Colombia 4^th Report

On the 14^th of February we drove back to Bogota to take a flight to Armenia and an hour bus ride to the quaint town of Salento.  On the bus ride to Bogota, we see much of the beautiful countryside of Colombia and drive through, around many mountains.  The roads were better then our trip to Villa de Leyva.  During the rainy season it would be difficult if not impossible to drive on some of these roads because of rock slides.  I had seen some of the devastation that this can lead to on a past trip to Guatemala. 

Julio, our guide explained that Colombia is a young country that was formed August 19, 2019.  We stopped at a monument to the site of a very large battle between Simon Bolivar’s combined Army (included a large contingent of British soldiers) and the Spanish Army.  In this battle Simon Bolivar’s forces defeated the Spanish Army and took many soldiers prisoner.  It is a “big deal” in Colombia’s history and many statues, and flags are present at this memorial.  We toured a large building with beautiful drawn pictures of battle scenes.  I took a small video of the drawn scenes on the wall along with many pictures.  The only time I have seen something similar was on a trip to Russian where a building is dedicated to the defeat of Napoleon’s Army and the scenes are drawn on the walls of a circular building.  I did think that the monument should have included the British flag along with the other flags of Colombia indicating their contribution to the battle. 

We then drove to Bogota where we had a very nice lunch.  At the airport we had a significant wait for our flight.  On the plane we had a significant wait sitting in our seats where the gate leading to the plane could not be detached from the plane.  Ground maintenance had to be called to fix it.  This resulted in arriving in Armenia (300 KM west of Bogota) at our next stop after 8PM and not getting to the hotel until after 9PM.  We had not eaten and all the restaurants were closed in Salento.  We went to bed hungry.  Fortunately, I had one of my protein bars to avoid resorting to “fasting”.   I would not recommend Avianca Airlines.  Taking off the plane made large unnatural noises that were “scary”. 

I want to write a few words about the requirement on this trip to handle our own luggage.  I have wheels on my main luggage and also my carry on.  However, it and I am not capable of carrying moving my luggage large distances without consequences.  At our last “quaint” town the bus could not get close to the hotel and we had a quarter of a block to move our luggage.  The hotel in Salento, was a struggle to get the luggage into the hotel and also I am on the second floor with no elevator.  Though I specifically do exercises to cope with these challenges, this trip has gone to the limits so far.  I have had past double hernia surgery because of my paste extreme vocations (U.S. Army, California prisons in custody).  Two separate pieces of mesh have been sewn in my body and the right one is not happy on this trip.  The trip is advertised as for those up to the age of 90 plus.  At this point of the trip I would not advise elderly people with infirmaries to take the trip.  “Don’t do it”.  You will regret it.

Friday, February 15, 2019,  today we boarded jeeps and drove out to the wonderful Cocora Valley.  It is part of the wider Parque Nacional Los Nevados, Cocora Valley that is located in the central Andean range.  It is just outside of Salento.  It has unique landscape and has been regarded by Colombia as a sanctuary for its national tree, the wax palm.  The tall Palms cover the valley, which is now protected and declared a monument to protect the area and tree.  We had a nice walk, which I participated in.  Much of it is up hill at 8,000-foot elevation.  After two hours of it the group started up a very large hill and I participated for a few hundred meters and decided that I needed to just say “no” and stopped at the base of the hill.  The group took another hour and half to negotiate this large hill while I stayed and waited.  Two more people joined me and we waited to be joined by the main group. 

After this effort, we were treated to a very nice lunch and I had some very nice vegetarian food.  We then returned to town and participated in a game where would throw heavy metal pieced in some silly puddy which had explosive devices imbedded in it.  If you hit the white objects, an explosion would take place.  

We then walked around town up some steep hills and that ended our day.  It was raining outside our last few hours and I got a little, damp. 

Colombia Trip 3^rd Report

On February 12, we left Bogota by bus to Zipaquira to visit the Salt Cathedral.  This is a previous salt mine in very large mountain.  It was a substantial bus drive to get there.  This subterranean was carved out of salt bedrock.  Julio was our guide for the tour and explained every thing in great detail.  The walls of the mine are over 85% salts.  When water is run over it, it turns white as salt normally appears.  What we saw was grey walls.  It is an old salt mine that has been converted to Christian worship shrine with many, many displays of religious importance.  Religious music played while we walked through this important religious shrine.  We worked our way to the third level.  It has the capacity for 8,000 worshipers.  8,500 square meters.  40 km of road are in the mine.  At the church level it is 180 meters deep.  I took some pictures.  Many members of our group took many pictures.  It is well done and has been subsidized by the Colombian government.  We spent two hours inside.  It is 50 km south of Bogota.  I took 17098 steps.   Lots of walking. 

After the Salt Cathedral, we drove to the beautiful colonial town of Villa De leyva in the late afternoon.  Our hotel is very old and the room is nice.

Julio told us that there are 400,000 soldiers in Colombia who have special skills of fighting in a rain forest.  Julio told us that the country is experiencing global warming where the mountain tops is receiving substantially less snow.  There are Venezuelans walking in the sides of the road with no more then what they can carry after leaving their native country because of the difficulties there. 

The bus we are driving looks from the outside and inside to be in superb condition.  As we drive along it makes a constant “creaking” sound.  I do not recollect being in a bus that does that.  The guide explained to us that the roads in Colombia are not well maintained and are rough to drive on.  We were constantly “jostled” around in our seats at an extreme that I had not experienced.  Linda reminded that many years ago, we had a similar bus ride in Costa Rica.  At one point we hit a bump in the road, and I was propelled out of my seat into the air for no less the three inches.  I was shocked and the people around me were also shocked.

Our guide has told us that 95% of the residents in the area are practicing Catholics and are very conservative.   

Had great vegetarian meals for lunch and dinner.  Terrific. 

Wednesday, we had a very pleasant walking tour of Villa De Leyva.  It was founded in 1572.  In 1954, the city square was designated a national monument.  It is considered the largest square in Colombia.  I have noticed that there are many statues of past leaders in Colombia.  Our guide tells us that a law was passed which required each city to have a statue of a national liberator.  Many cities chose Simon Bolivar.  Because the city is considered a monument, the walls must be painted white and any modifications, new buildings have to be approved.  This city is a favorite place for people from Bogota to come to rest.  It is substantially lower altitude, warmer climate. 

There are many plant-growing plots covered with elevated plastic that are used to grow flowers, tomatoes that we have observed. 

We also went to a fossil museum and saw well-preserved, fossilized Kronosaurus discovered by a local farmer.