Back to our news - as mentioned in our previous
blog post, after touring around Peru and seeing some of that country’s wonderful
and amazing sights, we flew from Lima, Peru to Bogota, Colombia.
We arrived in Bogota, late Sunday afternoon and as always took a taxi/uber to our hotel. I was quite
apprehensive about going to Bogota due to its bad reputation, which I am sure is justified as we had been advised not to visit certain areas. We had chosen a hotel in a central area which was renowned for having many restaurants, safe night life and was close to the cultural areas of Bogota.
My first impression was that of a dirty city,
covered with lots of graffiti and litter. This perception did change as, like
most big cities, there are some lovely areas.
Bogota is situated on an elevated and broad
plateau called the Bogota Savanna. It is one of the largest cities in the world
at altitude, averaging about 2,640 metres above sea level. The city is
surrounded by high dramatic mountains, which gives the city a coolish climate.
Many years ago, the area once was a large lake, and one can seem remnants of
this scattered around the city.
On Monday, we took a funicular to the top of Monserrate, where we could see the whole expanse of the
city. Monserrate is a mountain and sanctuary 3,152 metres above sea level and its name originates from Monserrate in Catalonia, Spain. The main attraction is the 17th century church and shrine to El Senor Caido – the Fallen Lord. This is a major pilgrimage site. The whole area had Christmas decorations and lights which was lovely to see, plus there were the markets and cafes.
We spent over three hours enjoying the views of
Bogota before we descended back down to the city by the cable car. We then took
a taxi to the main historical and museum area of Bogota, where we enjoyed a few
hours meandering around the cobbled streets and went to the Museo Botero –
which featured many artworks of Fernando Botero. You may remember in Cartagena,
Mel enjoying himself feeling the huge statue of La Gorda Gertrudis (Fat
Gertrudis). Botero certainly has a distinct form of painting and design, as his
sculptures are unusually huge.
Botero Museum | The Cultural Network of the Bank of the Republic
Afterwards, we just kept walking along the main
street back to our hotel. As we walked, we
encountered a variety of sights: towering skyscrapers, the main university,
green parks, intricate roads, and an interesting blend of modern and colonial
architecture. The Colombians seem to acknowledge their colonial past but
are not ‘hung up’ on it and appear not to have any grudges against it. We
passed lots of stalls selling Christmas items plus a large area where people
were selling second hand items. Once again, the street art was amazing!
On Tuesday, we decided to take the hop on/off bus
so we could get an idea of the whole of the city.
The tour started in a very upmarket area, which apparently was the main financial area of the city. It was
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| Monserrate |
quite beautiful with lots of green, leafy streets, walkways and parks. Contrary to my original thoughts of Bogota, it has many green areas and parks and some lovely areas where one can see people care for their surroundings. A large metro system is currently under development in the city centre, which should alleviate the congestion when completed.
After our tour, we decided to once again to walk
back to our hotel but this time it was from the opposite end of where we were
on the previous day. In fact, in the two days we were in Bogota, we walked the
length of the main city.
The next day, Wednesday, we flew from Bogota to Perreira, which is in the coffee region of Colombia. Perreira airport was the closest airport to where we were planning on staying for the next two days,
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| We saw a Black Condor. |
Salento. We caught an uber through to Salento which sits in the Quindio department (similar to a province), part of Colombia’s coffee Axis (Eje Cafetero). Salento is a very pretty town as the houses are brightly painted and there are many restaurants and cafes. The central square was decorated with lots of Christmas decorations once more, since it was a week away from Christmas. While we were in Salento, we took a traditional Willy jeep (the local transportation) to the Cocora Valley to see the iconic wax palms. These wax palms can reach up to 60 metres tall. While we were there, our guide, Sebastian, drew our attention to the prolific bird life in the Cocora Valley. The views in the Cocora valley, were spectacular.
After visiting the Cocora Valley, we took another
Willy jeep to a traditional finca (coffee farm). The weather was a bit against
us, but we had an enjoyable time learning about the harvesting and
manufacturing of coffee. No wonder it has become quite an expensive beverage as
the whole process is labour intensive and quite involved. The cheap brands of
coffee are harvested in a more commercial and quick way but decent specialist
coffee, is quite involved. I am not a huge coffee drinker, but I certainly
prefer the Colombian coffee to the Peruvian coffee and the typical cheap
Starbucks type of coffee. Mel enjoyed tasting the different varieties and
blends.
Salento had a lovely, relaxed feel about it. Mel and I are always in a quandary as to how long to stay in
a place. For example, we thought 3 nights would be enough for Bogota. However, an additional day would have been great as we would have enjoyed going to the Salt Cathedral which was a whole day excursion and then to Salento – it would have been lovely to have spent longer there as well. We faced the same dilemma in the next place we visited, Medellin.
From Salento, we caught the bus back to Perreira where we spent a few hours exploring the downtown area before catching a taxi to the airport. As always, there were lots of elaborate Christmas decorations and lights everywhere in the city
plus, what we had noticed in quite a few central squares and parks in Colombia, were tables of people playing chess or dominoes. It had quite a community feel as all ages were involved.
Later that
evening, Friday, we caught a flight to Medellin arriving rather late and in the
pouring rain.
Medellin is Colombia’s second largest city and is
known as Colombia’s ‘City of Eternal Spring’ because of its year-round mild
climate – it’s average temperature all year is 22 – 24degrees C. My favourite
temperature!!!! Medellin has had a huge transformation in recent years, as it
had a bad reputation for violence but is now known for its innovation, urban
renewal and cultural.
The artist Fernando Botero was from Medellin and
many of his oversized sculptures can be found in the city, particularly in
Plaza Botero.
The Tunel
de Oriente is an 8,2km long tunnel connecting the main airport – Jose Maria
Cordova International airport in Rionegro to Medellin’s city centre. It only
opened in August 2019 and has reduced the travel time to the airport from 1
hour minimum to 20 – 30 mins. It was quite amazing to experience at night and
then again during the day when we left to fly back from Medellin to Santa Marta.
We had only booked one night in Medellin, so we were up early to explore as much as we could in the short time we were there. There is a river running through the main city centre of Medellin – the Rio
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| Rio Medellin. |
Medellin. It has many tributaries, which gives the city a lush and calming feel. Once again, we would have liked to have stayed longer in Medellin, but we had been away from Passages for almost 3 weeks, and we were keen to get ‘back home’.
We arrived back in Santa Marta on Saturday – late
afternoon. Passages was fine although very dirty and dusty. Due to the
Katabatic winds blowing down the Sierra Nevada range, the dust in Santa Marta is
quite incredible. But that is another story.
So, until next time…..
Take care, keep well, and stay safe.
Best wishes, always
Mel and Caryn
P.S. At the moment, we are making plans to leave Santa Marta, Colombia for Panama - San Blas Islands on Wednesday 14 January. (fingers crossed).
