Colombia

December 2017: While experiencing our first Canadian winter in 4 years, in Northern Manitoba no less, we decided to get out of the cold for a bit and head to South America for the Christmas break. We had a couple of friends we met in Kuwait that made the move to Bogota, so we decided to visit. We had never been to South America before, and we were very impressed with Bogota. We spent 5 days there. The lush mountains all around were enough to make us fall in love with the place on the first day. Unfortunately, we didn’t get to experience any other parts of Colombia (which I hear are incredible), but Bogota was a great introduction to the colourful and vibrant atmosphere of Colombia.

highlights

. Coffee . Lushness . Produce . Inexpensive . Monserrate . Food .

lowlights

. Altitude . Rain (if you’re not prepared) . Language Barrier .

bogota - chico

Bogota is a busy, pretty regular city. The sidewalks are a little wonky (not stroller friendly, as our friends had a newborn and had to maneuver quite a bit), but there are many little parks and boulevards that add some greenery to the city. We stayed with our friends in the Chico district of Bogota, which has many hotels and great restaurants. La Xarcuteria has great food and a good variety of craft beer to choose from. We stopped at Azahara Cafe for some delicious coffee when it started to spontaneously downpour (happens a lot in Bogota). Bogota also has a good selection of Argentinian and Peruvian restaurants. We had some delicious seafood rice and cebiche at 14 Inkas (highly recommended).

bogota - la candelaria

La Candelaria is the Old Town part of Bogota. It contains Bolivar Square, which is pretty massive. A cathedral and government buildings surround the square, as well as street vendors, restaurants, bars, and museums. We visited the Gold Museum (Museo del Oro), which had an interesting Canadian exhibit from the area Lisa is from (totally random). If we were to go again, I would probably take a tour, as I’m not too familiar with Colombia’s history, and it might give more meaning to the gold artifacts. Then we happened upon the Botero Museum, which was a lot smaller (and free at the time). There were a few Picasso and Monet paintings in there as well. A must visit, if you are okay waiting in line a bit, is the restaurant La Puerta Falsa. This is a 200-year-old traditional Colombian restaurant, which opened in 1816. It is TINY. Just a bar seating area right when you walk in, and then a small upstairs area that can hold a few tables (which is why there’s always a line to get in). We tried the tamale, soup (potato, avocado, rice, chicken, cream, capers), and the famous hot chocolate with cheese in it. Everything was so homemade and delicious. We highly recommend La Puerta Falsa!

monserrate

If you haven’t gotten over your altitude sickness, I wouldn’t go up Monserrate right away. It is high! But absolutely incredible. It started raining and clouding over when we got up there, so the views are a little clouded and wet. Some people will hike up, but time didn’t allow for that. So we took the funicular up. You can also take a cable car, but that line is usually a lot longer than the funicular. It is busy at the top, but definitely worth it for the views of Bogota. To get here, we booked a driver through a hotel in Chico.

salt cathedral (catedral de sal)

The Catedral de Sal is about 45 mins outside Bogota. Everything in here is made and carved of salt. You have to join a guided tour that leaves fairly regularly (we had to wait in line a bit). Once inside you walk by the stations of the cross, and end up in quite a large area, which is the main cathedral area.

tips

• Bring a rain jacket everywhere! While we were there, the sun was shining every morning, but there were also heavy afternoon showers most days.

• Know some basic Spanish. We were lucky, as we had friends living there. But if we had gone alone, we would have struggled. Not many speak English in the city.

• Exchange money in the city. Apparently rates are terrible at the airport and in North America.

• Beware of the altitude! You definitely feel it in Bogota. It kind of felt like I was hungover for the first couple of days (tired, headaches). Drink lots of water, and don’t panic at the lack of oxygen. You’ll acclimatize!

• Visit local fruit and vegetable stores. The selection is incredible! So many fruits I had no idea existed, and they were so fresh and delicious. And very inexpensive, of course.

• Look up some good restaurants! Even the “expensive” ones are relatively cheap compared to many other countries.