Willing to be Surprised: A cable car with a view . . . and Parque Arvi

One of the ways that Medellín turned itself around from being one of the most dangerous cities in the world was through innovative city planning. (Very superficial knowledge I have about this!) One of the things they did was connect the communities on the mountainsides with the central part of the city by building cable cars that run from a few of the Metro stations and have several stops on their way up. They also built the city’s biggest, most amazing library at one of those stations, way up in what used to be a very dangerous neighborhood. That gives people up there access to an incredible library (which is closed for renovations right now--we’re SO bummed), and it brings people from the main part of the city up into areas they probably wouldn’t have gone to otherwise. The cable cars also link people directly to public transportation and all the jobs and services that are in the bottom of the valley. Brilliant!

The cable cars run on a continuous loop, so you just get in line and step in when you get to the front. (They slow down but don’t stop!)

It was so interesting to be able to see the neighborhoods from that birds-eye view. It felt a little strange, seeing people going about their lives with this rotating audience always above them. The housing definitely does get more precarious as you go up. People have terraced these mountainsides one little spot at a time to build houses and to grow what they can. Unbound works in these neighborhoods, so Dan had been up there already and was pointing out the subproject office and other buildings where they do programming.

That's one of the stations ahead.

That's the library up there!

We rode the cable car to a nature reserve called Parque Arví, which, if you say it in English, sounds exactly like RV Park. Hee hee. After having city noise in the background of our brains for a month, it was pretty strange to be in the quiet up there. The last cable car took us right up over the top of the mountain and then kept going over forest for about 10 minutes. There was an information station and a large tent with booths selling organic yummies (we got strawberries drizzled with chocolate and some tart cherry tomato-like fruits) and crafts.

We found out about some waterfalls you can walk to, and we set off confidently with not-so-clear directions. You know how long a journey seems when you’re not sure where your destination is. (They’re not big on signage here.) :o) We were so happy when we found the small river, which led us to a series of small waterfalls. It was heavenly to put our feet in the cold water and sit a while. It was like being in Colorado, only there were all kinds of trees and plants that were exotic to us.

Yes the water was cold! Crazy swimming people!

Luckily when we got back to the road, short on time and energy for the walk back, a nice man in a pick-up was there to drive us super-crazy-fast on the winding mountain roads for a couple of dollars! We got some water and hopped back on the cable car. We’ll definitely take Grace there when she gets back from her summer program.