COLOMBIA PART 1; a pleasant surprise!

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Our trip over from Venezuela to Bogota was eventful. We took the bus from Merida to San Cristobal. We arrived in the dark at around 8pm, jumped straight into an old Chevvy taxi and headed for the border. After paying the rip-off departure tax to leave Venezuela, we arrived in Cucuta on the border at around 9.30pm and took the overnight bus to Bogota.

Our bus driver was a typical SA bus driver - overtaking in the rain on blind bends etc only this driver wasn't so lucky as his antics caused an oncoming truck to swerve off the road into the embankment. Our driver carried on as though nothing had happened but was later stopped by the police and escorted back to the scene of the accident. This resulted in a frustrating 2 hour delay on what was already a lengthy journey. We finally arrived in Bogota and with the help of the really friendly and helpful chap at Tourst Information, we booked into Hostel La Candelaria. We wanted to be settled somewhere so that Mr P could enjoy his birthday weekend and so booked in for 5 nights. We could have easily stayed longer. To us, Bogota feels like the love child of chilly mountainous La Paz and in your face, trendy, Bohemian Buenos Aires -the weather was a bit of a shock to the system as we'd come from the steamy heat of Venezuela and it was fffreeezing!! We loved it here!

We were lucky enough to see a Celtic Harp duo at the local Theatre - Teatro del Banco. William Jackson from Scotland and Grianne Hambly from Ireland. The venue was modern and impressive and the music which was infuenced by places such as Skye and The Uists in the Outer Hebrides absolutely haunting and beautiful. We were instantly transported back to Scotland and the weird thing was that it was a year to the day since we had been there for Mr P's 40th. It was quite bizarre to be sat in Bogota, Colombia with these 2 english speaking performers taking us on a musical journey back to our second home.

Tourist information were really helpful and informative and they took us on a free 2 hour walking tour of the highlights of the main square, churches and government buildings, it was really interesting and our guide did the tour in English. We had a limited amount of time in Bogota so we were really grateful to them for providing such an excellent service. In the evenings, we visited a Salsa Bar - bit trendy for us but cool nevertheless and the dancing was fantastic and so sexy. We also visited a Tango bar and the music was very old - they have over 4,000 old LP's in the place and it was certainly atmospheric. There were lots of bars to choose from in the area near to our Hostel - the Doors Rock bar which played anything but the doors - mainly 70's and 80's soft rock and a real ale bar - the BBC - Bogota Beer Company, it was ok but no real threat to Sir Joseph of Holts. Eventually found another bar that did play The Doors and all in all we had a good couple of nights out to celebrate Mr P's 41st, yes, 41st birthday!!

We took the very steep cable car (Teleferico) and visited Montserrat, the mountain that overlooks the city. On the top of the mountain is a beautiful white stone church and the views of the city are incredible. On one side the huge and populated city with high rise buildings and parks and on the other side nothing but jungle. Later that day, we stopped to help the local Police Force who were taking part in a marathon "drumming for peace" session. They had been drumming for 48 hours and still had 36 to go. Several passers by stopped to have a go at the drumming and the Police were in really good spirits and encouraged us to have a go.



Part 12 of the SA Footy Tour

Santa Fe 2 Patriotas 1

Estadio El Campin (Bogota)

It had been a while since our last game and we were really looking forward to this match, especially after getting great views of the stadium from the top of Montserrat the previous day.

There was a decent crowd milling around the stadium and we queued for half an hour to get tickets - £9 each. Not too bad considering that SF are the current champions of Colombia.

The stadium was pretty impressive and probably the neatest we've seen so far. Only 3/4 of the stadium was open and Patriots only brought 3 fans with them. The atmosphere was really good and certainly a step up from our last game in Peru although not as manic as the atmosphere in Bolivia or Argentina. The game started quite slowly and was a bit tedious, in fact the first half was positively dull. After an early sending off in the 2nd half for Patriotas, things started to pick up. Patriotas scored the first goal followed by lots of timewasting as they tried to play out the game. Howeverm their efforts were in vain as 2 goals in the last 15 mins won the match for Santa Fe. Good for us too as it meant we were back on winning ways. Our record to date is P12 W9 D2 L1.



Manizales - the home of delicious coffee

From Bogota, we took the mid-day bus to Manizales, we hoped to be thre for around 8pm. Our driver was obviously a contender in Wacky races in his previous life - he drove that big bus round those big bends like he was in a F1 car. Unluckily for us (or luckily for us) Columbian bus disaster number 2 occurred about an hour from manizales. Our bus broke down after losing water. Thankfully our replacement bus and driver took things at a much stedier pace but it meant we didn't get into Manizales until 11.30pm. After a short taxi ride, we finally arrived at our hostel Aqui me Quedo and despite the late hour, we were given a lovely warm welcome and were glad to hit the sack.

Brekky was included in the price of the Hostel; eggs, arepas, fresh fruit and coffee and the owner and staff were very lovely and helpful. They helped us to plan a trip to a coffee farm the following day and gave us lots of tips of what to see in the city. We spent the first day getting to know the centre of Manizales and were really glad to be in warmer climes. Manizales is a ahuge city built up on mountainous ridges and into deep valleys where coffee plantations stretch as far as the eye can see. The views from Chipre, a small high built town are simply stunning and you can see for miles around. The highlight of our visit to Chipre was the monument "Colonizadores" the most beautifully designed and crafted and sculpture we've seen to date and the perfect spot to watch the sun set over the city. In the centre of the city is another great plaza overlooked by the old Catedral. The Catedral was almost destroted by an earthquake but has been re-built and has been designed to withstand future tremors. We ended our day with a trip to Plaza Cable - basically a modern shopping mall on the site of the old cable car with lovely restaurants and lovely shops. The area around cable felt buzzing and there were lots of lovely bars and cafes and people busying about. The old wooden structure of the cable car tower is still there and makes for a beautiful photo with the sun setting behind it.

Second day in Manizales and an early start for us as it was coffee day! We were collected by the lovely Beatrice who took us to the village of Chinchina to meet our host Jorge. He and his mother own the coffee farm and also have a hotel in the grounds. Hacienda Guayabal was a real sight for sore eyes, Coffee plants as far as the eye can see with Banana trees and giant bamboo thrown in there for good measure. We were treated to a 3 hour walking tour of the whole plantation by our guide Louisa and our four legged guide Duker who lives at the Hacienda. We learned the whole coffee process from seed to cup and got to plant our very own coffee seeds. Louisa suggested that I sprayed some Citronella on me as the Mozzies can be quite lively. Well, I hadn't had a bite in 7 months and I wasn't about to take any chances now so I covered myself in it. OH MY Gosh!! those mozzies LOVED the stuff and I have about 30 lovely purple lumps to prove it...I swear you can see the teeth marks! Despite the bites, the whole day was absolutely perfect - we enjoyed a traditional Colombian lunch, several more cups of coffee and got to spend the day chilling in the grounds. To top off the day, we were presented with a certificate to honour our knowledge of the coffee process.. a really nice touch!

After our very strenuous day, we spent the evening chilaxing at the local Termales. Relaxing in steaming hot mineral pools under the chilly, starry Colombian night sky is defo our idea of heaven. Termales should be made compulsory in every town! We could have easily stayed longer but time is marching on and we still have so much of SA left to see.

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Photos

Mona Lisa
Botero

BWFC Mug
For sale in a shop called Sperm in Bogota, random!!!!!

Proper Beer
Feliz Cumpleaños Mr P