Our first experience of Bogota was a long, tiring and stressful one. Having left Salento in the Eje Cafetero after an early breakfast, we hoped to cover about two-thirds of the c.300km to Bogota that day, with the balance to be done the next morning.
Having made it a little further than planned to the town of La Mesa (75km from the capital), we parked up, ate dinner and settled in for the night. Unfortunately, one of the Overlander WhatsApp groups we are part of messaged to say that big road blocks were due to start at 6am the next morning, completely blocking entrance roads to Bogota. So without hesitating, we called on the last of our energy reserves and were back on the road. As it happened, travelling at 10pm is the ideal time to navigate around Bogota, as the usual chaotic traffic is nowhere to be seen.
We arrived tired but safely to our parking spot for our time in Bogota. We would stay outside the house of friends we met while travelling in Peru, who lived close to the centre of the city. Ivan, Jennifer and their son Matias were wonderful hosts, ensuring we not only had what we needed for our time there, but also showing us the sights and sounds of this mega-city.
We began our exploring with a visit to the La Candaleria district of the city. There we admired the very impressive main square (Plaza de Bolivar), fed the thousands of pigeons and ate the traditional local dishes of ajiaco and bandeja paisa. We also visited the wonderful Museo Botero, where art of all styles, tastes and history were on show. Our journey home of 12km put a dampener on the day, taking over 90 minutes in Bogota rush-hour traffic.
The next day we packed bags and moved ourselves to a rental apartment. We would stay there for the final few days of Laura’s mum’s visit. We chose to stay in the Santa Barbara area of the city, which turned out to be really nice with many shops, cafes, restaurants and even a canal walk to keep us happy.
We went with our Bogota friends to a local shopping centre the next afternoon. While I would not usually be the biggest fans of such places, the Unicentro Bogota, the oldest shopping centre in Bogota, had lots to offer and certainly was a bit of a novelty for us on the trip. After there we strolled to the Parque El Country, a huge open space where the locals fly kites throughout the months of August (apparently this is the only month with wind in the city). Being highly inexperienced kite-flyers, it was not long before we handed the kite over to the local experts who showed us how it should be done!
We ventured back into the historical La Canderalia district the following day, this time spending the day casually strolling the smaller back-streets, visiting a few of the varied art galleries and chatting with the very friendly locals. We tried the local chichi de maiz delicacy, a drink made from corn and whatever else the local street seller fancies adding to it (which was pretty nice we all agreed)!
Monserrate was our destination the next day, with a short cable-car ride taking us the c.300m up to the hill-top church. A popular tourist attraction, we were joined on the way up by about forty others, all squeezed into the modest space. Noticeably cooler on arrival (Monserrate sits at 2,800 metres above sea level), we braved the elements to stroll around the church, artisan stalls and around the station of the cross. Unfortunately the walk back to the cable-car via the small bird sanctuary was under maintenance, so we did not get to catch another glimpse of Colombia’s favourite hummingbird.
Our last day in the city of Bogota was spent with our friends, visiting a once-a-year outdoor market. Not your average South American market, the Feria Eva Market was located in the upmarket El Chico neighbourhood with many well-known Western brands lined up beside boutique local enterprises. What most grabbed our attention however was the quantity of show-dogs on view. It felt like a whose-who of rare dog breeds, ranging from Great Danes and Akitas to Afghan Hounds and Chow Chows.
That evening, a trip to the Fifa Women’s Under 20 World Cup at the 60,000 capacity Estadio Nemesio Camacho El Campin awaited us. The double-header was slated to start at 5pm, with Cameroon vs Australia followed by Brazil vs Canada. While it was far from a sellout, the crowd were loud and the standard was very good. Cameroon and Brazil went home happy after 2-0 victories for each, as did our kids having had their first in-person experience of a World Cup.
We left Bogota early on a Sunday morning to try and avoid the chronic traffic we had become accustomed to. Our destination was the Laguna Guatavita to the north of the city. After a fairly bumpy ride to get there, we hiked to the spectacular lake (alongside a guide and other tourists, which is mandatory). Legend has it that the mountain beside the lake is the home of El Dorado and it’s endless amount of gold. None was on view anyway the day we were there, but we enjoyed the scenery nonetheless.
Our last stop on the outskirts of Bogota was the Mina de Sal de Nemocon. A couple of hours along another bumpy road had us arrive last in the evening, so we parked up beside the main plaza and rested for the night. After a short walk the next morning, we arrived at the salt mine. The mine had been used extensively by the Spanish during colonial times, but is now only open for tourist purposes. We really enjoyed exploring the incredible space, going almost 80 metres underground and experiencing how life in such a mine may have been. At nearly three hours long, the tour really leaves visitors with an understanding of what the mine meant for the locals.
That concluded our time in Bogota. A metropolis of more than 10 million people, it has everything that a city of this size is likely to have. We had the great fortune of seeing large parts of it with local friends and also staying in very nice neighbourhoods. We loved the historic area of the city while our couple of trips to the outskirts were certainly very scenic and interesting. If we had to mention something less positive, it would certainly be the incredible traffic at almost all times of the day. Perhaps the locals are used to it and accept it, but it was new for us and not something we would hope to repeat too anytime soon.
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