Editorial Note: In April, I took a month off in Medellin. For me, this meant an interesting and diverting month. For you, this means 30 days of posts about my vacation. I’ll try to make them somewhat amusing.
Medellin has two rainy seasons: September to December, and March to May. Actually, these are sometimes referred to as “monsoon” seasons. If you decide to wander around Medellin during this season without an umbrella, even if the sun is out when you depart, you may quickly find yourself a little on the damp side.
Medellin’s rainy season is different from that of California. In CA, storms move in and out over periods of days: It will be clear for a while, then rainy for a while, and each “while” will last somewhere between a day and several weeks. In Medellin, there are always storms around during the rainy season, and several of them may blow through in the course of a day.
I wouldn’t say that the skies ever exactly clear, but you can have sun, showers, drizzle, torrential downpours, and thunderstorms mixed together throughout a day, each appearing for 30 minutes to a few hours. On the one hand, it’s not monotonous, but on the other, it’s hard to make firm plans that involve exotic activities like “going outside”.
I was caught in a thunderstorm on my third day here, but my feet stayed warm and dry. Quite comfortable, in fact. And I can report that 5.11 pants do a remarkable job of keeping the contents of your pockets dry, even when they’re soaked themselves.
