SOUTH AMERICA – PART 1

Sixteen hours after leaving home, at 4:00 am local time, we touched down in Bogotà, capital of Columbia. After checking into our hotel, we enjoyed a Hallowe’en-themed breakfast and caught up on our sleep before venturing out to see the sights. Bogotà is Columbia’s capital city, a sprawling metropolis of some 8 million souls nestled in a high valley, the Altiplano, and surrounded by mountains. Lying at an altitude of almost 9,000 feet (2,727 meters), it is the world’s highest capital city.

Bogotà is not a popular tourist destination. Very few locals speak any English and there is no tourist information system to speak of, so you’re pretty much on your own. I’d done a bit of research on how to get around and found that Uber was the best option. Our hotel was 8 kilometers from the city center, Plaza de Bolivar, and a ride cost as little as $4 and no more than $10, depending on the time of day. Drivers proved skillful at making their way through the chaotic traffic, they were friendly, and their vehicles were spotless.

Our first foray saw us dropped off near the central plaza. We walked through the lower town, past more street vendors than we’d ever seen before. The crowds were intense and the atmosphere noisy and frenzied. Vendors were pushy but that’s to be expected since, wherever you go, locals can spot a tourist a mile away.

We had a plan for Day 2: Montseratte and two of the national museums. The former offers spirituality, history and nature. The Sanctuary of the Fallen Lord of Montserrate sits on a mountain about 2,000 feet above the city, reached by funicular. The area offers spectacular views of Bogotà, and we were lucky to be there on a sunny morning. The gardens are beautiful and, despite being busy with visitors, the place offers a certain sense of calm. At an altitude above 7,000 feet, humans begin to suffer from oxygen deprivation. We certainly noticed this at Montserrate and for the whole of the time we spent in Bogotà.

We walked from the base of the funicular to the Museo Nacional and got to visit for free because we’re seniors! Same thing with the Museo del Oro where we saw the most impressive display of gold objects we’d ever seen, all of it made by indigenous peoples who have occupied what is now Columbia for at least 13,000 years. The “discovery” of South America by the Spanish in the early 1500s was the beginning of the end of a way of life. The invaders plundered their wealth, especially their gold, and subjugated them. The museum displays what the Spanish did not plunder, much of it buried in the graves of chieftains and their families.

Columbia is a big country, almost as big in area as Québec. It’s rich in natural resources and is heavily dependent on the export of minerals and oil; tourism accounts for only 2% of GDP. Columbia ranks only 92^nd among world economies at $8,000 of income per person per year compared to $54,000 for Canada and $87,000 for the US. We were told that income inequality is quite drastic, with much of the country controlled by the richest fifteen families.

We met our Intrepid tour group on Day 3, seven women and me! Four are from the UK, and one each from Norway and Germany. Our guide, Santiago, led us on a walking tour through the Candelaria district of Bogotà before we headed out to dinner at a chain restaurant called Crepes and Waffles. It was excellent!

We got up bright and early on Day 4, checked out of the hotel, and took a bus to the Paloquemao Market where merchants were setting up for a busy Sunday. Santiago took us to a vendor who sold a variety of local fruits and invited us to sample them. Most we’d never seen or heard of, but they were all very good. Next, it was off to the airport for our short flight to Pereira, then on to Salento. Unfortunately, our scheduled flight was cancelled, and we had to cool our heels for three hours or so; not a big deal for us but an inconvenience for most of our fellow travellers who are on short vacations.

While we waited in line to board our flight, Elva said: “That man’s from PEI!”. “How do you know?”, I asked her. “Because it says PEI on his boarding pass!” Turns out everyone on that plane had a boarding pass that said “PEI” on it. It’s the airport code for our destination, the city of Pereira. Too bad they got in ahead of us; our local airport code would look better if it was PEI and not YYG!

We arrived just before supper in the small town of Salento, population 10,000. Our hotel, the Salento Real, was beautiful. We walked the short distance to the town square and had supper at Cocora’s where I sampled the local delicacy: trout (trucho) cooked in a cheese sauce. The Sunday evening buzz in the town square was a joy to watch and listen to; locals singing and having a beverage on the many terraces.

Day 5 saw us up bright and early, ready to board 50-year-old Willys jeeps for the drive to the Cocora Valley. It rained on and off as we started our hike with guide Luis. The trail is located on a private farm and features Columbia’s national tree, the magnificent wax palm that grows to a height of 45 meters, earning it the title of tallest palm in the world. The light rain eventually gave way to occasional sunshine as we headed back to the trailhead, covering 8 kilometers in all after an ascent of 480 meters. On the way down, we watched a group of vultures circle high overhead and, just below them, a magnificent Andean condor rode the updrafts. This massive bird has a wingspan of 10 feet! While we weren’t close enough to take a photo, we did get a good look at the distinctive white patches on its wings and feathers.

We woke up on Day 6 to bright sunshine at the Hacienda Venecia Coffee Estancia. The view out our window was what travellers’ dreams are made of. After breakfast on the outdoor terrace, we headed out on a three-hour tour of the coffee plantation. We saw how the beans are grown, harvested, dried, roasted and ground, and then sampled the final product firsthand. I’m a fan of plantain, Elva is not, so I attended a cooking class in the afternoon to learn how to prepare it. The second photo shows Elva picking coffee. The fruit has the shape, size and colour of a ripe cranberry.

We travelled by bus on Day 7 from the estancia to Medellin, Columbia’s second-largest city with a population of 2.5 million. The city is promoted as a global tourist destination and is important for its universities, academies, commerce, industry, science, health services, flower-growing, and festivals. Medellín used to be considered one of the most dangerous cities in the world, the result of an urban war set off by the drug cartels at the end of the 1980s. As the home of the Medellin Cartel founded by Pablo Escobar, the city was terrorized by the war between his cartel and competing organizations. However, following the death of Escobar in December 1993, crime rates in the city decreased dramatically. After checking into our hotel, we walked through the nearby neighbourhood, checking out the many restaurants and attractions.

Day 8 began with a bus ride to Casa de las Flores in Santa Elena where we were met by the owner and given a tour of his flower growing operation. He explained the tradition of making silleteros for the annual Festival of the Flowers which takes place in Medellin each year in August. We just had to get our pictures taken with the “traditional” silletero. And I don’t look too bad in a Panama hat, if I do say so!

Next, we rode the cable car down from Arvi Park, a 16,000-acre nature reserve that lies above the city. We were met at the Metro station by local guide, Angela, and given a very interesting tour of the Moravia Barrio. In the 1970s, the city authorised the area to be used as a municipal landfill, and it eventually became a mountain of garbage. Most families relocated but the few that remained operated recycling operations out of their homes to make a living. In 2006, the area was declared a public disaster. Today, Moravia is a thriving neighbourhood with 50,000 residents. Angela is one of several community leaders, almost all of them women, and they act as an advocacy group, seeking to make things better for residents and protect the barrio against plans by developers to turn it into yet another high-rise neighbourhood. The photo below shows Angela holding the group’s manifesto.

Unfortunately, our time in Columbia is winding down. Tomorrow, we’ll take a tour to Guatapé and, on Saturday morning, we’ll fly to Cartagena where our nine-day tour will end on Sunday.