Colombia....the first few weeks

A view from Montserrate

Bogotá
It is always exciting for us to visit a new country - here we are for our first two weeks in Colombia.  My first impressions are that the people are VERY friendly and aim to please. They are really happy to have tourists again visiting their beautiful country after many years of unrest. Things are better they say, though we are often warned to be careful of petty crime - as we would be warned in any place in the world. The people are very proud of their country and the varied terrain as well as variety of lifestyles from city to small villages, jungle and beaches. We will experience many of these during our travels.

We arrived and met a nice driver who was happy to share the important things to do in Bogotá, the capital. He recommended that we go off to get vaccinations before our trip to the Tayrona National Park along the beach/jungle in the north of the country and so he drove us early the next morning to the bus station where the vaccinations were to be given. We arrived to discover that we are too old for them - only given up to 59 years old. We were advised to take thiamine (Vit. B1) and lots of mosquito repellant which we will do. 

Some of the many graffiti walls

We spent our first day with a walking tour of the city including much of the history of the country. We always enjoy these free tours as the guides are enthusiastic and knowledgeable and work for the donations that each of the guests provide. The following day we did the Graffiti tour, mostly through the Candelaria neighborhood and found again how much we appreciate learning about this art culture. Bogotá supports this art form by donating buildings and space to artists to put up their work.

Botero Museum

"Free man"   Museo de Oro

A visit to this city is not complete without visiting some of the many museums and we went to the Botero Museum including much of his work as well as his large collection of impressionist and other paintings from every famous artist that we know. Another day was spent at the Museo del Oro.

poco o poco up the mountain

I think the main highlight of this part of the trip was our long walk up Montserrate - over 1500 steps to 10,340 ft from the city which is at 8,660 ft. We walked "lento pero seguro" (slow but steady) and were tired but happy at the end that we can still do physical challenges.

With Maritza

On our last day we connected with a friend, Maritza who lived in the same house with us for several weeks in San Cristobal de las Casas, MX  - we stayed in touch via Facebook and WhatsApp.

We enjoyed many vegan friendly restaurants and found the food to be very good. We have tried arepas (like a pancake made with corn - some with cheese, some with fillings and some just plain).

Villa de Leyva

A view from our hotel

We had a little idea about Villa de Leyva from friends Susan and Mayer in SMA who had rave reviews and recommended the beautiful Maria Bonita Hotel which was probably the best that we have stayed at during our many travels in the world. The town is equally beautiful and kind of like a Disney set - all white buildings with balconies with flowers and clay roofs. There were many lovely shops and restaurants and activities to keep us busy. Coming from the large city it was nice to be in a small, very walkable pueblo. We found an excellent restaurant with many options for us so enjoyed 3 meals in 3 days - happily eating only one meal/day (besides breakfast and maybe a snack of an arepa!). The restaurant was Savia and we would recommend it highly to vegetarian/vegans and carnivores alike. A very varied menu.

Petroglyphs

Javier - tour guide

The highlight of this few days was our tour with Javier from Sachica, a traditional village with connections to the indigenous Muisca people. From Javier we learned much of the history and culture of these people. Our walk of over 3 hours took us up a mountain to see the river valley below where we would walk down into a cave with drawings remaining of these people. Javier is an historian and had much to share with us. We ended the walk at the sulfur thermal waterfall. We are always thrilled when we find an adventure tour and usually, as this one, we are surprised along the way because the information given in advance is not always clear to us - partly language and partly because it is hard to envision these places we know nothing about.

Aguas termales

Walking the Camino Real

Barichara
Now we are in the small village of Barichara, claimed to be "the prettiest village in Colombia". It is lovely but not sure it would stand as the prettiest of a whole country. It is smaller than Villa de Leyva and much more rustic. It is built high on a hill overlooking a deep canyon with several miradors. Once again there are good food options and we are in a lovely small hotel (Hotel Boutique Bocore) and in the low season which began after the new year, we are the only guests.

Ricardo's new friends

Again our adventure hike was the old indigenous Camino Real from Barichara to Guane - about 6 miles mostly downhill but carefully stepping as the whole route was large irregular stones. We walked one way and took a little bus back. We are now in a completely new climate zone with temperatures up into the 80's - my first day in a long time in short sleeves and we are headed to the coast where the temperatures will be warmer. Feels good after many cooler days. Of course we are remembering what it is like in the cold Northeast as we were there last year for the month of January. No complaining here!

Barichara

Barichara

Making paper from Fique (from agave plant)

drying the paper

Fique (from agave plant)

We spent our last day in Barichara walking up and down the streets and visiting the highlights - a paper making factory (Fundacion San Lorenzo de Barichara), the cemetery with interesting stones and markers, Parque de los Artistas (sculpture garden) and a Tuk Tuk ride around town to the various miradors, etc. Once again we found our very favorite restaurant - Shanti and we shall go back tonight. The owner after preparing and plating each dish says a short blessing before bringing each one to her guest. We felt the love!

Pineapple, ginger, mint at Shanti with
 uchuva fruit (small tart orange fruit)

All in all - very happy we chose this country to visit and we have another month of travels so will keep you posted as we make our way. Tomorrow we are off to the beach.

Thanks again for traveling with us.