Beyond Medellin and the Venezuelan Crisis Explored

Hello, Hello!

It’s been 3 months now since I’ve been away now, so definitely time for another update! We’re settling in a bit better now; the new flat is waaay better than our previous one, plus I feel I’m beginning to get into a bit of a rhythm with Spanish lessons each day and the odd swim at the local pool – the pool being outdoors with views of the beautifully defined green valley. Oh, and it’s free to use and Olympic sized, no less! I still feel my Spanish has a long way to go, but at the same time, I sense that I’m making some kind of progress in terms of being able to understand a little of what people are saying (always helpful!)

My local, Olympic, size pool that looks upon the valleys

After visiting various sites around Medellin, we’ve recently been taking trips outside of the city to the countryside and beyond. So far we’ve visited Santa Fe de Antioquia, Santa Rosa and Manizales, and I cannot even BEGIN to tell you how incredible the countryside is! With mountains and valleys in abundance, it makes for the most beautiful scenery imaginable... and Colombia is so VAST and green, beyond belief! I think the vastness was what struck me initially: how simply humongous the country is. Not to mention magnificent, majestic and magical… if I’m going to go all out with alliterations(!) The hills are so steep and they’re literally *caped* in luscious vegetation, canopies and trees aplenty. And then the waterfalls! These are so rapturous and raging and help reflect the greenery further. It rains a lot in Colombia, so the vibrant richness of the green hue is amplified to every extent. Going away outside of Medellin has altered my view on Colombia completely…

Santa Fe de Antioquia - a beautiful colonial style town not far from Medellin

Me getting ready for the spa!

Warm water flowing directly from the volcanoes. Who would have thought!

The stunning spas at Manizales

No photo could possibly capture the lushness of the green here. But I'll try!

Santa Fe de Antioquia is a small colonial town not far from Medellin, which is beautifully charming: lots of cobbled streets and cute town squares - we had a lot of fun ambling about. We were also there for the huge ‘Semana Santa’ week (Easter) which was the most *full-on* set of festivities I have ever seen! It was amazing to see the processions taking over the town in its entirety and to see Catholicism in Colombia. There was no running around hunting down chocolate Easter eggs and scoffing oneself silly! Nope, not here.

Semana Santa celebrations - just outside our flat!

The parade continues and just seems to keep getting bigger!

In Santa Fe and Manizales, we enjoyed the thermal spas – several small pools that collate hot water that flows directly from the volcanoes! Again, another example of the diversity of the land – this whole area was surrounded by volcanoes. It was literally the most beautiful and scenic spa experience I will probably ever have – it was amazing to lie in the warm pools with a drink and see the greenery all around and water flowing - in the most perfect of weather… 😊

In contrast to our fun travels, one of the biggest crises that has been taking place while we’re here (and in the last years) is the Venezuelan one. In a simple nutshell: Venezuela used to be a really rich country and has always been highly dependent on income from oil (it accounts for about 95% of Venezuela's export revenues). Having a socialist Government, they spent a lot of this money on helping social groups and those that needed the money: e.g. more than a million poor people have been homed. However, one could say the Government ‘put all their eggs in one basket’ and didn’t focus on the rest of the economy and its welfare. The problem: oil prices have *plummeted* across the world (less than 50% of their value from around 2013) and the Venezuelan Government has less foreign currency to buy goods (it has almost run out of money) and the country is now experiencing hyper-inflation of around 2000% of its prices (since 2014). The consequence is that there are severe food shortages, malnutrition, sky-high unemployment, horrendous protests and soaring crime and violence. Even Malaria’s back. The people of Venezuela are fleeing and with Colombia being next door, it’s one of the main countries that people are coming to (as well as other south and central American countries). NOTE: obviously it’s a great deal more complicated than that, and I missed out the whole change in leaders etc etc, but this is just a snippet to share.

It is all so sad though. People are fleeing with nowhere to go. They’re often trying to sell food in the streets or other practical items, and just generally trying, desperately, to make ends meet. I’ve also seen people with next-to-nothing on, barefoot, walking disorientated down the street and sleeping rough. Many are sleeping rough. And it’s simply getting worse. I know I’m noticing it more and more.

Anyway, that’s my news for now. 

Until next time!