Poet, novelist, and travel writer William Graham lives in Stowe, Vermont. He newest work of fiction is called Darkness in Paradise: Colombian Tales of Mystery & Horror, which is part of his South American Novels, inspired by the people, history, and culture of the region.
Colombia has had a poor reputation for many years, fueled by media coverage of the drug cartel wars that featured kingpin Pablo Escobar and the guerrilla war. For many people, what they know about Colombia derived from watching the Netflix series Narcos.
But Escobar was killed in 1993. A peace accord between the government and the largest guerrilla army was signed in 2016. That is not to say that Colombia is now a peaceful tropical utopia, but the country is much more than its dark past. It is one of Latin Americas leading centers for finance, high tech, and media production. Even Disney has discovered Colombias magical allure through its hit animated musical Encanto, with songs written by Miranda.
Colombia is a beautiful and diverse country where you can walk on sparkling Caribbean beaches. strap on crampons and trek on an Andean glacier, and venture deep into the Amazon jungle. It is a vibrant, country that
I visited for the first time in February 2022. Take a few minutes and let me tell you about what I saw during my sojourn there.
Once the epicenter of the drug wars, Medelln is now a vibrant, modern city with a sparkling metro system and numerous upscale neighborhoods where more and more expats are moving to enjoy the City of Eternal Spring. Even though the city looks to the future, it cannot forget its dark past. I visited a solemn memorial to the estimated 35,000 police, journalists, government officials, and innocent civilian victims that Pablo Escobars army of 3,000 hitmen killed in the 1980s and 1990s. The polished granite stone in the upscale El Poblado neighborhood has thousands of small holes in it representing the dead. On a more positive and joyous note, I also visited the once infamous Commune 13, territory that was fought over for decades between the cartels and the guerrillas. Set in the hills of Medelln, the district is now alive with music and murals. Locals and tourists flock there to eat, dance, and enjoy the views. It has been a remarkable transformation born of a desire among the citizens
Medelln also features a beautiful botanical park, lush with tropical trees and flowers. When I was there on a Sunday afternoon, thousands of people strolled through the paths and sampled local food while artisans displayed their wares. The garden and Commune 13 represent the new Medelln: spirited, youthful, and colorful. Its a city now of life, not of death and fear.
When you are in Colombia, you need to visit a coffee plantation. I visited Finca La Manchuria, about a drive from Medelln deep in the stunning highlands. Hugging the steep slopes, workers pick the coffee cherries (thats what they are called before being processed into beans) by hand. Women do most of the picking because their hands are nimbler. Its hard, backbreaking work. Everyone who drinks coffee should appreciate the labor that goes on in the shadows to produce that flavorful cup.
From Medelln, I flew about an hour north to the Caribbean city of Santa Marta, from where I was transported to a magical place called Villa Maria Tayrona, a resort located in the coastal jungle. The resort features individual
cabanas, most of which have sea views. That was my base for exploring the jungle with a local guide. We took a boat up the Don Diego River to an historical site called Taironaka, or the Lost City. The indigenous village dating back to 750 A.D. was only unearthed in 1975 when the land was purchased by a man intending a build a new house. He decided to preserve the area and turn it into a cultural heritage site. The original inhabitants had fled deeper into the mountain jungle when the Spanish arrived in the early 1500s. But the indigenous culture survives even in modern Colombia.
