Colombia with purpose

[OnlyMark]

I'll be compiling something over the coming days but for now, as I've just got back, I'll slip in a couple of photos as a sort of place marker. The intention wasn't though to do one of my complete reports, this is more just things I took a photo of when going around -

[shrjeff]

is that a cube of herbed cheese in the last photo?

[Voy]

What is the first one - with the colored steps?

[OnlyMark]

All will be revealed in the fullness of time.

[kuskiwi]

No time like the present Mark. Looking forward to this.

[OnlyMark]

It all started I suppose many years ago when Mrs M was born.
There would come periodically special birthdays, it’s a fact of life, like your 18th or 21st. This year was one such in that it was a nice round number, but still many, many years before retirement.
We’d looked last year at how we could celebrate it in a special way and came to the conclusion that we would return to Colombia, a favourite country of hers and high up in the list for me. I was last there in 2002 and looked forward to exploring it further.

To make it even more special we invited along any friends who would enjoy it, those who already had a connection with South America through work and those that had never been to the continent but had a sense of adventure even though they wouldn’t explore it by themselves.
Mrs M has had a connection with Colombia since being in her teens and we did adopt our three kids from there.
Using her knowledge and my innumerable travel, group organisational and interpersonal skills (the arrogance of the man is breathtaking) we put together a bit of a tour, the ‘best of’ in a way but still only touching the surface of the country. Long enough and comprehensive enough though to get a taste and to be able to do it in a reasonable length of time allowing for holidays from any work.

In the end there were nine of us, dropping to four on the last day or two.
This brought its own complications in that we booked flights and accommodation for us and they could choose to do the same or not, depending on preference and availability. It was a trip with individual flexibility.
We organised the transport within the country on the spot apart from a couple of internal flights which each sorted out on our information.

We had a day in Bogota then flew to Santa Marta. From there a drive to Cartagena, a flight to Cali, a drive to Popayan, a drive to Tatacoa Desert and a final drive back to Bogota.
The longest drive was eight hours of which over six were on an unmade road, made worse by earlier torrential rain and an earthquake between Popayan and Neiva. In Neiva we than quickly arranged another hour minibus journey to get to Tatacoa where our accommodation was. It was a very long and tiring day.
You can get a general idea from the map -




Firstly, I didn’t take my best camera due to the easy possibility due to what we were doing that it would be damaged, so the point and shoot one I have was used, that’s why they are not so clear.
Secondly, with not being by myself, I didn’t think so much about making a later report, so I just tended to shoot away at a few things but sometimes forgot my camera completely. That’s why this may be a bit patchy and not so detailed. It’s more a series of random shots than anything particularly thought through.

In Bogota we had a general wander round, the following are at the main square, called the Plaza Bolivar. It has a long and varied history, being subject to name changes, but also the M-19 Marxist guerrilla group (almost certainly financed by Pablo Escobar) played a part when in 1985 they killed 25 Supreme Court Justices at the Palace of Justice































On to Santa Marta where we had a couple of days. Nice place and we had a day trip to a set of pools and waterfalls and another day where we used large car inner tubes to float down a slow moving river (no photos of that though) -

[Baz Faz]

Great stuff, Mark.

When I was planning our winter break for this year it was a toss-up between Colombia and the Costa Tropical in Spain. Colombia is now top of the list.

[OnlyMark]

I'm sure you'd enjoy it but places of interest can be some distance apart. Internal flights are cheap though, as are taxis. A journey that costs £30 here would be £5 in Colombia. It all depends on what you'd be interested in as there is quite some differences throughout the country. If you do ever think of it, let us know. How was the weather in the Alpujarras?

[Voy]

Boy that river looks lovely !

[Baz Faz]

The weather in the Alpajurras was good. The forecast a few days before went was for rain and we nearly cancelled. However the forecasters you will not be surprised to know got it wrong. We had mainly sun with a bit of cloud and it was warm enough to walk round without a coat. Mrs Faz swears she saw 4 raindrops on the pavement but there is so independent verification of this. On the bus journey there and back we could see snow on the tops of the mountains.

[OnlyMark]

One of the cafes we called for a stop off was a bit of a chocolate maker. There was a little talk, unfortunately all in Spanish of which only two of our members understood properly. Nevertheless I got some of what he said and I took a couple of photos of the stages of the process and the products that can be made from it. One thing he did say is that the biggest profit for them is not in chocolate as in bars or sweets, but when it is combined with things like butters for skin care -

On the way from Santa Marta to Cartagena we stopped off at a mud volcano. This is where you can have a bathe in the warm mud, an experience I forgoed as did one other of the group. When asked why, I mentioned I was from England where there is a lot of mud and have spent far too long playing rugby or football in it or avoiding it, though it was normally cold, and had no wish to immerse myself to repeat the experience.

You tend to wait for those before you to do their thing, then return down to wash it off (with the help of a convenient lady for a fee) in a nearby lagoon -

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/El_Totumo

[OnlyMark]

From there we stopped for a couple of days in Cartagena. Good and interesting place. Had a walk round the castle and the streets -

[OnlyMark]

Evenings were spent cruising through the old town, stopping off for a drink or a meal. There were many street performers, most good, some bad, these were one of the better ones who did a ‘set’ for about half an hour then they’d wander around collecting money. We gladly paid -




This is what they were like in real life. The couple dancing were nothing to do with the group and it turned out they were Americans on holiday who just came to dance whenever they could. You may hear at 1:38 or so Mrs M drawing my attention to the dancers by calling my name. I acknowledge her and the reason being is that she wants, when convenient, for us to do a Salsa dancing course. I have agreed but can’t seem to find the best opportunity so far, funnily enough -

[Voy]

aha ! so that's what the steps thing is = hilarious = and your pics are great of the "mud men " - wish I knew how to put up a pic, of the Mud Men from New Guinea ! but maybe this link will work !

www.google.com/search?q=new+guinea+mud+man&tbm=isch&source=univ&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiF4POl_MzgAhUORa0KHdG3C_0QsAR6BAgCEAE&biw=1536&bih=754&dpr=1.25#im

[shrjeff]

the mud volcano reminds me of the dead sea... when we have guests we take them there... and hang out while they go into the sea and play in the mud... been there, done that... no need to repeat

[OnlyMark]

That's also my views.

[OnlyMark]

The big day, and the reason for us being together, was celebrated by an ad hoc birthday breakfast, a trip on a boat to an island (Isla Grande) where we did some snorkelling and canoeing through mangroves and a meal at night in a women’s prison -

[OnlyMark]

In this last photo, the Alicia Keys lookalike on the left was having her 30th birthday. Her and three friends were from a church group, plus tagging along were two of the mothers, all from the USA. They spent their time singing, very loudly, some religious songs and drinking copious amounts of canned beer. Fortunately shortly after this photo was taken, they all collapsed drunk and asleep -

[OnlyMark]

Moving on, a night was spent in Cali where we had little time for much other than a meal and a walk down to the river where we had a wander through the cat park in the evening. The beautification of the rather sad park was initiated by a Colombian artist, Hernando Tejada, who donated the largest brown one, followed later by others from different artists -

www.atlasobscura.com/places/cat-park-parque-el-gato-de-tejada

[OnlyMark]

A long ride to Popayan the nest day saw us arrive on a Sunday. The place was dead but it did liven up the next day. It gave us a chance to stretch our legs and have a wander round. A fairly uninspiring town if I’m honest, but it did have a very good restaurant at the Hotel Camino Real and gave access to a further place -

[OnlyMark]

The next day we had a trip out to some slightly sulphurous smelling hot water springs in a national park. Good scenery though the camera makes little impression on it.

www.google.com/search?q=popayan+San+Juan+Hot+Springs&client=firefox-b-d&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjOz7-Nq8zgAhUj2OAKHfRKDHMQ_AUIDigB&biw=1525&bih=724




















I think I know this man -

[OnlyMark]

Our guide for the hour or two -

[OnlyMark]

We took a rather long minibus ride from there to a town called Neiva which gave us access to our next stop. The minibus took all day and spent most of the time on an unmade road, made worse by recent heavy rains and an earthquake. Google maps and the such like gave the journey time as just a few hours, but we knew this was completely inaccurate -




A quick juice in Neiva was grabbed as we, now in the dark, took another minibus to our destination at Villavieja. A meal was grabbed, relaxed for a couple of hours and it was then bed time.
After breakfast the next morning our transport arrived for the few kilometres to the Tatacoa Desert. These, I am used to and have done many miles in them, no doubt you may remember I rented one last year for a month in Sri Lanka -




If you are thinking Sahara, Australian outback etc you’ll be disappointed. Relatively it is very small and is not a sandy desert - but - interesting in itself.
A stop at the end of the tuktuk ride at a cafe where we took another juice - this time sugar cane, freshly made -




Rattlesnake and python skins hanging up -




A local visitor -

[OnlyMark]

We took a walk round -

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tatacoa_Desert

We ended up at a nice little pool to while away an hour or so before heading back -

[kuskiwi]

Fabulous and once again thanks for an insight into somewhere new to me and belated birthday greetings to Mrs M and we look forward to the report on her next birthday with a zero in it.

[OnlyMark]

From there we took a bus back to Bogota to finish off the holiday. You may recognise from earlier the same Square -














Whilst there we took a train trip out to a salt cathedral. My photos are appalling but better to see them on the internet -

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salt_Cathedral_of_Zipaquir%C3%A1

“The Salt Cathedral of Zipaquirá (Spanish: Catedral de Sal de Zipaquirá) is an underground Roman Catholic church built within the tunnels of a salt mine 200 metres (220 yd) underground in a halite mountain near the town of Zipaquirá, in Cundinamarca, Colombia. It is a tourist destination and place of pilgrimage in the country. The temple at the bottom has three sections, representing the birth, life, and death of Jesus. The icons, ornaments and architectural details are hand carved in the halite rock. Some marble sculptures are included. The Salt Cathedral is considered one of the most notable achievements of Colombian architecture, being described as a "Jewel of Modern Architecture". The cathedral represents a valuable cultural, environmental and religious patrimony for the Colombian people.”
It is worth a day out to and the scale of it is to be seen -

[OnlyMark]

We have friends in Bogota. The city is at a height of 2,640 m (8,660 ft). Our friends live another 300m above that. Needless to say, some can be affected by the height if not acclimatised to it. I could feel the shortness of breath whilst there.
After the group trip finished we had a day with our friends just bumbling about, not doing much at all, just visiting a very small local town for breakfast and an ice cream - plus more fruit juice. The types of juice are many and very tasty. I tend to go for the tarter types like normal lemon or maracuya (passion fruit) or one called lulo. I always ask for any juice to be without sugar -

www.mycolombianrecipes.com/lulada-colombian-lulo-drink

A typical small market availability -




















This next photo shows a delight for me - shelled fresh peas. I tried to ask for half a kilo but was told the measurements are in pounds (USA), so I got one pound and spent the next couple of hours walking around and dipping into the bag -




This next set show some potatoes. There are three types that go together to make up a very Colombian dish, a soup called Ajiaco -

www.thekitchn.com/recipe-colombian-ajiaco-chicken-and-potato-soup-35078






A discussion over what was for breakfast in the numerous pots -








Then a real surprise. A group of Royal Enfield motorbikes also stopping off. They are not now British made and are available in Colombia. One anomaly is the last photo of an ACE. There are organised tours that go through South America, and Colombia, this may have been one of them -

[OnlyMark]

Talking about food, the arepa is ubiquitous with the country. Made usually with maize flour and can have a number of fillings. In fact the style of this and all the food is very regional and you don’t have to go far to get a different take on things. One poor thing about the food is the cheese, or lack of it. An Indian paneer is the best similarity. But the country makes up for it with a vast diversity of other dishes/foods.
It must be said that when travelling and grabbing a bit to eat, the options favour the arepa and variations of it and numerous types of empanada, a baked or fried type of small pasty which also has various combinations of fillings. The best I had was in a section just outside Bogota that used something like proper corned beef. It was really good.

A whole thread could be done on the food, most good, some not so for my tastes, but as I came from Zambia where there is a dearth, I did enjoy it. There regions, as does the countryside and produce, have great variations in the same dish and availability. Obviously, more fish on the coasts, but also a large number of soups in the colder regions. We even had mole sauce, called here mole poblano, which most of the group didn’t actually like. For me it was fine. (Mole - “In contemporary Mexico, the term is used for a number of sauces, some quite dissimilar, including black, red/colorado, yellow, green, almendrado, de olla, huaxmole, guacamole, and pipián. Generally, a mole sauce contains a fruit, chili pepper, nut, and such spices as black pepper, cinnamon, cumin, and chocolate.”)

Here is the device they use to finish off cooking the arepas, driven by a small electric motor the plates turn in front of the fire -






On to our breakfast. A bland(ish) but easy breakfast soup. There are others that are more highly spiced and herbed, but this was a breakfast one. Accompanied by the arepa “con queso” inside -




A speciality, cacao with cheese (and an aprepa, obviously) -





A comprehensive article on Colombian Cuisine is in the link. For me, I’d go back purely for the tremendous amounts of fruit juices -

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colombian_cuisine


Weather - Bogota, for me, cold and wet. Coastal, as expected, hot and humid. Inland depending on height, hot and dry or cold and dry.

One last thing. Mrs M organised the trip to coincide with her birthday. It also coincided with mine. But due to work commitments etc, mine was spent on the journey back. Due to the difficulty of the route from Lusaka to Bogota there were numerous permutations I went through involving time and cost and we ended up flying outbound from Lusaka to Johannesburg, then to Sao Paulo in Brazil where we overnighted, then direct to Bogota.
The return was Bogota to Santiago in Chile, then Sao Paulo, to J’Burg and finish back in Lusaka. We set off Sunday evening and arrived back Tuesday lunchtime. Though a slightly circuitous route it turned out to be the cheapest by far. We even considered via Portugal or Angola or Cairo.

[OnlyMark]

This meant that on my birthday I was in Colombia, Chile and Brazil. Not many can say that.
One good thing was the leg from Chile to Brazil flew over the Andes. Quite spectacular in real life from a plane and coming down to the lowlands -






























Conclusion - yep, I’d go back again without a problem. The scenery is definitely an attraction and there is plenty to see. I’d like to try more of the food as well, though take more time travelling and get proper meals rather than off the cuff things during the day. Breakfasts are usually good with a lot of fruit available.
Buses, taxis and internal flights are cheap. There is no proper rail network.
Accommodation is not cheap, like in parts of Asia, but far from expensive. The one five star hotel we stayed in was about $80 for the room.
Travel and transportation is easy, most locals are quite friendly and helpful, history and sights abound.

I would though, not go with a group. Though no-one complained you could see from time to time they were not happy. Either the heat or the travel or whatever, but there were down moments amongst all of them. Plus, me shepherding Mrs M alone and trying to keep her safe is far easier than with a number of others who I would have to constantly remind to have their hats, suncream, passports or whatever with them, tell them to watch out for petty crime in the busy places like Bogota and to be ready at a certain time to leave for the bus/plane etc.
Also they tended to wander off, as you do in a new place, and the rest of us would have to wait for them to return. I’d be a little more removed mentally if they were not all known to me and I’d tell them we are meeting wherever at whatever time and if you are not there, tough luck. Things like that.
Mrs M has not really had to monitor a group before and it was a little eye opener for her the way I tried to manage them. Subtly and sometimes not so.

All in all, a good holiday with plenty of new experiences, memories, anecdotes and talking points for me and everyone else. The trip was designed as a bit on the go regularly so to show off parts of the country with the thought that anyone interested could go back another time, concentrate on one or two areas or take more time. Travelling by road was also designed rather than fly everywhere all the time to see better the countryside.
There’s been recently from the old Top Gear presenters, now The Grand Tour, a two part special on Colombia, which does show some parts of it off and all were enamoured with the country.

My first experience in 2002 led me to wonder a) if the bras women wear are different to European (Mrs M says no, but I can’t dispute this as I have no hands on experience. Lots of beautifully kept long dark hair as well) and b) when I was walking along holding hands with our newly adopted twin girls, then aged a cute three years old, it was amazing how many smiles and looks up and down I got from the local women.
I was completely ignored before.

Where next time?
Hmmm.............

[Voy]

Love it ! As always, thanks ! Your reports are great and the pics make you really BE there. I wanna live somewhere with markets like that ! ( not the terribly upmarket "Green/Farmers Markets" we have - where everything is "organic" and "artisanial" ( breads and cheeses) and super expensive ! And speaking of which, is pic #3 a passionfruit? dear god, it's HUGE. And I'm drooling at the custard apples... WANT.