Thursday, January 19 – Bogota

Bogota sits at an elevation of 8,660 feet. That makes it the third highest capital city in the world, behind La Paz (Bolivia) and Quito (Ecuador) – so I’ve now been to the top 3! (I’ve also visited #5 – Thimphu, Bhutan. Will I get to #4 – Addis Ababa, Ethiopia? Mmmmm…) That’s the good news. The bad news is that, like my arrival in La Paz, I’m experiencing altitude sickness – fatigue and headache. It lasted for a few hours in Bolivia; hopefully it will be the same duration now, especially considering I only have two full days here.

Since I have to lay low for awhile, I decided to make an effort at updating my journal. However, when I accessed the site online I noticed the formatting was all messed up! What the… Fortunately the web host has some helpful tech support staff and they were able to sort it out as I was on the phone with them. That did take an hour though. It’s the first time I’ve had an issue like this in the 4 years of this website, so I guess I can’t complain. And subsequent to their repair of my site I had a conversation with one the host’s web designers and I think I may use their consultation services to help cleanup up my site and make it look a little more professional. So continue to watch this space (the update will happen later in the year)…

I was feeling a little better by the afternoon, so I decided to go out for a walk. But being that this is, well, Bogota, I thought it would be best to stick close to the hotel.

As I walked around I noticed many of the locals wearing their backpacks on the front of their bodies. It’s so sad that the threat of being robbed in the middle of the day in a nice neighborhood is something they have to deal with in their daily lives. Kind of reminds me of my time working in Johannesburg – same situation, but worse there (at the time), in my opinion. (all I had on me as I walked around was my camera and the key card to my hotel room)

Since I’m feeling better, and only have one day left here, I did something I’m usually opposed to – I booked a day tour for tomorrow. To be fair though, I’m doing the tour not only because of my imminent departure, but also due to the fact that I wouldn’t feel comfortable roaming around Bogota on my own.

Friday, January 20 – Bogota

My 6-hour tour will be private, meaning it’s just me, the driver Hernan and guide Marta. It was kind of pricey (for me), $189, but this seems like a moment to splurge (and I couldn’t find any group options!).

Our first stop is Monserrate – a 10,300 foot mountain that overlooks Bogota. There are three ways to reach the peak: tram, funicular, and hiking path. Now, normally I would absolutely want to do the path. But, as we know, I don’t have the time for that on this trip. However, there is another obstacle – the trail is known to be a common spot for muggings to take place. More sadness…

We will be taking the funicular.

Next stop. The Gold Museum. The museum displays a selection of pre-Columbian gold and other metal alloys, and contains the largest collection of gold artifacts in the world. I enjoyed this! Below are a few photos from the displays.

Just down the road from the Gold Museum is the Plaza de Bolivar.

Also close by is the Museo Botero. Fernando Botero Angulo (b. 1932) is a popular Colombian-born artist. The highest realized auction price for his work to date is 4.3 million US dollars. The museum is housed in a beautiful former colonial mansion.

This was a fun day! I enjoyed talking with Marta and listening to the local insight she provided.

Bogota is definitely the type of city I could spend some time visiting. A great place for walking and exploring neighborhoods. It’s too bad that’s not going to happen.

Colombia Covid Situation:

• Vaccination or negative test required for entry.
• No mask requirement (similar to Panama City, I’d say about 10% of the people I encountered were wearing masks).

Saturday, January 21 – transit from Bogota to Barbados

Happy Birthday Tim! Time to get up for your 4:49am flight! Who’s the idiot that booked a departure at this ungodly hour?? Oh…

So, I should be at the airport 3 hours before departure. That means leaving the hotel at 1:30am. In Bogota. Wow! That’s a brilliant decision! (unbelievable what I’ll do for a cheap flight!) Just another reason I reserved a room at this 4/5-star hotel. I was confident they would have security on site at that time of night, and that they would provide me with a safe ride to the airport (kidnapping by unscrupulous taxi drivers is also a thing here).

The taxi ride cost $8 (plus a very generous tip; thanks for not kidnapping me!) and took about 20 minutes. I’m flying on Copa Airlines via Panama City to Barbados. The cost of the one-way trip was $285. On arrival at the airport the Copa ticket counter was not yet open, and there’s already a long line. Great. It ended up taking about an hour to check in.

The ticket agent did ask me about my one-way ticket to Barbados, but I was prepared with my onward itinerary to Grenada. Ha! She also wanted to see my vaccination card. Not sure why, since neither Panama nor Barbados require vaccination for entry. And she wanted proof of my yellow fever shot. Again, not sure why since neither Colombia nor Panama are know as yellow fever hot spots. Regardless, it was obviously not worth arguing about, since I had both shot records handy.

DISASTER AVERTED!!

The flight from Panama City to Barbados took about 3 hours. Another full 737. Per the announcement by the flight attendant, we touched down at 1:21pm (on 1/21 – my birthday. Cool!).

Continuing the trend, no questions from Barbados immigration regarding my return/onward flight.

I booked a ride from the airport through my airbnb host. It cost 50 USD (Barbados is a little more expensive than Colombia!), and it took about 25 minutes.

I was pretty tired, but did take a walk (20 minutes each way) to the nearby mini-mart to pick up some food. Groceries are expensive here; I’m told it’s because most things need to be imported.