party on the tin roof

Toucan can come too

Peacock too

Some expressed thanks for the cable car construction, which was 2010.

Thank you Luis Perez for the metro cable

This is your house, Luis Perez, governer

The cable car up to the top station was a 10 minute ride from the metro, then a quick transfer of cable lines, and a 20 minute that went from the diminishing communities at the tops of the hill, to just an expanse of trees.

With hills, sometimes we were in the middle of nowhere, neither end in sight. Just us and the cable.

Finally we made it to the Arví station.

Once there, I was informed that you're not actually allowed to walk around in the woods by yourself and a map, you have to hire a guide.  Since a lot of the land is private, they don't want ignorant tourists tramping through people's backyards.  Also getting lost.  Thats no good either.

I did pay for a tour group, hour and a half for 3000 pesos, which is a little less than $1.  Seemed worth it for me.

The tour was pretty much just walking along a trail through the woods, which was nice.  We didn't get too much in the way of history, info, or a nature though, which I would have enjoyed.

We did have a couple friends join us.

Our guide said that people regularly bring unwanted pets up to the park and abandon them there.  As long as they're not aggressive, they generally get to stay.  She said since tourists tend to feed them, some of the town dogs that have real homes have learned to tag along too.

We got to a grove of trees, and had a minute to appreciate it.  She said to breathe, walk, hug a tree.  People took her at her word.

I snickered silently

I found this moss and liked it.

Its a lovely sea foam that doesn't quite translate in the photo

After the tour I did lunch at a good but overpriced restaurant on the road.  From there, I caught the free bus up to the edge of the park to Piedras Blancas where there is another little park area with a reservoir.

It was wonderful, slight breeze as I walked around the lake, and trees for a bit of shade.  My favorite area was the bridge that led to the butterfly museum which I opted to skip, and the docks under it.  I sat out on the dock enjoying the lapping of the water and the ducks swimming around.

Also there were two guys in a rowboat flailing around which was a bit amusing.

Looking down on the lake from up by the hotel

Eventually I had to call it a day to beat cable car traffic back down.  I found this graffiti at the bottom.

Roughly: I promote living together in harmony by being a good example