Columbia - A New Day

Honestly, it seems like forever since we've been somewhere truly new to us. (The lost years of the pandemic have stretched everything out.) So here we are in Columbia, finally. Ron always wanted to "visit" (ie: parse out a possible new place to move to) and I was always hesitant, just to avoid another move. (Yes, I'm that lazy/reluctant to move again.) 

We arrived in Bogota fairly early on a Friday. Unfortunately, we were both suffering from the tail end of a nasty cold, so the trip from Cuenca wasn't as enjoyable as it could have been. We opted to stay in a district called Chapinero; a fairly well to do area with lots of restaurants, tree lined boulevards and heaps of dog owners.

View from our hotel suite

I'm sure everyone out there has heard that Columbia is "not safe". Keeping that in mind, we made arrangements to have a "trusted" taxi company pick us up. It's kind of a convoluted system. The provider gives you the license plate of the taxi and a code to provide to the driver. Now this is all well and good, if you have any type of connectivity, but if you're relying on free airport WiFi, this can be disastrous. Case in point El Dorado International airport, one of the busiest transportation hubs in South America, offers 30 minutes of free WiFi. Needless to say this is not sufficient to clear customs, baggage claim and get to the outside where your taxi is waiting. Be that as it may, we finally found our driver - there had been a small mix-up between Spanish L and Spanish M...don't ask me how, they sound quite different. He was very kind and swept us away to our hotel with ease. Side note* most of the drivers are mildly insane, especially the motorcyclists. Lanes are mere suggestions, merging involves having the most nerve, perseverance and willingness to have some mild bumper damage. (At least it seemed that way to me.)

While we waited for our room to be ready, we wandered around the neighbourhood and grabbed some food. (We had very excellent hamburgers.) 

Because of our colds and the early morning departure from Cuenca, we were pretty exhausted by the time we got into our room. As these things go, we were tired enough that we couldn't nap, sadly. That evening we bumbled around and grabbed some sushi to have in our suite, not wanting to be out after dark. (Remember, Bogota is "dangerous".) We crashed and burned early, hoping to wake up refreshed and reinvigorated.

We decided to head out to the downtown core, known as La Candelaria, where there are several museums and the historic district. Fair warning: getting around Bogota can be challenging. It's not recommended to take public transit. We thought we might brave it, but the system is so complex and the city so large that we gave up before we even started. Fortunately, taking cabs is quite affordable. Our hotel arranged for a taxi and off we went, after being advised to message the hotel when we wanted to return, so we could use a "safe" taxi.

Golden replica of the raft of sacrifice

 

Our driver dropped us off a few blocks from Plaza Bolivar, near a pedestrian area and we headed blithely off into the mean streets of downtown Bogota. Our first stop was El Museo de Oro. (The Gold Museum.) They house a huge display of gold and other antiquities that gave rise to the idea of El Dorado...the lost city of gold. Lake Guatavita was the site that housed a good portion of the collection before it was disinterred (disaquinated?) and brought to the museum. On the top floor, there's an immersive experience that was really quite moving and jaw dropping. 

 

Once we'd had our fill of gold, we decided to find the Museo Botero. Fernando Botero's work is probably the most recognizable of all Columbian artists. He combined the style of the Renaissance with his own modern take and the result was a body of work with very round, Rubenesque subjects. Even his instruments are fat. The museum also houses work from other artists and we found a charming Salvador Dali sculpture. Because I was still a bit stunned by my dumb cold, I didn't take many pictures.

Museumed out, we went to find lunch. We had a delightful vegetarian almuerzo and tried to find the Emerald Museum, but, alas it eluded us and I was ready to head back. We messaged our hotel, to try and get a taxi. I'm not entirely sure what happened, but no one answered us. Perhaps there was some sort of family crisis. After waiting for 15 minutes or so, we went to a decent hotel and asked the front desk to order us a cab. If I post more blogs, you're going to notice a theme. It's super easy to get from your hotel to your destination, but getting back can be a challenge, if you want to use "safe" taxis. We got back to our hotel without incident, but we aren't sure whether we got mildly ripped off or not. We really should clarify the whole taxi meter, situation with someone in the know. Several cabbies added money on from what the meter read. Nothing egregious, but only one cabbie charged us exactly what was on the meter. (More about that in another blog.)

When we arrived back at the hotel, we had a bit of a rest and then decided to head out for dinner at a restaurant called La Taqueria. As you might guess, it's a taco place. The fish tacos and prawn tacos were exceptional. We didn't take photos, we basically inhaled the food and enjoyed every second of it. Overall, it was a solid end to a busy day in a big city. Needless to say, we survived the day, unmolested. The people are generally kind and helpful and they're almost always surprised that we understand Spanish. I'm starting to suspect that the warnings about the dangers of Bogota might be over-exaggerated, at least depending on the time of day and the neighbourhood.

Next up, el Mercado de las Pulgas and el Jardin Botanico.