Blogs from Bogota, Colombia, South America - page 52

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

Dear all, I wish I had something fascinating to report about my latest travel. I will say this, Bogota is far different than the last few places I've been, namely Maputo, Lilongwe, and Dar es Salam. For example, Bogota has electricity and water 24 hours a day, every day. And while there were a few similarities, such as men with guns, the difference in Bogota was this - I actually believe that these were loaded AKs and not left over from the Soviet Union. Let me back up first. After a terrible flight - spending the night in Atlanta (oh wait, that wasn't terrible, I had banana pudding with Nila wafers, sweet tea, collard greens, cabbage, heaven, sheer heaven), but the trouble came from Delta refusing to claim responsibility, as my ticket was through Continental, and ... read more

(August 22, 2007 through August 30, 2007) I left midday for Bogotá on Wednesday August 22; the plane ride of under thirty minutes was not even long enough for me to get a nice nap before meeting up with Janneth and her family. Earlier I woke up feeling sick not only with a stomach ache, but also with cold like symptoms. Apparently, most of the members at my sister's household also woke up with the same symptoms. The problem was blamed on eating lentils, with pork, too late the night before. Whatever the reason may have been, I had a continuous runny nose and uncontrollable sneezing during my eight days in Bogotá. It was the first time I had visited the capital, and I was much more excited for other reasons than to explore this city ... read more