Mountain village Santa Elena is a 40-minute drive from Medellín, at an altitude of nearly 3,000 meters. Because of its location in the middle of nature, we saw Santa Elena as the perfect “escape to nature” from the busy city. Tiny house Cubo Nube, the Airbnb we had booked, is located in a private nature reserve, and with pictures of squirrels and beautiful birds, we were already getting excited.
For transportation, we had arranged a cab through the Airbnb. During the ride from our hotel in el Poblado to Santa Elena, we drove through el Centro and the lively Buenos Aires neighborhood. Since Monday was an official day off after the elections, the area was bustling. Families going out to eat together or looking each other up for a friendly chat. The drive continued through the mountains at a brisk pace and frankly, we were glad when we arrived at the tiny house.
We came for nature, so the first thing we did was enjoy the view on the terrace. It seemed that the birds and squirrels had warned each other, because 1 by 1 the animals came out to see if there were some goodies in the feeders. Curiously they looked at us, hoping for some goodies.
When we put a banana on the picnic table, a squirrel came and nibbled from it, while not losing sight of us. After this we heard a big thud, indicating the “landing” of the Colombian Chachalaca, a large chicken-like bird with a beautiful blue head. The bird was not afraid and jumped from one feeder to another.
The weather was beautiful with a clear blue sky and we spent the rest of the afternoon enjoying the peace and quiet and the animals, before settling into the tiny house. The tiny house is built so that from the bedroom on the second floor, you have an awesome view of the forest and, in the distance, the city of Medellín. The fresh air outside made us sleepy and after watching some Netflix, we went to sleep, with only the sounds of the rainforest around us.
In the morning we woke up to the sound of twittering birds. Soon a large Chachalaca sat down in a tree in front of our window, as if to tell us he was ready for breakfast -:)
From the bedroom we saw more beautiful, colorful birds passing by. Because the bedroom is surrounded by trees, we felt like we were in a real tree house!
With the things we brought from Medellín, we made a simple breakfast. We cut some extra fruit for the squirrels and birds, and after breakfast we settled on the terrace, for the “feeding show.” One by one, the squirrels descended on the fruit and corn kernels, and then the birds followed.
Since the tiny house is very remote, there is no other supermarket or restaurant nearby. Therefore, in the afternoon we decided to take a cab to Cerro Verde Mirador, a viewpoint with a restaurant and the Torre de Antioquia. From this lookout tower, you can look out over the entire region and even see El Peñol in Guatape (when the sky is clear). We thought that was something nice to do!
Arriving at Cerro Verde, we enjoyed the view and decided to go to the observation tower after lunch…. Wrong decision! During lunch, it started to rain hard…Instead of climbing the observation tower, we stayed in the restaurant with a cup chocolate caliente.
Our visit ended shorter then we thought and on our way back to the tiny house, we asked the driver to stop at the supermarket, so we could do groceries for the rest of the day. The forecast was that the rest of the day would stay rainy.
The next day the weather was much better and we decided to go out. But first we decided to pay a visit to the dentist. My travel partner had a toothache and we decided not to wait any longer and visit the local dentist. Arriving at the central plaza of Santa Elena, we asked for directions to the dentist clinic, which was hidden behind the plaza.
There was no one in the waiting room and we were able to walk right through. Arriving in the treatment room, we felt like we were going back in time 50 years! There was an old-fashioned chair and ditto equipment and we had to do our best not to laugh. The dentist and his assistant were warm-hearted and very professional, so we still had a good feeling about it. After an initial checkup, the dentist couldn’t find anything special and he decided to take a photo. The photo was taken and developed in the old-fashioned way… you can already guess: the photo was developed in a jar with liquid. After the diagnosis -a small infection- we had to pay 5 dollar for the photo and 2.50 dollar for the consultation! With the prescription for antibiotics we went to the farmacia in the village and after this we walked around for a while.
The toothache fortunately did not persist and after the walk in the village we caught a cab to restaurant Sublime where we had a delicious meal.
When the cab picked us up, he asked if we were interested in visiting a Finca de los silleteros and ofcourse we were interested.
Before our trip to Medellín, we had heard a lot about the annual flower parade during the Feria de las Flores, where the silleteros (flower bearers) from Santa Elena show off their beautiful flower arrangements to the public. The Londoño family is a yearly prize winner and it was nice to hear their stories.
What impressed us most was that the family traveled to New York after 9-11. Here they presented flower arrangements from the flower festival to families who lost their loved ones.
After a wonderful day, we settled in early at night and fell asleep rightaway. But not for long… We woke up to a huge bang and sat upright in bed. It looked like lightning had struck and after checking the bedroom, we noticed that the wifi router was no longer working. It was difficult to get back to sleep as it remained unsettled that night with thunder and rain. In the morning, the weather had cleared up and we packed for the trip back to Medellín. The data on our phone worked only sporadically, so the rest of the morning we were forced to look out the window and enjoy nature. What a punishment -:)
We were unable to reach the cab driver to reconfirm the return trip to Medellín, but she was at the gate at exactly the agreed time. The journey back to civilization could begin….
Written by Jeanette
Travel date: June 2022
