BOGOTA, COLOMBIA

January 25 – February 1, 2015

We flew from Miami to Bogota on Avianca Air. Upon arrival we were required to pay a Reciprocity Fee of $80 US – Chris was exempt as he has now reached the delightful age of 80. We then proceeded to get a taxi to our hotel (Abadia Colonial) and the taxi driver seemed to get lost but did not admit it. We had established the fare before leaving the airport so there was not an additional charge.

The Hotel is very old (about 200 yrs) and quaint and is an old hacienda. It was located within walking district of the old town. The only negative was that the owner was confused with the rooms and we had to move the next day but we did get a larger room but in a noisier area. We did appreciate the larger room as some of the rooms were quite small and each room was different

The city is at a high altitude - 2,640 m (8,660 ft) . Chris had less problem than Irene. It is a beautiful city and the city centre and plaza were impressive. 

Catedral de la Inmaculada Concepcion.  This has been built a number of times and the first was in 1537

We spent many days wandering the area and looking at the colorful houses. 

IGLESIA CANDELARIA

We went to the touristy places like the Gold Museum, the Botero Art Gallery and took the funicular to Monserratt. We also took a taxi to the Botanical Gardens and really had a tour of the city.

GOLD MUSEUM

  MUSEO DE ORO

 

Jaguar head

BOTERO MUSEUM

  MUSEO BOTERO

CERRO MONSERRATT

Bogota at our feet

A centre of worship since 1657.  We are at 3152m (10431ft)

Taking the funicular down

BOTANICAL GARDENS

We also joined a local tour group who were looking at the numerous graffiti installations around the Candelaria area. The graffiti is done by artists and is approved by the owners of the property. They are quite spectacular! 

We did spend a full 1 week and enjoyed the local restaurants. Across the street from us was a very good vegetarian restaurant and a block away was a small colorful little place that was filled with character which we visited a few times.

They serve large meals - including  soup and desert

We had a great visit and very glad we visited Bogota.

We now travel on to Santiago, Chile by plane.