Bogota - you read I'm off to catch a flight....

Although this is my final blog post my time spent in Bogota was spent either side of my Peru trip - a total of about a week here in the capital.You'll remember the Colombian farmers made me change my plans pretty quickly - I arrived in Bogota a couple of days ahead of schedule. I had the real pleasure if staying with another Colombian family - this time the friend of a friends brother! Thanks to Jaime his son Sam and Jaime's brother Ernesto and sister Nancy for letting me stay and showing me wonderful Colombian hospitality.

Bogota is situated on a high plateau - over 2600m above sea level - the centre is called The Candaleria - a funky graffiti decorated district. High above is the church of Monserrate - a steep climb in a high city!

Bogota from the top of Monserrate Hill

Scenes from the Candaleria!

Police with clingfilm still on their riot shields!!

My days in Bogota were spent doing the usual city things - museums, galleries etc The Museo del Oro was a highlight - gold has been worked in Colombia for over 2000 years and the craftsmenship is unbelievable! 







Another great place to visit was the Quinta Bolivar - the Bogota home of Simon Bolivar who liberated Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Bolivia, Panama & Peru from those dastardly Conquistadores and is still a national hero - there are Bolivar plazas and statutes all through Central and South America and he even got a country named after him!!

Bolivar Square - with a permanent protest camp

It's easy to get out of town though - just an hour away are the salt mines of Zipaquiera and the amazing underground Salt Cathedral.




 A little further afield is the crater lake of Guatavita - where the leader of the Muisca tribe floated into the middle of the lake on a raft (possibly quite similar to the one I made in the Amazon!) and threw offerings of emeralds and gold into the water. The Spanish heard that the people of this country were so rich they could afford to throw away gold - this was the beginning of the Legend of El Dorado!

Crater Lake at Guavita

What they found there!!

Back in the city great tour to take is the Bogota Graffiti Tour  which explored the development of the graffiti culture which has developed here over the last 15 years. Some of the artists have graduated from street art to commercial art - making their livings that way.









Another great way to see Bogota is the  Bogata Bike Tour - Bogota has over 300km of bike lanes so it's easy to get a great overview of the city from 2 wheels

The start of Colombia's troubles - the site of the assassination of Jorge Gaitan in 1948 propelled Colombia into 50 years of terror and social depravation

The Plaza del Toros - thankfully now just an empty stadium - Bogota has banned bullfighting

A graffiti mural against bullfighting - painted when the debate was going on - showing that people in the street were against it

Another thing that I got into in Colombia was fruit - it probably has the greatest selection of delicious tropical fruits anywhere in the world - fruit is a way of life here. The streets are dotted with huge fruit and veg stores and everywhere you walk in the city vendors are serving up bowls of fruit to eat on the go as well as delicious mixed juices and smoothies.



A lot of the fruit was unrecognisable to me - it just doesn't make it over to the UK - so I went into a store and bought one of each - got back home and did a taste test! My favourite being the delicious Lupo - a citrusy round fruit with flesh like a Kiwi - great with yoghurt and granola

My haul!

My breakfast!

Well this is it...the final hours of a wonderful tour through Latin America - 6 months of diverse cultures, great weather (skipping the British winter was a good move!) and fascinating peoples. The countries I have gone to are perhaps a little off the beaten track but when you take the road less travelled the rewards are great.

So I urge you to "Apaga sus TVs" - switch off your TV's and get out there...

Adios Amigos!

Wandervet

Comments? Questions? Suggestions? email me at iain.mcallister@googlemail.com