Adios Colombia

This was my third time in Colombia in nine years. My first time visiting the country was almost accidental. I had planned on going to Argentina but just as I was about to finalize the purchase on the Air Canada website for a return ticket to Buenas Aires, a seat sale ad to Colombia on the screen caught my attention. It was $450 or so to Bogotá so on the spur of the moment, I changed all my plans and instead went to Colombia. It was mostly a pretty standard trip to Colombia, but I really enjoyed it - Bogotá, Medellín, Santa Marta, Cartagena, plus a couple of off the beaten path spots thrown in. On the return flight, there was a beautiful and mysterious looking woman sitting beside me and when our meals arrived, I used the whole airplane meal thing as a good opportunity to begin a discussion, and somehow we ended up talking almost the whole flight back. Nine years later, and Gisela and I are still going strong, so that ended being a pretty good spur of the moment decision. Score one for cheapness. 😁

My second trip to Colombia, four and a half years later, was with Gisela, and I got to do a bit of a deeper dive into the country, including going to a dream location for me, the Amazon. I also met some of her friends in Bogotá and her cousin in Cali. Although Gi was born in France, her parents and extended family are from Colombia, and she'd been visiting there since she was a young girl and has family and friends throughout the country. We saw some amazing places in Colombia and then went to Peru for a couple of weeks, which also rocked.

Fast forward another four and a half years, and here I am again, alone again. Retirement has its benefits, and Gisela is not quite there yet, so five weeks off for her was just not possible. Gisela and her parents were nice enough to reach out to many of their extended family members, and I ended up staying at three of their places, Hugo & Elvira, Ricardo & Véronique, and Analia Restrepo. They were all so sweet and generous, lovely people.

My last two days in Colombia, I stayed with Luz Angela and Miller in Bogotá. Friends and colleagues of Gisela's (they both worked on her doc), I'd met them both when I was last in Colombia with Gi, and they are super nice and lots of fun. They warmly opened their modest apartment to me and offered me their comfy couch. We went out one evening to watch some fútbol and the next night, we all hooked up with another friend of Gisela's and theirs, Pablo. A few beers, some laughs and good times were had.

Each trip to Colombia has had its own special vibe and unique experiences, but this was my favourite one. From the special connections I made with Gi's and her family's extended family to my yagé experience to the challenging and stunning Lost City trek, and all the other new experiences and places, it was friggin' awesome!

Hasta la próxima Colombia! Te amo mucho ♥️.Read more