Blogs from Bogota, Colombia, South America - page 52

Greetings from Colombia! I'm writing this blog from the friendly home of the Bye/Van Zandt family. When I arrived in Bogota, my apartment wasn't ready, so I am spending the extended weekend with this family. Two of the sons are students at El Camino, and Kathleen Van Zandt is a teacher at the school. The first morning and afternoon I spent here, I camped out at the house. There wasn't much to do really. The father and sons went to a missionary farm, while Kathleen had an appointment to keep with a local single mother in need. I stayed in, napped, watched a movie and got accustomed to the thin mountain air. It was really quite pleasant. Later in the afternoon, I ventured out into the city and went to a local bakery, and I can't ... read more

Despues de nuestra enriquecedora experiencia en tierras de caña y cafetales llegamos a Bogota, donde nos acogio Diana, la cuñada de nuestro amigo Juan. Como todo el mundo en Colombia el trato aqui (o acà como dicen ellos) es increible. Bogota es una de esas ciudades que se dejan descubrir poco a poco. Es una ciudad llena de contrastes y bellisima. Una de nuestras mas gratas experiencias en Bogota fue el barrio de La Candelaria. Este es un barrio de arquitectura colonial y muy colorido. De aspecto muy bohemio y con teatros, bares y un gran numero de colegios, universidades y escuelas. En este barrio encontramos un teatro llamado la Candelaria. El teatro cumple su 40 aniversario y tiene una larga historia de continua lucha politica en Colombia y cuya base es acercar y extender la ... read more

Our final night in Bogota, again planning a quiet one considering our flight the next day, and quickly laughed out of that plan, thrown into the truck and driven north an hour to a small town called Chia. Chia basically exists solely as a town where the drinking rules are more lax than Bogota and so consists entirely of bars and restaurants. We were headed to Andres Carne de Res (Andres meat of cow, yum) which is a huge place several hundred feet long, where Bogota comes to eat extremely well and party in between eating. More aguardiente, more vodka, some of the best beef I have ever had (one was wrapped in salt and spices in a wet cloth and thrown in coals to cook), more dancing, more eating, more dancing... Tried some chorizo (yum), ... read more

All the Colombianos are denying it, but come on, we´re from CANADA, and it definately SNOWED. We were too slow to catch the photographic proof of the rigged up truck-tractor-plow clearing the freeway, but it´s in our memory... The weather continues to be loco and, in adition to the snow, there´s more rain on the coast than in the past 100 years and pretty much everywhere in Colombia is covered in thunderstorms. Thankfully it´s usally limited to the early afternoon so we´re still getting lots of stuff in. We´ve just spent a few more days in Bogota, and the stories and photos of the insane birthday-halloweén night and the following insane dinner at Andres Carne de Res will follow when we get a chance to slow down. Montserrat is the mountain that towers over the city ... read more

It seems it wasn't guerrilla groups or murderous drug barons that we were to be wary of in Colombia, but rather the weather. The ominous clouds blanketing Bogotá we assumed were typical of the rainy season; the temporary closure of El Dorado airport due to flooding as we sat on the runway, a brief, barely remarkable hiccup. One flooded hotel room and another closed airport later, and we began to exchange nervous glances. Following the tourist trail, we were practically oblivious to the much-publicised problems which fuel alarmist warnings from armchair commentators - our biggest issues were the typical afflictions of the holidaymaker: a diverted plane, a leaky patio door, a grey sky spoiling that perfect holiday snapshot. Beyond the comprehensive airport security checks and the moderate police presence on the streets, in the tourist destinations ... read more