Medellin finally lifted the covid lockdowns after almost six months, but (perhaps by design) only once the rainy season had started, and most indoor activities were still closed so it barely made any difference. It was therefore a joy to get out of town last weekend for a weekend in the ‘Magic House’ in Santa Elena, a town on the ridge above Medellin.

Sandra had seen the house on a YouTube video by an Australian tourist and loved it immediately. It was in a rustic style with a log frame, mud walls and an open fireplace, but with earthship elements like a river stone floor in the bathroom, and glass bottles embedded in the walls to allow light in. It was one of three cottages, each surrounded by dense forest. I loved the shaded hammock chairs just outside the front door, and Sandra loved the dog, Canela, who came to share breakfast with us. Apparently she was a rescue dog and had taken to a lazy lifestyle with loving owners. Walks were something they demanded of her rather than the other way around.

We had a couple of activities planned, but loved the place so much that we ended up spending most of our time there rather than bushwalking or exploring the too-small town. Sandra took plenty of photos while I read in my hammock chair. Around us, long-tailed blue birds and red-breasted birds flitted and glided through the trees, and an aqueduct poured water into a pond nearby.

I tried to demonstrate my firestarting skills on the Friday evening, and became extremely frustrated by paper that wouldn’t catch until I finally pulled everything out and relaid it in my own style. Perhaps there was a trick to the way the staff laid it. The second night I built it myself and managed to start it without paper at all. Manhood restored.

The owners had provided three heavy woollen blankets to help ward off the cold, but it seems that I’m still allergic to wool so Sandra saw me at my worst, sneezing constantly, sniffing, snoring and generally restless all night. I’d brought our own cotton bedspread just in case, so once we worked out it was the woollen blankets and replaced them, things got better.

Santa Elena itself is tiny. It’s basically a square on the main road with shops around the other three sides. Too small for Sandra to consider living there, but too cold as well, so it wasn’t ever a real option. We found a cosy vegan restaurant for lunch on Saturday and the owner told us how she’d lost a business in Park Arvi to the lockdowns, but had managed to get all the furniture for her restaurant for nothing so she could start again. Her dog Jojo had claimed the sofa and would push customers off if they sat there when she wanted to use it.

We finished our weekend with lunch at the Cerro Verde lookout, which has panoramic views over the (very quiet) international airport in one direction and Medellin in the other. The lunch was delicious so the minimum consumption charge required for entry worked well for us. Drops from the dark clouds overhead finally turned to heavy rain as we walked back to the main road, and we were very happy to jump on the bus to head home for the evening.