Heading South to Bogotá!

Before I start this blog, just to explain that I am doing a bit of 'blog-catch-up' at the moment as time got away on me and I haven't had a chance until now to get them all updated! I am currently in Australia but here is my last instalment from Colombia before I arrived home in Oz.

Adrenalin packed rafting expedition in San Gil... The closest i've felt to drowning!

So after dragging ourselves away from the gorgeous Caribbean Coast, we first headed down to the adventure capital of Colombia, San Gil. We stayed at a great hostel, run of course by a great aussie guy, Shaun, who was able to provide us with an abundance of local knowledge and also direct us to a rafting company to head down the grade 4+ rapids in the local river! You can also see at the top of this blog an icon to click on if you want to watch a short video of us rafting down one of the rapids that the instructor kindly took for us!

Due to the recent rain in the area, on the first day we arrived the high water levels meant that it was too dangerous to raft ... so with slight trepidation we headed off the next day! The rafting guide in our boat was actually the captain of the Colombia rafting team, however that didn't prevent everyone in the boat, except one, falling out on the first rapid. But as that rapid wasn't too big, we were able to get everyone back in the boat with not too much hassle and we were soon on our way again. Although this was my third go at rafting, the rapids on this river were a lot bigger than anything I"d previously tried, especially due to the recent rain.

So it was on one of the biggest rapids that we went down that day that I had the misfortune of falling out of the boat (which apparently may have been somebody else's fault but I won't name names!) ... This meant that I went down grade 5 rapids with just a lifejacket on. The instructor said he saw me go off the edge of a rock and down into a big hole but honestly, I had no idea what was happening, I just felt like I was drowning every time I got sucked down into a hole, wrung around like I was inside a massive washing machine, and then spat back out to fly down the rapid to the next big hole. I was petrified and when the rapid finally finished and I was in comparatively calmer water the safety kayak finally made its way over to me. At this point I was doing my best to hold it together and not break out into tears at what has until this day been the most petrifying experience of my life! It was also not particularly consoling later when the guy in the safety kayak was saying the they actually didn't know where I was for quite a while and was worried I'd got jammed under a rock, not really what you want to hear about being in what felt like a near-death experience. After this episode, thankfully we stopped for half and hour to have some water and snacks and recuperate! However, I was definitely a lot more cautious on the remaining rapids and the whole time petrified of falling out again. There was no way on earth I wanted to fall out of that boat again!!

Anyway, all in all, it was a fabulous day and definitely got the heart rate up! After we relaxed at a little local bar, had a beer to unwind and watched the locals play a very strange game! The game involved throwing a heavy metal disc into a container of sand, with the aim of hitting a small target that explodes like a firecracker! It was a crazy game but definitely a crowd pleaser on a sunday afternoon!

Cute Colonial Towns

San Gil was a great little town and, even from the hostel, there was great views over the cathedral which was beautifully lit up at night. We found the locals really friendly and the food great and very well priced compared to the caribbean coast. In San Gil we even explored the local clubbing scene, where we were recommended to head out of town to a huge dance club that was strange not only because for some reason it had a kenyan jungle theme going on, but also because it didn't serve any beer and had a regular parade of police officers passing through. Despite all this, we had great fun, especially being the only foreigners in a bar packed to the rafters with locals.

We also visited two other colonial towns, Barrichara and Villa de Leyva. Both were gorgeous and had a great variety of restaurants, cute shops and cobbled streets to explore. Barrichara would be my favourite, despite the incredibly rough road I had to endure to get there!

Experiencing the capital of Colombia - Bogotá

So eventually we made it down as far at the capital of Colombia, which sadly would be my final place to visit on this leg of my trip. I definitely want to return to Colombia to see the remainder of the country at some point in the future! Anyway, Bogotá really suprised me in terms of the sophistication of its transport system, cleanliness, museums and facilities for tourists. I know I didn't get out and about to the far reaches of this massive city but what I saw definitely was impressive. It is still a city of contrasts though and one of my favourite photos is the one where you can see the horse and cart lined up at the traffic lights in one of the busiest main roads in the city, alongside all the cars and buses!

For panoramic views of this sprawling metropolis nestled high in the mountains, we went in a funicular right up to the Sanctuary of Monserrate, a gorgeous church set on the highest point in the city. This afforded amazing views over the city, although we didn't last too long at the top as it was absolutely freezing!!

Botero ... the painter of fat women!
One of my favourite museums in Bogotá would have to be the Botero museum. Botero is probably one of the most famous Colombian artists who has been hailed as the 'Picasso of South America' and definitely has a passion for painting fat people! He describes it as trying to create 'volume' in his paintings and sculptures and there'd certainly be no denying that!! You can see the 'fat' mona lisa and a couple of other paintings we were allowed to photograph in the exhibition.

Gold, gold, gold!
Colombia also has the world's largest collection of gold, which is housed in the country's gold museum here in Bogotá! This was an amazing musuem showcasing a terrific range of artifacts that the colombian people have worn or used throughout the ages. My personal favourites were the nose rings that looked like they would weigh a few kilos! I have a lot of respect for the people that used to let these heavy 15 cm diameter disks of gold hang from their nostrils for extended periods of time!


It was also in Bogotá that we again had the pleasure of meeting up with Sarah again!! Having been in Bogotá for a few days before us, she was a great source of local knowledge, introducing me to heavenly restaurant called 'crepes and waffles', which served absolutely exquisite desserts, and also to a great micro-brewery pub in the Zona Rosa! Also in Bogotá we were taken out to salsa on my last night in town by our colombian friends, Laura and Tom. We went to a fantastic salsa club with a live band and we danced the night away, even being able to put in a special request for my favourite salsa song. All in all, it was a perfect end to a perfect holiday.

This then spelt the end of my adventures in Colombia as I had to fly through Chile and onto Australia to be back home for my sister's wedding in Sydney. I ended up having to spend a VERY chilly night in Chile and also pay a startling $56 USD 'reciprocal visa' just to walk through customs and collect my bag ... Obviously they are just getting the aussies back for slapping a visa on chileans as only the aussies and americans have to pay this ridiculous levy.

Anyway, enough whinging, I've been hanging around with whinging poms too long and it's rubbing off on me, haha! My next instalment will come from home sweet home in Bega, Australia.

I hope you have enjoyed the blogs so far and I look forward to hearing what you're up to as well,

Hasta Luego, Tamara

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Videos from "Heading South to Bogotá!":

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