Colombia
Plaza de Bolivar

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    • Day 28

      3rd Dec. 2024, Last full day in Minca

      December 3 in Colombia ⋅ ☁️ 17 °C

      Oh dear oh dear. I made a schoolboy error last night. I went into Minca town to grab a bite to eat and actually had an okay meal. Sadly, the drink had ice in it and I should've fished it out and didn't. For a lot of last night, I had stomach ache, and that was the main suspect. No better this morning and into the afternoon, but I managed to finish the day off with a pistachio ice cream (just to settle my stomach of course). It seems to have done the trick.
      Next job is to pack up, ready to leave in the morning for Santa Marta.
      I only need to settle my bill for the meals clocked up on my electronic wrist band thingy, and walk down for the bus.
      Minca has been pretty good. The place I stayed was the best so far - food, pool, room okay. It was just the upset tummy last night and the bleeding' dogs barking at the moon every 30 mins or so. I'm fairly tired now and it's not even 5pm. I reckon a shower is in order.
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    • Day 2

      La continuación - Bogotà

      February 17 in Colombia ⋅ ☁️ 19 °C

      Der Zöllner am Flughafen wählt ein neues Lied auf seinem Handy, singt leise mit, mustert nebenbei unsere Pässe und sagt „Bienvenidos a Colombia.“ Die Verkäuferin im Supermercado erledigt in aller Ruhe noch dies und das, bevor sie die Warteschlange bedient. Alle warten geduldig, keiner nörgelt.

      Wir haben die Latino-Leichtigkeit, diese Lockerheit vermisst. Und freuen uns, unsere Lateinamerika-Reise endlich fortzusetzen. Und zwar in einer der höchstgelegenen Metropolen der Welt, in Bogota. 8 Millionen Einwohner… quasi die ganze Schweiz auf einem Haufen.

      Auf 2600 Metern kommt man leicht ausser Atem. Nicht wenige Neuankömmlinge leiden hier an „Soroche“, der Höhenkrankheit. Bisschen Schwindel, bisschen Kopfweh haben auch wir, aber es ist aushaltbar. Und so machen wir uns auf, die City zu entdecken.

      Jeden Sonntag werden einige Hauptverkehrsachsen für Autos und Busse gesperrt. Tausende Fussgängerinnen und Velofahrer tummeln sich dann auf den Strassen. In rund vier Stunden durchqueren wir drei völlig unterschiedliche Viertel, von arm bis sehr mondän. Von baufälligen Hütten bis Wolkenkratzer.

      Die Stadt ist vielseitig, bunt und eindrücklich - vor allem von oben, aus Sicht des Hausbergs „Monserrate“. Doch es fehlt ein bisschen die Gemütlichkeit und der Charme. Aber das haben Hauptstädte in Lateinamerika an sich. Und wir wissen auch, dass sie nicht repräsentativ sind für das restliche Land.

      Und so gewöhnen wir uns bei einem guten Kaffee langsam wieder an den Latino-Pace und freuen uns auf alles, was kommt.

      Die Kamera blieb noch eingepackt. Aber wir haben ein kurzes Video geschnitten, um die Stimmung auf Bogotas Strassen rüberzubringen.
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    • Day 171

      🇨🇴 Bogota - COLOMBIE

      July 26, 2023 in Colombia ⋅ ☁️ 18 °C

      - B O G O T A -

      Ça y est on l'a fait ! Après 57h de trajet depuis Kuala Lumpur en Malaisie , 3 avions différents et évidemment 0 douche nous sommes enfin en Amérique Latine ! 🇨🇴

      On débute cette étape cruciale du voyage (changement de continent quand même) avec nos amis Léa Korosec et Thomas Diamantis ☺️ merci à eux de nous avoir rejoint d'ailleurs !

      Et la première étape est la capitale ! Alors cette ville n'est pas réputée comme touristique mais elle n'en est pas moins très belle ! Bon pas dans le top 3 de la Colombie mais très sympa ! Mais surtout, nous sommes chez Sebastian Guerrero ! Mon ami Colombien que j'ai rencontré à Lyon ☺️

      Donc c'est logé chez lui que nous entamons nos visites ! Je vous laisse avec les images, surtout celles du drone 😍

      Biz à tout le monde ✌️
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    • Day 19

      Bogota J-1 : Visite de la Candelaria

      March 31 in Colombia ⋅ ☁️ 19 °C

      Enfin requinqué, je décide de partir m’aventurer dans le quartier après un super petit dej à l’hostel pour moins de 3 euros. Il fait pas très beau avec beaucoup de nuages mais il pleut pas c’est déjà ça. Je commence par aller voir l’église juste au-dessus de l’hostel, c’est vraiment magnifique mais il y a beaucoup de monde puisque c’est Pâques donc j’ose pas trop rentrer. Je redescends dans le quartier et les rues sont vraiment vides, c’est top pour prendre en photo toutes les peintures murales qui sont absolument partout. J’arrive vers la plaza de Bolivar et là il commence à y avoir du monde, comme c’est le dernier dimanche du mois la circulation est coupée et c’est champ libre pour les vélos et les piétons. Je me faufile entre les zins qui vont à balle en roue arrière et les papis qui font leur sortie du dimanche et je marche un peu au hasard. Je tombe sur une fanfare, militaires ou je ne sais quoi en tout cas c’est super mais ça ameute du monde donc je repars dans la direction opposée. Je tombe finalement sur le musée colonial de Bogota, entrée gratuite car dernier dimanche du mois donc je ne me fais pas prier (décidément après toutes ces galères ça semble enfin bien se passer). C’est plutôt intéressant, je me fais un petit cours sur l’histoire de la Colombie mais c’est assez petit donc je m’éternise pas et je repars au hasard. Je tombe dans un quartier beaucoup moins touristique, que des vendeurs de vêtements, les trottoirs remplis d’étals, c’est un bordel sans nom. Bizarrement je me fais que très peu alpaguer, seulement par deux mecs qui étaient très sympas. Enfin il en avaient l'air en tout cas car j’ai pas tout compris ce qu’ils m’ont dit vu la vitesse à laquelle ils parlent. En me baladant je tombe sur des gens qui jouent aux échecs donc je décide m’installer pour jouer, bilan : 3 victoires et 1 défaite contre Gustavo, peut être que je retournerai le voir demain pour qu’il ait sa revanche.
      Mon prochain objectif c’est de trouver un bar qui diffuse le classico. Je commence à demander un peu partout mais personne ne sait me répondre. J'arrête mes recherches pour me prendre un petit empanadas au poulet (trop trop bon) pour reprendre des forces. Je repars après ma petite pause et je tombe finalement sur un bar qui diffuse le match. Trop content je me prend une petite bière mais je suis le seul supporter de l’OM sur les 4 français qui regardent le match. Après ça je vais un peu plus vers le centre ville et là c’est d’un coup moins beau. Tout est en travaux et ça sent la pisse mais bon je suis habitué avec Marseille donc ça va. Bien fatigué après cette journée de marche je décide de rentrer a l’hostel pour me poser et écrire mon journal de bord qui commence a prendre du retard.
      Je pars me coucher complètement éteint à 19h30 après une bonne douche pour être en super forme le lendemain.
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    • Day 76

      Colombian Presidential Palace Tour

      May 6 in Colombia ⋅ ☁️ 17 °C

      Thanks to the Lonely Planet book I was made aware that you could book a tour of the presidential palace. I made the request a week or so ago which was accepted, and even better that they had an English tour option!

      The whole government district of the city is in the city centre but surrounded by roadblocks and guards to create its own mini community within the walls of the road blocks. We were booked onto the 10:30am tour and arrived at one of the policed checkpoints at around 10am. We showed them our reservation and presented our passports for inspection. They asked us to wait a few minutes and in the meantime the Presedential motorcade passed right by us and into the government district!

      When we were allowed into the area we didn't really know where we were going so we kept asking different guards about which direction to head. It was strange walking around as literally the only people not dressed in some sort of official uniform.

      We eventually found the building where our tour would start. The other guests in the room where a school trip and half a dozen locals. Absolutely no sign of anyone else English. What made it funnier was that everyone was dressed very smartly in their political, military, police or school uniform, whilst me and Dan looked like Scousers on tour. Dan even had my walking pants on as the dress code said no shorts 😆. We tried.

      So we set off with our entirely Spanish group. One of the guards that came with us spoke English and translated absolutely everything for me and Dan and answered our questions. It was a very interesting tour of the grand building and to learn more about the history of the area. We felt very special having our own dedicated guide and wondered how we'd gotten ourselves into this situation.

      We couldn't take any photos inside as we had to hand our phones in at the start. The only photos we could take were at the very end with the sword of Bolivar and its guards, the two of us looking a little out of place.
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    • Day 27

      Minca, 2nd Dec. 2024

      December 2 in Colombia ⋅ ☁️ 16 °C

      Hiking and more hiking: that's Minca's u.s.p.
      After a lazy-ish day yesterday, it's time to hit the trail again: The waterfall called Marinka, if I get the route right (maybe lost in the jungle if I don't). I shouldn't worry, there are quite a few others going that way.
      The thing about this jungle stuff is that it needs lots of moisture and a bit of heat. Columbia's got that in spades.
      Where's Tarzan when you need him - there are yer actual cliched vines hanging between trees just waiting for someone to swing between.
      Their entrance charge for getting up close and personal with the waterfalls isn't too bad at 160,000 Pesos (about £3.00). Asking a few young gals coming out if it was worth the money, they all agreed. So I got issued with a wrist-band such as you'd get in hospital and went in. Usefully, the wrist band had an emergency number printed on it - presumably so that anyone finding the body attached could ring someone to come and collect it. A couple of random men hung around, possibly doing lifeguard duties, or ogling the girls in bikinis.
      There were kind've two waterfalls actually - the bottom one for a nice refreshing swim - and loos/rooms to get changed in. The cafe wasn't much to write home about but I had a hot chocolate anyway (small portions, average).
      Green, green everywhere. This really is the northern tip of the Amazon rainforest. I can hear birds calling that I know not what, the bamboo must get up to 100 feet, and strange flowers the likes of we don't get outside a florists in posh Northallerton.
      I managed to wade a couple of streams going there and back, got wet at the appropriate time and kept dry when necessary. All in all, a reasonably successful morning/afternoon.
      Back in central Minca I found a place to eat - just in time for the afternoon thunder and downpour. Keeping a dry change of clothes is becoming a preoccupation.
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    • Day 26

      Minca, Sunday 1st Dec. 2024

      December 1 in Colombia ⋅ ☁️ 15 °C

      After yesterday's debacle, I reckon I needed a quiet day of chill-axing (or some such) and the weather gods must've agreed.
      The sun is up, the pool looks inviting, the bar is open and breakfast is on the go. I ordered pancakes because I'd seen someone else having them and they looked great - with melon, mango, apple and syrup (I'll work it off).
      Then it had to be a wander around the grounds, a spot of sunbathing, and swim in the pool but, hey, it was cold - no time to warm up overnight.
      This turned out to have been a brilliant piece of planning by me as it turned cloudy by 10am, so I went for a stroll down to the town. Nothing much new to see, so I had a dip in the stream. There's a stretch of fast-flowing water around yet more rocks right in the town centre. Blimey! cold again. I'm getting soft.
      Back at the ranch, I ordered lunch using my resident's wrist band, which will tot up my purchases to be paid for when I check out. I had spaghetti with chicken, pesto and pine nuts - the best meal I've had in all the time I've been travelling in Colombia.
      Now I know the weather's not been its best back in Blighty, and I checked the UK weather forecast - it's predicting -7 degrees! Ouch.
      Well, it's not been a great day here either. The afternoon got greyer and greyer, then the thunder and lightening started, then the rain came. Yeah, I know we're on the edge of the Amazon and it is jungle hereabouts, but will my travel insurance reimburse me for having to get a shower and put on trousers and a long sleeve shirt?
      The day feels like it's almost gone at 6pm. I hope I've got enough interesting photos to attach - jungley scenes around the hostel.
      Aah, the tropics eh? No wonder it's so green.
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    • Day 25

      Off to Minca, 30th Nov. 2024

      November 30 in Colombia ⋅ 🌙 12 °C

      Early start today. I set the alarm for 6am and actually woke up way before. This bedroom - no A/C so if I have the fan on, it only blows at a single speed: Gail-force. If I switch it off it's stifling and Im wake up with s moth like the bottom of the budgie's cage.
      Rucksack on back, I'm off to the bus stop, but the ticket office is still locked up at 6:45am. and two Colombian chaps are queuing up to get in. The staff eventually arrive - must be working on Colombian time.
      It's an easy enough drive to Minca - under an hour from Santa Marta.
      Minca is flouted as the hippy, backpacking, back to nature, eco-aware centres for hiking around the northern Andes.
      (Y'know, the Andes - those things on the end of your armies.)
      Straight away I'm liking the look of the hostel I'm booked into called Rio Elemento: On a hillside (everywhere is) gardens down to a stream, bar area next to the pool. But the pool has an added attraction - a dirty great tree at one end.
      Honest, I took lots of photos, honest. (More about this shortly.)
      To get my bearings, I went on a hike, as you do, but chose the long route to a 'waterfall' called Pozo Azul that's well-publicised. ( Not so much a waterfall as a stream running downstream over rocks.)
      Whilst the trees etc., are 'jungley' the hike wasn't much different to, say for example, Ripponden or Hardcastle Craggs: A bit more 'wild' but then the natives in Hebden are sometimes a bit 'wild'.
      Now the sad part...
      Distaster! Wading/scrambling over rocks across a stream, I slipped and put my hand out to break my fall. It was the one holding my camera. :(
      I tried to dry it out, but the viewing screen just flashed and flickered white. Now the darned thing's packed in completely.
      Well, I've removed the SD card and battery and 'fingers crossed' I might be able to get it fixed back in the UK.
      If anyone's bothered, I'm sorry for only being able to attach 4 photos from my phone, but it's iPhone only for the rest of the trip.
      Had as game of dominos with a couple of lads in the bar, went into town for a schwarma and a beer, turned in for the night.
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    • Day 85

      Bogotà LAST DAY TOGHETER

      March 24, 2023 in Colombia ⋅ 🌧 16 °C

      Eccoci giunti alla nostra ultima meta insieme signori. Ebbene sì il viaggio sta giungendo al termine. Sandy domani partirà per Panama e Giuseppe per Santo Domingo a far visita a suo padre.
      Diciamo che Bogotà è gigantesca dati i suoi 8 milioni di abitanti, praticamente la popolazione dell’intera Svizzera. Per colazione decidiamo di assaggiare il panino al cioccolato più grande mai visto da noi. Praticamente era una sberla alla Bud Spencer 🤪. (Un po’ tirchi con il cioccolato 🍫)
      Facciamo tappa al museo dell’oro dove possiamo ammirare le varie tecniche degli antichi orafi e vari pezzi di artigianato unici. Non poteva mancare anche la visita al famoso museo dell’arte di Botero, dove si possono ammirare le sue opere d’arte donate alla città. Anche se non si è amanti dell’arte (giuse) dobbiamo dire che determinate opere erano davvero bellissime 🤩. In questa ultima città non siamo stati fortunati per via della meteo. Di giorno è sempre bello ma nel pomeriggio tardi arrivano determinati acquazzoni che abbiamo recuperato tutta la pioggia persa in questi mesi 😂.
      Ci vediamo presto amici ♥️🫶🏼♥️
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    • Day 3

      Plaza de Bolívar and ajiaco

      October 5 in Colombia ⋅ ☁️ 19 °C

      We then walked up Calle Real, the main pedestrianised shopping street in Bogota, to reach Plaza de Bolivar. The place was thronging with people - tourists mingled with local families enjoying Saturday afternoon outings. There were numerous street performers and vendors selling everything from tubs of pigeon food to beakers of hot toddy!

      The history of Bolívar Square dates back to the pre-Columbian era, when the site was part of the Muisca Confederation. The first building on the square, a primitive cathedral, was constructed in 1539, a year after the foundation of the Colombian capital. During the Spanish colonial period, Bolívar Square was the stage for circus acts, public markets, and bullfights.

      The square is surrounded by historical buildings; the Palace of Justice is located on the northern edge, and the National Parliament Building borders the square in the south. The Primary Cathedral of Bogotá, next to the Archiepiscopal Palace with the monumental door cast by Ferdinando Marinelli Artistic Foundry and the Liévano Palace, seat of the mayor of Bogotá, are situated on the eastern and western side respectively.

      Bolívar Square is a main tourist attraction in Bogotá and the site for many demonstrations and protests. We used it as the backdrop for our group photo to remind us all of such a special day.

      We then went to a restaurant close by for the first course of what would be a three-course tasting lunch. We ate ajiaco, a traditional Colombian chicken soup with potatoes and corn, served with capers, avocado, rice, and cream.

      I was drawn to a colourful hand stitched collage on the wall.

      Just before we finished eating, the heavens opened. The noise on the roof of the restaurant was deafening! It was a deluge of biblical proportions! Within only a few minutes, the road outside had turned into a river. I was immediately transported back to our time living in Vietnam when we could set our watches by the monumental downpour that happened at 4.30 every afternoon!
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    Plaza de Bolivar

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