Better than Expected - Bogota

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I never in my life dreamed I would visit Columbia, yet here we are and there’s not a sniff of cocaine to be seen!!

Columbia is 2600 metres above sea level so, even though it is near the equator and it is summertime, it is still ‘coolish’.

Bogota seems to be prospering in the post ‘drug lord’ era. There are lots of new cars, very few old cars, new road building, and new developments. We felt safe while we walked around the city but then we did not venture into any of the ‘non-recommended areas’.

We stayed in Martinik Hostal which was rustic but serviceable. We had our own bathroom but part of the bathroom wall did not quite extend to the ceiling so we heard the next door bathroom noises!

For me the highlight of our four days in Bogota was riding the gondola to Monserrate where I enjoyed the vista over the city.

The highlight for Eileen was our visit to several interesting museums; La Fundación Museo Internacional de la Esmeralda (Emerald Museum), Museo del Oro (Gold Museum), Casa de Moneda (the Money House), and Museo Botero (Botero Museum).

Columbia produces 55% of the world’s emeralds. The museum not only has a very good selection of the various types of emeralds on display but also the visitor walks through a simulated emerald mining process ... but no photos allowed!

Museo del Oro was a pleasant surprise because it was the only museum we visited in South America where there is a substantial amount of gold and silver on display. It has an impressive collection of finely crafted gold work and so it is a must see for this reason.

Casa de Moneda is located in the building where money was minted in the 1700s. It has a wide collection of coins and stamps and outlines the history of the Casa and minting process.

Fernando Botero expressed his artistry through several media and the Botero Museum has a fine collection of his work. He produced pieces which are almost cartoon like representations of full bodied subjects of all types and we saw many very large pieces. He particularly favoured voluptuous female forms in his paintings, drawings and sculptures. I (Eileen) loved his work!

And to some it all up, we had a surprisingly good time. Thanks Bogota!

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