Paragliding over Pablo Escobar territory

Other than visiting Plaza Botero in the city centre (which is a bit of a dump and gives you the creeps – so many dodgy types loitering around, including taxi drivers smoking weed whilst waiting for their next customer), the big shopping centre to the south of town to replace my decrepit shorts, eating shite food along the restaurant strip near where I was staying (supposedly a good area and Medellin is renowned for its good food), hitting the local running track at the optimistically labelled Olympic sports centre, going on a rather pathetic and disorganised pub crawl through the hostel (the reason why I usually avoid them at all costs) and listening to stories of other travellers being held-up at gunpoint not far from the airport in town.....BUT I did try paragliding in the nearby mountains, something I have wanted to do for quite a while.

You take a local bus from the main bus terminal in the north towards San Felix, stopping at the launching point after 1-1.25hrs along the bumpy road. You can pay at road level where the paragliding offices are or as we discovered up at the launching point where it is marginally cheaper. Pay around COP85,000 for a 20-minute glide. With the strong wind and thermal we travelled quite a distance in that period of time. Great view of the Guatape lakes. I opted for minimal tricks during the flight as I can't handle them. The descent was rapid and you get thrown from side to side as your spiral down. I didn't like this part. We took about 3-4 attempts before landing, being blown away by strong gusts each time. I was kinda happy to be back on land but didn't feel 100%. Walked back down to the road and unfortunately for me a bus came immediately so we jumped on. The bumpy, winding, stop-start trip whilst standing in the aisle was all too much. I had to jump off and revisit breakfast. I walked back down the mountain for a bit, feeling much better for it. Jumped on another bus just before approaching the prison. Quiet night.

First tip, don't go on a Sunday during the holiday season when it is packed with locals and turns into a chaotic scene of mass confusion (we waited almost 2hrs after registering). Second tip is go in the morning when the wind isn't as strong - landing and take-off can become more bumpy.

I disappointingly have no food recommendations…..other than mani japones from the supermarket if you can find them. Addictive.