Recent travels to South America has whet my appetite for more experiences of the same. My statement sounds as though I am not accustomed to travelling. On the contrary, all I am saying is this trip was phenomenal and I feel as though I have barely scratched the surface of things to do, places to go or people to see. Ecuador and Peru were the focus of my trip but I managed to see a little bit of Colombia too, with Bogotá being the first stop on the many legs of the travel itinerary. There is so much to tell I will have to give you the highlights with photos in three or four posting segments.
On this vacation I had a travel companion (my elder sister). The night before we left we hardly slept so we could be up in time for our flight which was in the wee hours of the morning. On December 4th, we begin an amazing journey that neither of us will ever forget any time soon.
The first stop on our trip was at the El Dorado International Airport, Bogotá, Colombia. Since we had to spend quite a few hours before our connection to Quito, Ecuador, I had the bright idea to scout out the area instead of sitting around the airport. We asked the information booth representative for suggestions of nearby places of interests where we could go with consideration to our limited time in Colombia, and the directions to get there. Armed with all the information that we needed, we boarded the local bus from the airport and headed to Plaza de Bolivar, a square of historical worth.
En route to and from Plaza de Bolívar my sister was nervous. She was uncomfortable not knowing where we were going, how long it would take for us to get there and back given the traffic conditions at the time, and not being able to communicate. She did not understand a lick of Spanish. Yo creo que mi español es muy malo también (I think my Spanish is very bad also) and since I didn’t have any recent practice, it was with good reason that she was not liking our first deviation from our planned itinerary.
You should have seen the look on her face when I wanted to go further away. Big sister was not having it when I tried to convince her to relax and that we would make it back in time for our connecting flight. She was so afraid that she did not realize the buses had their designated lanes and were not hindered by the jammed traffic in the neighboring lanes. When I pointed this out to her, it brought her some relief, but she was still adamant that we should stick to the plan. Obviously, disagreeing so soon after our eager start to our vacation together was not a good way to begin for our travels I thought, so I listened to the voice of reason (hers), urging me to return to the airport with enough time to spare. The ride would take approximately 90 minutes round-trip.
Now don’t get me wrong, it isn’t that I like to live dangerously, or flirt with missing my flight (more to come on that in the next post), but when I travel I always want to know what lies beyond the bend, around the corner, further down the road. You get what I mean. The adage says, “curiosity killed the cat,” well not this time, thanks to my sis we made it to a little square outside of Aguros Bus Station and back.
Here are our first pictures of Bogotá, Colombia.
Bogotá is known for its street art
On the bus but not in the traffic jam
At the airport
Statute at Aguros Station Plaza
We made it to a square outside of the Aguros bus station. I don’t know the name of the statute but it is not the Plaza de Bolívar I wanted to see. Even though our little detour was short, it was very interesting. We met people along the way who were eager to show us true Colombian hospitality. They were more than willing to help whenever I asked in my halting Spanish for directions and in a few instances they did not hesitate to stop and offer their assistance to us.
To sum it all up, I realized a couple of interesting facts on the first day of our trip. Generally speaking, people are more willing to help than to harm. Two worlds collided (mine and my sister’s) – the radically impulsive and the overly cautious. If we were going to have a great trip then I would have to reign in my independent solo-traveler nature and make it work so that we can both enjoy ourselves for the duration of the trip.
More to come on Ecuador and Peru and traveling with my sister in tow in subsequent postings.
Dear followers and visitors to my website, 2017 was simply an awesome year. Thanks to you who followed, supported, viewed, or read my blog. You made it worthwhile. I look forward to bringing you a lot more travel related information, and experiences in 2018. I am eager to see how God will lead me and the level He will take this site to in 2018.
I love hearing from you so don’t forget to click follow, like or please comment in the section below. I wish you God’s choicest blessings and pray that you travel safely as you broaden your horizons in 2018.
Much love and HAPPY NEW YEAR!
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