Tolima!

Greetings!

I just got back from my first trip in a long while. Didi and I went to Tolima. Tolima is located slightly southwest of Bogota. Without traffic it generally takes 3 hours by car. But unfortunately there is traffic. A lot of traffic. It took us almost 6 hours to get there. On the way back we took a VIP service (because who wouldn't?) I discovered the VIP lightly translates into "We will drive like maniacs to get you to your destination quicker." However it didn't really matter. We got to the southern rim of the city in 2.5 hours and then once inside the city we found ourselves in a chaotic 2.5 hour traffic jam just to get to the bus station.

We went to a city called Ibagué, which is the capital of Tolima. It has a population of around 500,000. However, it seems like a small town compared to Bogotá and it's 10,000,000+ inhabitants. I think more than 500,000 people live in my neighborhood. Anyway, it was nice to get away from the perpetual horn honking and road rage to a quiet, tranquil town (I mean, a city slightly smaller than Indianapolis) that while still at an elevation 4,000+ feet, has some of the best weather in Colombia. 80 degrees year round.

 Point A is Bogotá and Point B is Ibagué.

The downtown streets are lines with coconut trees.

 The also have the tallest palm trees I have ever seen.

 To give you a better idea of the height of these things, I'm the werid-o in blue next the tree.

 A statue to Simón Bolivar, or if you would like to know his full name it is: Simón José Antonio de la Santísima Trinidad Bolívar Palacios, yeah, I'd shorted it, too.

Banana trees were also in the streets and plazas, too. I was tempted to take a couple...

Downtown at dusk.  70 degrees :)

Didi took a picture of me after I had some ice cream. It was hot, I had to have ice cream. At least that was my excuse.

The tamal! The native food of Tolima! Delicious. Chicken and pork with rice, peas and carrots wrapped in a plantain leaf. 

 Trees.

 More banana plants. They are really beautiful.

 The church in the main square.

 Another downtown street.

Every crosswalk light was like this. I loved them. The closer to 0 the faster the little man runs until he is eventually ran over by a car, or turns red.

 The bus station. The Kia minivan behind the yellow bus was our "VIP" ride. I like it a lot. It was very comfortable. Better suited for two-laned mountainous roads that a giant Greyhound.

Traffic jam in Bogotá! Reminding us that Bogotá really is a different animal!

Well, I'm back in the "freezer" as people call Bogotá. Havin' fun!

Saludos desde Bogotá!

Bogota Sunrise

Greetings from Bogotá

I got up early this morning (5am) and went for a hike with Didi and her friend Claudia. Claudia knew a path to climb the mountains that border the city to the east, so we decided to go with her to climb the mountain. It was hard. Since the base of the mountain was at an altitude of 8,600ft, climbing a couple thousand more feet left me at least out of breath. There were a lot of people on the path jogging, walking their dogs or just taking a morning stroll like us.

The path we followed. It started out nice but got a lot steeper.

A small but noisy waterfall.

 The trees above us blocking the 6:30am morning sky.

Wild Eucalyptus. Or I as I am more familiar with it, one of the main ingredients of Halls Cough Drops.

Bogotá!!

The path was full of amazing view of the north of the city. Here is one taken looking towards the south/ (towards downtown)


Everything is going great here in Bogota!

Saludos!

Happy 2012!

Here are some pictures from Christmas in Bogotá. I hope you all have had a nice start to 2012!

 el Cerro de Guadalupe from el Cerro de Monserrate

Palm trees downtown at night.

 Christmas lights and a Christmas story-teller

Colombians really do like Christmas lights.

Hangin' out downtown.

 This is what Bogota used to be like. What is pictured above is only a small fraction of downtown.

 More Christmas lights.

 Bogotá!

Torre Colpatria! The tallest building in Colombia (as far as I know)

 More lights!

 Didi and me!

 Me, taking the bus

Crazy truck


Saludos desde Bogotá!

Historic Downtown

Greetings! Here are some pictures of downtown Bogotá taken on December 12th, 2011. And then some random pics of Bogotá.

El Chorro de Quevedo. This is where many historians say that Gonzalo Jimenez de Quesada founded Bogotá in 1583. It is located in the Candelaria district, downtown.

 I like donkeys. Here is a man with one.

Here is what the streets of the Candelaria look like. Neat place.

Beautiful day downtown. After a weeks and weeks of rain, it was nice to see the color blue in the sky again. However, a couple hours after this picture was taken it started to rain again.

Statue of a guy juggling on a unicycle. It seems to be a fairly popular thing to do. I've seen more unicycle jugglers in the last 8 months than I have in my entire life.

The birthday cake Didi got me! Yum!

Lot's of cool graffiti in the Candelaria. Exhibit A.

A picture of the statue of Simon Bolivar in the Plaza de Bolivar.

A view of downtown from Simon Bolivar Park. The mountains are big.

 Lourdes. A cool church and meeting place. Neat part of town.

 A cool looking bird in the park.

Well, that's all for now. I'm officially on vacation for the year. Gonna catch up on sleep.

Saludos desde Bogotá

Happy December!

Well it's been awhile, but Im back after a month absence.

Hormigas Culonas (Big-Butt Ants). Yes, you eat these. They are fried and salted. It seems to be the Colombian specialty not many Colombians like. I understand why. Someone told me they tasted like peanunts. He lied. They taste like ants. I ate one and gave the rest away.

Bogota from the west. The city climbs those mountains. It's pretty big.

Cummins advertising in the free daily newspaper.

?? Looks like a cross between Mickey Mouse and an elephant. Kneel before your god...

Flowers!

 Lechona! Pork with rice corn pease and maybe carrots. I don't remember. And of course pig skin.

It snowed!! Just kidding. Just a nasty hail storm.

Still doing fine in Bogota.
Saludos desde Bogotá.