2geonomads

Bogota

12th May 2016

We set the alarm for a very early start and have to forgo the pleasure of the hotel breakfast. Predictably, we arrive at the Quito Airport well ahead of time and briefly meet up with Shen from China who had been on our Tren Ecuador trip. After a futile search for the excellent coffee shop, Juan Valdez, one of which we had seen on our arrival at Guayaquil Airport we have have to settle for one of the Amazonia Coffee Bars and order a croissant for Gail and a Bagel for myself.  Apart from the fact that the food is truly dreadful and the tepid coffees even worse the whole establishment is the epitome of chaos. This in the country where the coffee has been of the highest quality throughout our trip.

Once again the very impressive Avianca airline is right on time with its flight to Bogota and in about 1 hour and 20 minutes we find ourselves in the Arrivals Hall where we are soon met by Angel Moreno our driver/ guide for our 3 night stay in the Colombian capital. Angel has been recommended to us by Sara Clemencia, a fellow guest on the Galápagos boat. He is a delightful man in his sixties ( we think ) and he makes it clear to us that he will make himself available to us for the full duration of our stay and will do everything possible for us to get the most out of our visit.

Angel speaks no English whatsoever so my very rusty Spanish is going to be put to the test in no uncertain manner.

He provides us with some very valuable information on his country and city as we make the trip into the centre.

The Hotel Estelar on Calle 93 ( another of Sara Clemencia’s recommendations ) is in a lovely location and it’s immediately apparent that we have arrived in a country which is on a totally different level to Ecuador both in terms of its economy and its sophistication.

We make it clear to Angel that we want to take it easy on our first day but we do agree to meet him at 2.30 that afternoon when he will take us to the cable car up to the Cerro de Monserrate ( Mount Monserrate ). With the weather forecast to take a turn for the worse in the evening Angel feels that this is the best time to visit one of Bogota’s most famous location. The cable car is up a very steep slope which means that this ferret spends all the time facing the rock face rather than taking in the undoubtedly spectacular views of the city below.

Monserrate is in superb location surrounded by mountains and the whole complex, including the church is beautifully maintained.

Bogota is a little over 2600 metres above sea level and the cable takes us up to 3170 where we definitely feel the effect of the thinner air.

We stay for over an hour then return to the hotel with Angel providing us with some very valuable information on the area and some potential dining spots for the evening.

We eventually settle on a very fine fish restaurant, Pesquera Jaramillo. The atmosphere and the food both live up to the hype from Angel and even a very rowdy group of Chinese on the next table can’t detract from a very enjoyable evening in this impressive city.

Although Colombia and Bogota are no longer as dangerous as in years gone by this restaurant , in common with many others has its own private security guard  keeping a close watch on things. It also has 5 large tv screens showing mainly sport, something else about which we had been forewarned.

All in all a great start to our stay and so it’s off to bed and hopefully a very good night’s sleep.

Cheers

The Obese Ferret.