Travel Stories - Colombia

After arrivig late nast night, in darkness in the small village "Doradal", fortunately I found a hostel quite quickly. The next morning I decide to get up early because I want to see the country house of "Pablo Escobar". In no time I almost walk out of the village "Doradal" and the sweat is already gushing from my head and I fear that this is just the beginning - it is only ten o'clock in the morning. It is about a kilometer along the road to the main entrance of the "hacienda". Fortunately, there is a bit of asphalt next to the road where many trucks rush along at a very high speed, where I can walk. There is also a river along the road and there are a few very expensive hotels (with swimming pools) before I arrive at the large wooden amusement park gate. Of course there is a themed restaurant but I am only interested in the old yet original gate of the mansion. This is the name of the estate "Hacienda Napoles" and on top of that is the plane where drug lord "Pablo Escobar" transported his first cargo of cocaine from Panama to the United States. He wanted to give this plane a special place and became an icon of the complex.

From here it seems to be about a two kilometers walk to the real estate and I start my walk with the slope of a low hill with grass and a gravel path that serves as a motorway. On top of the hill I can enjoy the beautiful complex of Escobar; green hills, trees and many Brahma cows who are curious to see why this man is the only person walking. A white tuk-tuk passes by, he blows his horn but I make gestures that he can continue because I (and he too) knows that he will drop me off for the 2 kilometers to the gate and will ask too much money for it. And besides, it is a beautiful walk through a fantastic rural area. I’ve got the whole day and I want to enjoy to the fullest.  

The road meanders over the hills and I see the high mountains in the distance, some horses and for the rest only pasture and some trees and bushes. Occasionally a wild passage, a fence and then again the gravel path. Then I arrive at another gigantic gate with the name of the amusement park and here I also hear the African jungle sounds from the speakers. You will have to pay the entrace fee here. There are three options and I take the cheapest because I actually only come for the ruins of Escobar's house. I decide to wait for a real safari jeep that brings me and what other people to the first sight - it's a theme hotel (Africa) with a big pool and a big pool for it. And around ten hippos swim around in that pool. Well they are swimming and are all just across the street and are making occasional noise as if they are hungry. Just like me, the rest has seen it within a minute or so and order something to drink because it is very hot today. 

After 20 minutes we are picked up again and are now dropped at the "Jurrasic Park" stop. Here it is also the large "Octopussy" swimming pool (which you had to pay extra for). First, I decide to go and see the "dinosaur park" where a number of life-size models are set up (including sounddevice) that Mr Escobar himself seems to have made. No idea where he found the time running an international organisation, but honestly spoken they look very beautiful. After the mammoth I walk on the other side of the pool back to the road where I see some beavers and my first real live tapir. Most local tourists are much more interested in the pool. I decide to say goodbye to other safari fares (these are all free of charge here) and walk through the forest / jungle towards Escobar's house - the African museum and the zebra's just to the left. Just after the bridge there are a few cages with lions, a jaguar and puma’s. Sad to see this big animals here in a cage which is too small for these predators. They look very bored. A small asphalt path runs here to the "airstrip" that looks abondoned. Still, I'm going to take a look – from the buildings that once stood here most of them are gone but if you’ve got a bit of imagination you can smell what happened here. Kilo’s of coke and millions of dollars were handled here. 

Just before the entrance of the actual house the former collection of cars is shown. Well there are now just a few burnt down cars from the 20’s of the last century that Escobar saved. He must have had about 128 and it is claimed (at least that's what people said) that one was the car with which Bonnie & Clyde drove and became famous US. Next to that it’s said that he was the owner of the car of Al Capone. Only the Renault 4 (the first car with which he first picked up the drugs from Peru and Ecuador and then processed it in Colombia) is in a reasonably good shape. In the back are some leftovers of boats and other vehicles. 

In the garden of Escobar is a large pond with beautiful pink flamingos and a bevy of large parrots - no idea if they were there at the time when the big man was living here although it wouldn’t surprise me. The man had a real zoo with rhinos, tigers and even elephants. I am where I wanted to be – in front of the ruiined country house of the biggest drug lord ever! From this plateau you can easily see the swimming pool where millions of stacks of dollars underneath were hidden, the football field where now only a hovercraft is standing up, the neglected tennis court and a bit of the runway in the distance. On the plateau is the house of which the roof is replaced by a kind of cover (which is not misplaced) to keep it in reasonable condition. There are two floors and a loudspeaker explains in Spanish and English who Escobar was and what he stood for before he was shot. In the rooms – which are unfortunately completely empty and destroyed, but where the walls are still standing - information panels hang with lots of photos. About his political time, the good time in Disney World where he went with his family, just like Las Vegas (where he met Frank Sinatra) but also pictures of the attack on the DAS building. Also the many attacks on motorbikes on journalists in cars, the many hostage taking and ofcourse the presidential candidates who were killed and in the end shooting of Escobar himself on a roof of a house in Medellin. I recognize the paintings of Escobar by Botero and because I am reading his brother's book I recognize a lot of things and do not have to read all the information panels. On the first floor hang the missing persons, the deceased and you are led by the house with white arrows that have been chalked on the concrete and back through the garden where a kind of Roman house has stood with pillars and a climbing frame for children back to the pool. You can also see the blue dot on the concrete where helicopters could land.