Guatavita Lake, the salt cathedral and Villa De Leyva

I was picked up by my driver in Bogota and we drove out to Guatavita lake, a completely circular lake that is the source of the El Dorado legends, with multiple attempts (mostly unsuccessful) to drain the lake to recover the riches that supposedly lie at its bottom. The place was nice and quite interesting but I was out to find out if it was worth taking in - or instead choosing Zipaquiera. Zipaquiera is the home of the salt cathedral. Whatever thoughts I had of what a salt cathedral would be were quickly dispelled in the haunting cathedral, an enormous structure and very impressive. There are 14 stations of the cross en route, and the cathedral itself is made up of all sorts of surreal interconnecting chambers. After the main tour we did a miners tour, and saw how the miners worked, and it provided a very interesting look into the life of a salt miner. From Zipaquira we drove on and got in to Villa De Leyva after dark.

The following morning I got up early and wandered around the beautiful colonial village of Villa De Leyva. The town is so striking that the whole town was declared a heritage site as early as 1953. I checked out a couple of museums, being especially impressed with the Acuna museum, a museum showcasing the Colomian artist who spent his latter years in Villa De Leya. In the afternoon I walked out to El Fossil, a remarkably well preserved 120 million year old fossil of a Kronasauraus. It looks like an enormous crocodile, measuring 7m without the tail which didn't survive. And apparently this one was just a baby! After another excellent dinner it was time for bed.

Back to Bogota for one more night, and then time to head back to the cold of the UK! Couldn't last forever! But as I vowed last time I left Colombia, I will be back!

- David

Tatacoa Desert

After a short bus ride I arrived into Neiva, then hopped on a local bus to Villaviaja where Pedro Paolo, my guide, was waiting for me. Deciding to take advantage of the glorious sunshine we skipped the museum and drove straight into the desert on a three-wheeler. “It's not actually a desert”, Pedro confessed, “it's actually a dry tropical forest”. It was certainly greener than any desert I had been in but nonetheless it did feel like a desert, with it's sparse growth, cactuses and red earth. It was also very varied and beautiful. Pedro took me down to a natural pool, spectacularly set in the middle of the desert, where you could bathe and lookout at the dramatic landscape. Then on to my accommodation for the night, a room in a farmhouse of a 93-year old woman, known as “The Queen of the Desert” and she even had a plaque to prove it!

I met the French couple, who apparently were the only other foreigners in town and Pedro brought us all on a walk through an area known as Cuzco as the sun began to go down. The scenery here was truly beautiful and photo opportunities abounded. We all had dinner and a couple of beers before calling it a night. The next day I checked out the very small but interesting museum before checking some accommodation in Villavieja and Neiva, as the Queen of the Desert's accommodation was not up to the standard we expect unfortunately. Then back to Bogota on the bus.

- David

San Agustin

From Popayan I took the bus on to San Agustin, one of my favourite places in Colombia. In 2005 I stayed here for6 days and could have stayed longer. The place is blessed with many things – incredible natural beauty, from beautiful valleys to stunning waterfalls, a mysterious history – boasting a myriad of statues from the second oldest civlisation in South America of which almost nothing is known, and infectiously friendly locals. I know I keep banging on about the locals but for me Colombia's biggest attraction is the people, who have a genuine pride in their country and a warmth and welcomingness few other countries can match. On my first day I revisited the Archaeological park, again amazed by the excellent condition of most of the statues and wondered who were the people that made them, and what happened to them that they disappeared with almost no other trace. The park itself is also very beautiful with some very colourful flowers and dramatic landscapes. I even saw an enormous iguana in one of the trees. They are some gnarly looking creatures!
At the lodge I met a couple of Americans who had bucked the trend and lived in Mexico, becoming naturalised Mexicans and raising their kids there. For every rule...
The next day I took a jeep tour with the Mexican gringos! But to be honest I think an extra day in San Agustin would be better spent hiking or horse-riding one of its many beautiful trails. That said some of the waterfalls we saw were quite lovely.

- David

Popayan

Unfortunately I didn't have a lot of time in Popayan, but as I had been before I knew what I wanted to see, namely the ten block by ten block historic centre which gives it its name of the “White City”. Beautiful whitewashed streets give onto more beautiful whitewashed streets. The effect is beautiful and the uniformity gives it a very classic colonial feel. And the friendly locals certainly did the place no harm. At the hotel I me Annika from Sweden who had been adopted from a nursing home in Popayan that had since been destroyed in an earthquake. It was her first time in Colombia and she was understandably quite nervous and emotional but determined to find out what she could about her biological parents. As we walked around the old town she was very conscious of how similar she looked to everyone and couldn't help but wonder about the life that might have been.

- David

More in the coffee region

The day before yesterday I arrived into Armenia. No I have not quickly hopped continent, Armenia is one of the three towns that make up the corners of the coffee triangle - along with Manizales and Pereira. In fact there are many towns in the coffee region with the same names as countries or regions elsewhere - Syria, Montenegro, Palestine, Florida, Puerto Rico to name a few. I was met by the infectiously friendly Yicel who drove me around for 2 days to check out various farms that offer accommodation, as well as checking out the main sights in the area. The farm accmmodation selection is excellent, with some truly beautiful farms, many over 100 years old and maintained in the tradional stlye, with beautiful scenery, and an array of fruit trees. Each one has its own charm and I found myself constantly thinking, "Yes, this one is perfect!".

But Yical kept bringing me to more and eventually the one I decided on really is perfect! :-) Set well away from any roads, a small coffee farm with a beautiful soothing stream, a pool, comfortable rooms and excellent food. The farm is full of orchids and other plants, as well as the coffee plantations and plantains. I really didn´t want to leave.



We also found time to visit the beautful villages of Filandia and Salento (see photo above), picture postcard type villages with lovely colonial style buildings, and bright colours. Further on from Salento we visited Valle De Cocora, a beautiful valley famous for its trout and enormous wax palm trees, the national tree of Colombia. These beautiful trees rise from the ground through the clouds that shroud the valley and up above them to heights of up to 70m. After an excellent trout lunch we walked out into the valley and admired the scenery. Horses are also available and exploring the valley on horseback is also very popular.

I´m now in Cali, the party capital of Colombia, so I think I will have to reaquaint myself with the nightlife here tonight... It´s a dirty job but someone's gotta do it :-) Tomorrow on to the colonial town of Popayan.

- Dave

The Coffee Region

I arrived on the nightbus into Manizales, one of the main towns in the coffee triangle. The buses here are very comfortable but for some weird reason they all turn on the AC full blast at night so it´s freezing inside the bus. Fortunately I had been warned and had my jacket, hat, towel etc. to sheild me from the cold. Met up with a local tour operator and we discussed various options for the main itinerary and for the various add-ons we intend to offer. They were quite excited by the itinerary and said it would be quite unique as no other overseas operators were doing very much in this part of the country, and the possibilities were excellent. Having been in Colombia for 6 weeks before made it a lot easier to make decisions, and discuss the options available.

The following day I set off on a tour to Los Nevados de la Ruiz, a national park with a unique biosphere and landscape. It contains a volcano that rises above 5,000m and the scenery all around looks like you have just landed on the moon. The day was quite foggy at first but when we got high enough we broke through the cloud and the views were truly spectacular. We climbed slowly up the volcano for about an hour, not to the top but up to the snow-line. At that altitude it´s important to climb slowly but consistently. But it was incredible, the snow against the bare rock, very sparse and hostile territory, but very beautiful. We stopped for lunch and then relaxed in the pool that is filled with water from the hot springs, the perfect way to relax after a hard day! I was the only foreigner on the bus and in typical Colombian style, I got to know everyone on the bus and got several invitations to visit people in various parts of the country. The people here truly are very special.

- Dave

Fruits of Colombia

One of the lesser known facts about Colombia is that it is home to an incredible array of fruit many of which are unique to the country. A walk around any fruit market will show you what I mean, with all sorts of weird and wonderful looking fruits and a sea of colour that begs to be photographed... so here's one of mine.

Off to Manizales in the heart of coffee country this evening on the night bus. And down from the heights of Bogota so temperatures should be quite nice, currently about 25 degrees. Think I can deal with that :-)

- Dave

Bogota, Colombia

Back in Bogota, and happy to be back. This city must have the friendliest taxi drivers in the world, had loads of good chats with them yesterday as I drove to meet up with people on all sides of the city! It was a fairly hectic but useful day, meeting various useful people from tour operators, tourist board representatives and hotel owners. After an early night and a chance to catch up on some sleep, it was time to climb up to Monserrate church, a Bogotan fitness pilgramage of sorts. With the cold I have just caught and the fact that Bogota is at more than 2,500 metres, it was quite a struggle. But also quite a spectacle watching people of all ages and walks of life walking up. Some people do it barefoot and alledgedly some do it on their knees! That I wasn't quite ready for.


The views over Bogota from the church were lovely, and the sense of achievement at the top made it all worthwhile. The church in the picture is Monserrate. I will be heading on to the coffee region on Sunday night, a day earlier than planned as more than one of the people I met yesterday raved about Salento so I decided I had to fit in to my schedule. Apparently they have palm trees that break through the clouds, so you see tree, clouds, then more tree. Certainly sounds like it might be worth a look.

I'll be back again soon with more updates,
Dave

Countdown to Colombia

It's been more than 3 years since I first went to Colombia and fell in love with the place - the warmth of the people, the Caribbean coastline, its incredible Lost City, the incredible array of fruit, the coffee - and of course, la Fiesta. No one knows how to party like the Colombians.

And they are only too aware of what the world at large thinks of their country and they are only too grateful to those who decide to ignore the media and come and see for themselves. People used to avoid Northern Ireland as they thought it was a war zone so I can understand where it all comes from. Anyway two more days and I'm back on my way over... I really cannot wait.

- Dave