Glover´s ongoing report - 2 months in Colombia
Jan 8th, 2012, 12:30 PM
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Aug 2003
Posts: 1,256
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Glover´s ongoing report - 2 months in Colombia
As retired folk, we´ve taken to doing a big winter trip each year - a couple months away from DC´s sometimes cold and sometimes just blah and dreary winter. We´ve now made many trips to Mexico, 3 to Costa Rica, 2 to Panama, and one to Peru/Ecuador. Then last year we branched out and went to SE Asia. They were all wonderful trips in different ways. This year we started out with idea of Buenos Aires - but then ultimately husband got Colombia in his head (a wonderful spot for birding - which is something we like to do some of when we travel.) Loose itinerary is
ogota, Villa de Leyva, Barichara,
Bucamaronga, Medellin, 3 birding reserves around Medellin, cafetera (coffee) region,
Medellin, Cartegena, some points north from there and Bogota again.,
I´ll try to do this as an ongoing trip report. We´ve just completed a little more than a week. Flew direct from DC to Bogota on Avianca - a nice easy flight - about $500 RT - good price too! We did all the planning ourselves, via a few guidebooks and tripadvisor and lonely planet forums. Not much here on Fodors yet re Colombia. . . . Though we´´ve much enjoyed the round South America blog planetkapow - with lots of good Colombia info. We debated whether to stay in the classy north of Bogota or the perhaps slowly gentrifying colonial La Candelaria area. We opted for La Candelaria. Stayed 5 nights at the smallish B and B Chorro de Quevedo. An interesting, funky lodging on a dodgy looking street just off the Plaza Chorro de Quevedo. The old rehabbed building has a high spiral staircase in the center and 4 or so rooms on 2 levels going up, a small kitchen-bar-seating area on first floor. We opted for their top floor <´suite< two floors with a glass ceiling. It was nice to have a lot of space and light. And glass ceiling was great for a view of Bogota´s Montseratte and fireworks on NYE over the city. Water pressure was weak - they have an electric shower. Included breakfasts were sufficient and it was a friendly place- a couple of very nice women who speak only Spanish.
We only met the acclaimed Italian owner once for 15 mins so didn´t get the advantage of his Bogota knowledge.
Most of Bogota was shut tight on NYE and NY Day (we arrived on Dec. 30). And we´d heard that taking a cab north might strand us there, since it would be difficult to get a cab back. So we had a sandwich and a couple beers from the nearby convenience store and watched the fireworks from our <´loft¨ We saw very very few Norte Americanos in Bogota. But degrees of separation being what they are, the few that we did run into turned out to be from DC or have some more surprising connnection to the two of us.
Mostly we lucked out with the weather. Not the rain Colombia had been having. Sunny days, though coolish when sun went in. We really enjoyed the Bogota time. Walked to the top of Monseratte on New Years Day with hordes of local families and singles. Took the teleferico down. Took us almost 2 hours to summit. But a glorious day and buen
ejercicio. The Gold Museum in Bogota is fabulous. 60,000 pieces! And we happened to get there just before they were doing a tour in English. We only did a single floor in an hour but had a really knowledgeable and articulate guide, Carlos, wonderful. We learned a lot. We also enjoyed the Botero Museum, the colonial museum, and the
Casa de la Moneda. And, as I was reading the book Killing Pablo (about getting Pablo Escobar - Colombia´s big drug kingpin, we felt compelled to visit the Police Museum, where there is one room dedicated to the hunt for Pablo. We had a nice guide there and
some honcho came by to greet us and thank ¨¨us¨ (the US) for our help - presumably in the drug war . . . . yeah, if only our country wasn´t the prime consumer. . . In any case, this guy had been with the police for 56 years - now that´s a career!
It was fun and convenient staying in La Candelaria. Some nice architecture, but a little gritty and frequented by beer guzzling local students. We walked around Plaza Bolivar where they were setting up for the inauguration of the new mayor. Enjoyed a simple dinner at the Gato Gris on the Chorro Plaza. On our last day we finally got out of the neighborhood and walk from about Calle 12 to 36 and far west. Mostly what we saw along the way was commercial area and major road construction. We dropped by the office of Pro Aves, with whom wé´d be travelling later. Took a cab to the Botanical Gardens and walked around. Not all that large, but nice. . . Then a cab to Usaquen to see how the other half lived. Had a wonderful meal at a restaurant there called ¨¨Abasto¨ that I read of one chowhound.com.
Took a bus from Bogota to Villa de Leyva - maybe a total of 5 hours or so. Bus was comfortable, fine, cheap. Lovely scenery on way. V de L is a gorgeous colonial tourist town. As it is still the Christmas holidays here, the town was very busy. Lots of traffic and noise on those small streets. Great weather continued. A little warmer than Bogota. Stayed one night at the charming Hotel Antonio Narino. Holiday prices boosted this small hotel to $80 per night. Rooms were small but spotless and around a nice courtyard. Owner Marlene was SUPER nice to us. Like everyone else there (mostly Bogotans on holiday) we walked around town eating and shopping. But we can´t do that for very long, so moved to a pretty hostel a mile outside town, Renecer/Colombian Highlands where it was easy to arrange other activities. We did a
4 hour tour of El Fossil (giant sea dinosaur fossil found there), a beautiful old monastery, and a Stonehenge like astro-clock. Also saw what may be the largest ceramic in the world - a cool new exhibit house built just of clay. . . A great day with another excellent guide - Enrique, a Spanish speaker, so our less than mediocre Spanish got a rigorous workout. Very little English spoken in Colombia, so a good place to practice. . Also did a hike to Iguaque Park - beautiful mountainous area with 8 lakes. We did only a half day hike looking for birds (saw a few) but that was plenty and just gorgeous.
Then it was on to the even more beautiful colonial town of Barichara. Left the hostel at 10 and finally arrived in Barichara at 5:30. 2 or 3 changes of buses. One large bus and a couple of those vans that one hopes will survive the trip on the mountainous roads. The scenery from the bus on this trip was really wonderful, high mountains and valleys, green pastures and fields, tile roofed houses.
Barichara is also very busy with Colombians on vacation. . . Still it´s quieter here than V de L and more pristinely colonial. A big shady plaza where we spent the morning on a bench just taking in the scene - families on the way to mass at the beautiful Roman sandstone cathedral, or just out walking etc. We did some bench birdwatching in the trees and saw a few new birds. We then became an item of curiosity for at least one local family who came over to chat. The 5 or 6 kids hung with us about an hour. Seemed like they´d not seen the likes of us before, so wanted to practice a little English,
ask about the binoculars, ask questions about the U.S. etc. They were just great kids so it was really fun for all of us. We practiced our Spanish as well. Grilled them with simple English qs. . .. Weather is very warm here in Barichara today, glorious blue sky and sun and probably 80. . . . perfect. We´ll walk the town the rest of today and then tomorrow walk the camino real to the small town of Guane nearby. Maybe try to get up earlyish and go to a nearby mirador to look for a bird a local vendor told us about.
Meanwhile we continue to follow news elsewhere in Colombia - the killing of another
big paramilitary guy and the retaliation of his allies. So, while Colombia is fabulous -
¨¨Colombia - un mundo en solo pais¨¨ ¨Colombia-el unico riesgo es no salir (well, mas o menos) ' and it is now open for tourist business, problems continue in places, so we´re keeping abreast of the situation and being careful. The people are just great everywhere!
To be continued
ogota, Villa de Leyva, Barichara, Bucamaronga, Medellin, 3 birding reserves around Medellin, cafetera (coffee) region,
Medellin, Cartegena, some points north from there and Bogota again.,
I´ll try to do this as an ongoing trip report. We´ve just completed a little more than a week. Flew direct from DC to Bogota on Avianca - a nice easy flight - about $500 RT - good price too! We did all the planning ourselves, via a few guidebooks and tripadvisor and lonely planet forums. Not much here on Fodors yet re Colombia. . . . Though we´´ve much enjoyed the round South America blog planetkapow - with lots of good Colombia info. We debated whether to stay in the classy north of Bogota or the perhaps slowly gentrifying colonial La Candelaria area. We opted for La Candelaria. Stayed 5 nights at the smallish B and B Chorro de Quevedo. An interesting, funky lodging on a dodgy looking street just off the Plaza Chorro de Quevedo. The old rehabbed building has a high spiral staircase in the center and 4 or so rooms on 2 levels going up, a small kitchen-bar-seating area on first floor. We opted for their top floor <´suite< two floors with a glass ceiling. It was nice to have a lot of space and light. And glass ceiling was great for a view of Bogota´s Montseratte and fireworks on NYE over the city. Water pressure was weak - they have an electric shower. Included breakfasts were sufficient and it was a friendly place- a couple of very nice women who speak only Spanish.
We only met the acclaimed Italian owner once for 15 mins so didn´t get the advantage of his Bogota knowledge.
Most of Bogota was shut tight on NYE and NY Day (we arrived on Dec. 30). And we´d heard that taking a cab north might strand us there, since it would be difficult to get a cab back. So we had a sandwich and a couple beers from the nearby convenience store and watched the fireworks from our <´loft¨ We saw very very few Norte Americanos in Bogota. But degrees of separation being what they are, the few that we did run into turned out to be from DC or have some more surprising connnection to the two of us.
Mostly we lucked out with the weather. Not the rain Colombia had been having. Sunny days, though coolish when sun went in. We really enjoyed the Bogota time. Walked to the top of Monseratte on New Years Day with hordes of local families and singles. Took the teleferico down. Took us almost 2 hours to summit. But a glorious day and buen
ejercicio. The Gold Museum in Bogota is fabulous. 60,000 pieces! And we happened to get there just before they were doing a tour in English. We only did a single floor in an hour but had a really knowledgeable and articulate guide, Carlos, wonderful. We learned a lot. We also enjoyed the Botero Museum, the colonial museum, and the
Casa de la Moneda. And, as I was reading the book Killing Pablo (about getting Pablo Escobar - Colombia´s big drug kingpin, we felt compelled to visit the Police Museum, where there is one room dedicated to the hunt for Pablo. We had a nice guide there and
some honcho came by to greet us and thank ¨¨us¨ (the US) for our help - presumably in the drug war . . . . yeah, if only our country wasn´t the prime consumer. . . In any case, this guy had been with the police for 56 years - now that´s a career!
It was fun and convenient staying in La Candelaria. Some nice architecture, but a little gritty and frequented by beer guzzling local students. We walked around Plaza Bolivar where they were setting up for the inauguration of the new mayor. Enjoyed a simple dinner at the Gato Gris on the Chorro Plaza. On our last day we finally got out of the neighborhood and walk from about Calle 12 to 36 and far west. Mostly what we saw along the way was commercial area and major road construction. We dropped by the office of Pro Aves, with whom wé´d be travelling later. Took a cab to the Botanical Gardens and walked around. Not all that large, but nice. . . Then a cab to Usaquen to see how the other half lived. Had a wonderful meal at a restaurant there called ¨¨Abasto¨ that I read of one chowhound.com.
Took a bus from Bogota to Villa de Leyva - maybe a total of 5 hours or so. Bus was comfortable, fine, cheap. Lovely scenery on way. V de L is a gorgeous colonial tourist town. As it is still the Christmas holidays here, the town was very busy. Lots of traffic and noise on those small streets. Great weather continued. A little warmer than Bogota. Stayed one night at the charming Hotel Antonio Narino. Holiday prices boosted this small hotel to $80 per night. Rooms were small but spotless and around a nice courtyard. Owner Marlene was SUPER nice to us. Like everyone else there (mostly Bogotans on holiday) we walked around town eating and shopping. But we can´t do that for very long, so moved to a pretty hostel a mile outside town, Renecer/Colombian Highlands where it was easy to arrange other activities. We did a
4 hour tour of El Fossil (giant sea dinosaur fossil found there), a beautiful old monastery, and a Stonehenge like astro-clock. Also saw what may be the largest ceramic in the world - a cool new exhibit house built just of clay. . . A great day with another excellent guide - Enrique, a Spanish speaker, so our less than mediocre Spanish got a rigorous workout. Very little English spoken in Colombia, so a good place to practice. . Also did a hike to Iguaque Park - beautiful mountainous area with 8 lakes. We did only a half day hike looking for birds (saw a few) but that was plenty and just gorgeous.
Then it was on to the even more beautiful colonial town of Barichara. Left the hostel at 10 and finally arrived in Barichara at 5:30. 2 or 3 changes of buses. One large bus and a couple of those vans that one hopes will survive the trip on the mountainous roads. The scenery from the bus on this trip was really wonderful, high mountains and valleys, green pastures and fields, tile roofed houses.
Barichara is also very busy with Colombians on vacation. . . Still it´s quieter here than V de L and more pristinely colonial. A big shady plaza where we spent the morning on a bench just taking in the scene - families on the way to mass at the beautiful Roman sandstone cathedral, or just out walking etc. We did some bench birdwatching in the trees and saw a few new birds. We then became an item of curiosity for at least one local family who came over to chat. The 5 or 6 kids hung with us about an hour. Seemed like they´d not seen the likes of us before, so wanted to practice a little English,
ask about the binoculars, ask questions about the U.S. etc. They were just great kids so it was really fun for all of us. We practiced our Spanish as well. Grilled them with simple English qs. . .. Weather is very warm here in Barichara today, glorious blue sky and sun and probably 80. . . . perfect. We´ll walk the town the rest of today and then tomorrow walk the camino real to the small town of Guane nearby. Maybe try to get up earlyish and go to a nearby mirador to look for a bird a local vendor told us about.
Meanwhile we continue to follow news elsewhere in Colombia - the killing of another
big paramilitary guy and the retaliation of his allies. So, while Colombia is fabulous -
¨¨Colombia - un mundo en solo pais¨¨ ¨Colombia-el unico riesgo es no salir (well, mas o menos) ' and it is now open for tourist business, problems continue in places, so we´re keeping abreast of the situation and being careful. The people are just great everywhere!
To be continued
Jan 8th, 2012, 12:59 PM
#2
Join Date: Feb 2003
Posts: 2,678
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
This is great to read! We are leaving for Colombia on Feb 6, but only have 17 days there. (My husband is retired, unfortunately, I am not.) We are starting in Cartagena, then going on to Santa Marta, then Villa de Leyva and finally Bogota. I had also looked into the same B&B in Bogota, but ended up booking Hotel Casa Deco instead.
I'm looking forward to the rest of your reports.
Are you on Tripadvisor? If you are, I'm SBJEinToronto - I'd like to keep in touch if you don't.
I'm looking forward to the rest of your reports.
Are you on Tripadvisor? If you are, I'm SBJEinToronto - I'd like to keep in touch if you don't.
Jan 9th, 2012, 12:05 PM
#3
Original Poster
Join Date: Aug 2003
Posts: 1,256
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Hi Susan, I think you'll like Casa Deco in Bogota. We passed it several times. Didn{t go inside, but it looked nice on the outside and it is convenient to stay in Candalaria. That street isn{t quite as gritty as ours was. . . But we certainly felt comfortable walking all around Candelaria during the day at the very least . . .. Think you{ll love Villa de L - there will be many fewer people there in Feb than we saw last week. Where are you staying?
We're in Barichara now, which is even more spectacularly gorgeous than Villa de L. I{ll write more later. . .
We're in Barichara now, which is even more spectacularly gorgeous than Villa de L. I{ll write more later. . .
Jan 9th, 2012, 06:06 PM
#4
Join Date: Feb 2003
Posts: 2,678
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
We are going to stay at the Posada Casa Novoarte in Villa de Leyva. We had also looked at the Antonio Narino and it looks great, but prices are higher, so I booked the less expensive choice.
I read about Barichara - it sounded wonderful. Sounds like 17 days isn't enough time for us!
I read about Barichara - it sounded wonderful. Sounds like 17 days isn't enough time for us!
Jan 10th, 2012, 02:42 PM
#5
Original Poster
Join Date: Aug 2003
Posts: 1,256
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
I thought about Novoarte too. We passed it. It's on a nice quiet street and looked lovely from the outside. In V de L you could easily hire a taxi I think to drive you to some of the sites outside town, the lovely convent, el fossil, etc. But as I said we really liked our guide from the Colombian Highlands group. Their office is on a corner in town. Phillipe who runs the office is great and speaks perfect English, sinc emost of the year he lives in Florida. They could hook you up with anything you wned to do.....
Jan 12th, 2012, 06:13 AM
#6
Join Date: Jan 2012
Posts: 1
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Fantastic read! Thank you for posting and keeping us up to speed on your Colombian adventure.
As my mother is Colombian, my family and I have taken to a newfound love and passion for the country, its people and the culture overall. In fact, we have recently opened two upscale boutique hotels for the adventurous adult traveler.
As I'm sure you're aware, Colombia is home to some of the most spectacular wildlife, and internationally renowned for its biodiversity (particularly for birds!). If you (or anyone else) is interested in taking a closer look, our family hotel on the outskirts of Bogotá was designed for foreigners looking to experience this first hand. Find more info here: http://www.fincagualiva.com/
If on the market for something more tropical yet not overwhelmingly touristy, Santa Marta is for you. Our boutique hotel in the old city is ideal for adult travelers and younger couples: www.casaverdesantamarta.com
Safe travels to all! I hope you all help spread the love and new reality of this great country.
Andres
As my mother is Colombian, my family and I have taken to a newfound love and passion for the country, its people and the culture overall. In fact, we have recently opened two upscale boutique hotels for the adventurous adult traveler.
As I'm sure you're aware, Colombia is home to some of the most spectacular wildlife, and internationally renowned for its biodiversity (particularly for birds!). If you (or anyone else) is interested in taking a closer look, our family hotel on the outskirts of Bogotá was designed for foreigners looking to experience this first hand. Find more info here: http://www.fincagualiva.com/
If on the market for something more tropical yet not overwhelmingly touristy, Santa Marta is for you. Our boutique hotel in the old city is ideal for adult travelers and younger couples: www.casaverdesantamarta.com
Safe travels to all! I hope you all help spread the love and new reality of this great country.
Andres
Jan 12th, 2012, 07:05 AM
#7
Original Poster
Join Date: Aug 2003
Posts: 1,256
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
We took a small van like bus from the bus station in Villa de Leyva to the larger town of Tunja, where we waited for a larger more comfortable bus for the longer trip to the town of San Gil.
From San Gil we got another van bus to Barichara. This trip, with waits in between etc took most of the day, 10 to 6 Mas o menos and cost us about 20 bucks each. Bus travel in Colombia is cheap. Beautiful scenery along the way, mountains and green valleys, pasture land, etc. Bus arrived just by the main plaza in Barichara, which at about 7 was buzzing with
Colombian travelers on holiday. We looked for a taxi, but discovered they have only a few 3 wheeled moto taxis, so finally just walked the 3 blocks to pur hotel, La Casa de Marques. I was a little concerned about this hotel because I'd just booked it with the help of the wonderful Marlene from our V de L hotel. Neither of us knew much about it. All those Touted on the Internet were booked. And I was worried more when they ushered us into the first room behind the reception. But it was actually very quiet there and lovely. Holiday prices, about $80 per night including tax and a nice breakfast. We had a big colonial room with a fabulous new bathroom. Huge shower included both a rain shower and another on the other side with more jets, an overhead, and a handheld. Great water pressure and hot water too. Just the kind
You want to luxuriate in if the sign on the door didn't beg you to use only minimal
Water. Bed was comfy firm. Blanca at the desk was very responsive and accommodating. No English spoken here. They did about a week's worth of laundry for us for $10.
As advertised, Barichara is just beautiful. Flat stone streets with raised sidewalks. Easier walking than V de L, which has cobblestones and no sidewalks. Barichara is hilly, where v de L is flatter and this adds to it's charm. It's also smaller, less busy, and a little more upscale.
After a nice breakfast at our hotel (juice, scrambled eggs, fruit, coffee,and arepas)' we wondered down to the plaza and sat down on a bench. We had our binoculars, so naturally started looking at interesting birds in the plaza. 's many trees. This made us even more of a curiosity to the locals, so ultimately a whole family of curious kids came over and befriended us.
They were full of questions about the binoculars, the US, us, etc. A few wanted to practice some English words. We tortured them with our Spanish. We all took pictures. They were great kids, so we had a blast. Bought some small craft items from a vendor in the plaza. Had a nice chat with him too. He told us we should go to the nearby mirador at 7 or 8 in the am to see a spectacular bird with a long tail. He called it a hoopo or sometthing like that. We were intrigued so posted up there next am. (a beautiful spot with fountains, sculpture, and crotons.
Long tailed bird flew in about 7:45 as promised. Turned out to be a pair of beautiful mot mots.
We've seen many elsewhere in tropics, but always nice to see again as they're quite spectacular.
Spent the rest of our first day walking around town. Cruised a few shops, found them to be all selling more or less same items - woven purses, wood items, jewelry. Visited the beautiful old cathedral. Had a nice dinner of average paella at the Spanish restaurant in town, where the only other customers turned out to be 3 guys, also from Dc, whom we. 'd met in Bogota and followed ever since. Had Another great chat with them. Turned out they were staying in the b and b next to ours, of course.
Next day we saw the mot mots in the early am, had breakfast and then set off on the hike to the small town of Guane that is mentioned in all the guide books. This was a really ferric hike. It's about 6 miles from Barichara to Guane on what they call el camino real- an old road/path, mostly rocks. It goes up and down a little at ends, but is pretty flat for a long distance in the middle. We saw about a dozen people during our 3 hour walk (we stopped often and looked at bird). Many butterflies along the way. Great views of mountains and pasture land, woods.
A stray dog walked with us the entire way. So cute. He walked calmly along behind us until we stopped to watch birds. The he would curl up in a shady space until we started out again. He would wait for us to pass and then fall in just behind us again. Wheee there was water, he'd go for it and then catch up. He was absolutely loyal, never distracted from his mission by other bikers going either way. Not sure exactly where he turned off in Guane and so sorry we didn't get a photo. Never even patted his head, since I wasn't totally sure of his temperament.
Guane is a very tiny dusty little village, a church, a small plaza, a museum, a few tiendas and not much more. We had lunch in a patio restuarant. Simple but relaxing. Some official yellow taxis were around but they all turned out to be tourists from elsewhere, not in biz of driving to Barichara. We found a local guy on the plaza who was offering himself up as a taxi.
So we paid his requested price of $10 for the ride back toB. He had a clapped out old Toyota or some such, but was a good driver on the curvy mountainous road. Our Dc friends had walked the path both directions, but we feared 12 miles in one day might turn a nice memory into a death march. A highly recommended walk. Wear your hiking shoes, mostly rocks. Ditto walking aroundV de L. Not so necessary in barichara where streets are flat stone.
We did some more evening plaza sitting - just taking in the scene. Perfect weather and a full moon over Barichara to beat. On this trip we have a perfect record of not finding recommended restaurants. They're closed for the moment, forever, not known by anyone in town, not at the given address etc. So having failed to find one or another we were looking for, we stumbled upon the tiny Pleniluna and were quite happy there. So much so that we went back the next night when another we were seeking turned out to be, you guessed it, closed. Pleniluna just serves a few pastas, crepes, and salads - a great salad though and very nice ravioli. Salad contained a new fruit (uvuta?)' wonderfully sweet yellow cherry tomato size.
The next day was a travel day. Checked out, hauled luggage 3 blocks to plaza. Caught bus in 20 minutes to San Gil. Made mistake of buying ticket to Bucaramanga at first window we questioned- Reina. This required a 2 hour wait in bus station. The the bus was an hour late, while we watched several nicer Copetran buses arrive and leave for bmanga. When bus finally arrived it was full except for the two worst seats- the two next to the bathroom on the row of 3 in the back. Taking these meant the young woman next to us had to hold her 4 yeR old daughter in her lap for 3 hours. And my husband became the bathroom guardian, holding the door open while folks squeezed through the tiny space allowed.......
The road from San Gil to Bucaramanga is basically non stop switch backs. Spectacular mountains. But for better or worse we couldn't see much from our back seats because the many windows have dark curtains half blocking views. May have been a good thing as the two lane road was filled with big trucks and buses for the most part, often passing. Not for the faint hearted.
Took a taxi into the downtown area of buca to a hotel chosen from lonely planet- Hotel Principe. Every city has a hotel like this, it put us in mind of one in DC, the Hotel Harrington. An old place in the downtown that's managed to stay in business for decades. Perhaps once elegant, but now a budget hotel for tourists and business people without big expense accounts. Lots of plastic flowers and Naugahyde furniture. A little dark. Restaurant and front desk accounts handwritten with carbons and date stamped. Low hard as rock beds. Pros were good service from desk staff and nice hot water shower. This hotel is about three blocks from the cathedral. Like many downtown areas, it caters only to day biz, so nothing around there to do at night. We ate in the hotel restaurant, vintage 1950.
Slept well on the rock hard bed and took a taxi to the airport next day for flight on Easy Fly to Medellin.
Our 10:30 flight was maybe an hour late, but we didn't take it! I had suffered a little traveler's distress that am for the first time on this trip and as we were standing in line waiting to board, fainted dead away. Probably dehydration. Several folks in line helped my husband grab me going down. Medic was there in an instant. They wheeled me over to a small doctor's office several yards away. There I was treated by the lovely Dr. Sanchez, who asked all the right questions, took blood pressure several times, and gave me dehydrating fluid. She offered an iv but I declined. Meanwhile our flight took off and we changed to a 4 pm one. Husband and I had a delightful chat with Dr Sanchez -in English- for at least an hour as I recovered.
Then of course we had hours to kill at the airport. Fortunately, it's a nice little airport with wi fi and food concessions with an outside seating area. Made friends with one of the easy Fly baggage handlers who wanted to practice his English.
At last we got on our also late flight. Less than an hour flight to Medellin. Took a taxi to our B and By
Su Casa Colombia in the Estadio neighborhood. Taxi driver asked for directions 4 times. The Casa is run by a very accommodating young American couple. It's the former home of the wife's grandparents. We had read many glowing reviews on trip advisor,
Not exaggerated! Owner Noah took us on a short walk in the neighborhood to a very lively street full of restaurants. He left us at his favorite with a good map and instructions about how to get back. After a nice dinner we walked back, lots of people out, and slept really well in our magnificent king very comfy bed with great linens. Noah and Marcela fixed us a great breakfast in the am which we ate on the nice upstairs patio.
Today we'll do a few errands in Medellin and then be picked up tomorrow to go to several birding reserves around the Medellin area.
Sent from my iPad
Sent from my iPad
From San Gil we got another van bus to Barichara. This trip, with waits in between etc took most of the day, 10 to 6 Mas o menos and cost us about 20 bucks each. Bus travel in Colombia is cheap. Beautiful scenery along the way, mountains and green valleys, pasture land, etc. Bus arrived just by the main plaza in Barichara, which at about 7 was buzzing with
Colombian travelers on holiday. We looked for a taxi, but discovered they have only a few 3 wheeled moto taxis, so finally just walked the 3 blocks to pur hotel, La Casa de Marques. I was a little concerned about this hotel because I'd just booked it with the help of the wonderful Marlene from our V de L hotel. Neither of us knew much about it. All those Touted on the Internet were booked. And I was worried more when they ushered us into the first room behind the reception. But it was actually very quiet there and lovely. Holiday prices, about $80 per night including tax and a nice breakfast. We had a big colonial room with a fabulous new bathroom. Huge shower included both a rain shower and another on the other side with more jets, an overhead, and a handheld. Great water pressure and hot water too. Just the kind
You want to luxuriate in if the sign on the door didn't beg you to use only minimal
Water. Bed was comfy firm. Blanca at the desk was very responsive and accommodating. No English spoken here. They did about a week's worth of laundry for us for $10.
As advertised, Barichara is just beautiful. Flat stone streets with raised sidewalks. Easier walking than V de L, which has cobblestones and no sidewalks. Barichara is hilly, where v de L is flatter and this adds to it's charm. It's also smaller, less busy, and a little more upscale.
After a nice breakfast at our hotel (juice, scrambled eggs, fruit, coffee,and arepas)' we wondered down to the plaza and sat down on a bench. We had our binoculars, so naturally started looking at interesting birds in the plaza. 's many trees. This made us even more of a curiosity to the locals, so ultimately a whole family of curious kids came over and befriended us.
They were full of questions about the binoculars, the US, us, etc. A few wanted to practice some English words. We tortured them with our Spanish. We all took pictures. They were great kids, so we had a blast. Bought some small craft items from a vendor in the plaza. Had a nice chat with him too. He told us we should go to the nearby mirador at 7 or 8 in the am to see a spectacular bird with a long tail. He called it a hoopo or sometthing like that. We were intrigued so posted up there next am. (a beautiful spot with fountains, sculpture, and crotons.
Long tailed bird flew in about 7:45 as promised. Turned out to be a pair of beautiful mot mots.
We've seen many elsewhere in tropics, but always nice to see again as they're quite spectacular.
Spent the rest of our first day walking around town. Cruised a few shops, found them to be all selling more or less same items - woven purses, wood items, jewelry. Visited the beautiful old cathedral. Had a nice dinner of average paella at the Spanish restaurant in town, where the only other customers turned out to be 3 guys, also from Dc, whom we. 'd met in Bogota and followed ever since. Had Another great chat with them. Turned out they were staying in the b and b next to ours, of course.
Next day we saw the mot mots in the early am, had breakfast and then set off on the hike to the small town of Guane that is mentioned in all the guide books. This was a really ferric hike. It's about 6 miles from Barichara to Guane on what they call el camino real- an old road/path, mostly rocks. It goes up and down a little at ends, but is pretty flat for a long distance in the middle. We saw about a dozen people during our 3 hour walk (we stopped often and looked at bird). Many butterflies along the way. Great views of mountains and pasture land, woods.
A stray dog walked with us the entire way. So cute. He walked calmly along behind us until we stopped to watch birds. The he would curl up in a shady space until we started out again. He would wait for us to pass and then fall in just behind us again. Wheee there was water, he'd go for it and then catch up. He was absolutely loyal, never distracted from his mission by other bikers going either way. Not sure exactly where he turned off in Guane and so sorry we didn't get a photo. Never even patted his head, since I wasn't totally sure of his temperament.
Guane is a very tiny dusty little village, a church, a small plaza, a museum, a few tiendas and not much more. We had lunch in a patio restuarant. Simple but relaxing. Some official yellow taxis were around but they all turned out to be tourists from elsewhere, not in biz of driving to Barichara. We found a local guy on the plaza who was offering himself up as a taxi.
So we paid his requested price of $10 for the ride back toB. He had a clapped out old Toyota or some such, but was a good driver on the curvy mountainous road. Our Dc friends had walked the path both directions, but we feared 12 miles in one day might turn a nice memory into a death march. A highly recommended walk. Wear your hiking shoes, mostly rocks. Ditto walking aroundV de L. Not so necessary in barichara where streets are flat stone.
We did some more evening plaza sitting - just taking in the scene. Perfect weather and a full moon over Barichara to beat. On this trip we have a perfect record of not finding recommended restaurants. They're closed for the moment, forever, not known by anyone in town, not at the given address etc. So having failed to find one or another we were looking for, we stumbled upon the tiny Pleniluna and were quite happy there. So much so that we went back the next night when another we were seeking turned out to be, you guessed it, closed. Pleniluna just serves a few pastas, crepes, and salads - a great salad though and very nice ravioli. Salad contained a new fruit (uvuta?)' wonderfully sweet yellow cherry tomato size.
The next day was a travel day. Checked out, hauled luggage 3 blocks to plaza. Caught bus in 20 minutes to San Gil. Made mistake of buying ticket to Bucaramanga at first window we questioned- Reina. This required a 2 hour wait in bus station. The the bus was an hour late, while we watched several nicer Copetran buses arrive and leave for bmanga. When bus finally arrived it was full except for the two worst seats- the two next to the bathroom on the row of 3 in the back. Taking these meant the young woman next to us had to hold her 4 yeR old daughter in her lap for 3 hours. And my husband became the bathroom guardian, holding the door open while folks squeezed through the tiny space allowed.......
The road from San Gil to Bucaramanga is basically non stop switch backs. Spectacular mountains. But for better or worse we couldn't see much from our back seats because the many windows have dark curtains half blocking views. May have been a good thing as the two lane road was filled with big trucks and buses for the most part, often passing. Not for the faint hearted.
Took a taxi into the downtown area of buca to a hotel chosen from lonely planet- Hotel Principe. Every city has a hotel like this, it put us in mind of one in DC, the Hotel Harrington. An old place in the downtown that's managed to stay in business for decades. Perhaps once elegant, but now a budget hotel for tourists and business people without big expense accounts. Lots of plastic flowers and Naugahyde furniture. A little dark. Restaurant and front desk accounts handwritten with carbons and date stamped. Low hard as rock beds. Pros were good service from desk staff and nice hot water shower. This hotel is about three blocks from the cathedral. Like many downtown areas, it caters only to day biz, so nothing around there to do at night. We ate in the hotel restaurant, vintage 1950.
Slept well on the rock hard bed and took a taxi to the airport next day for flight on Easy Fly to Medellin.
Our 10:30 flight was maybe an hour late, but we didn't take it! I had suffered a little traveler's distress that am for the first time on this trip and as we were standing in line waiting to board, fainted dead away. Probably dehydration. Several folks in line helped my husband grab me going down. Medic was there in an instant. They wheeled me over to a small doctor's office several yards away. There I was treated by the lovely Dr. Sanchez, who asked all the right questions, took blood pressure several times, and gave me dehydrating fluid. She offered an iv but I declined. Meanwhile our flight took off and we changed to a 4 pm one. Husband and I had a delightful chat with Dr Sanchez -in English- for at least an hour as I recovered.
Then of course we had hours to kill at the airport. Fortunately, it's a nice little airport with wi fi and food concessions with an outside seating area. Made friends with one of the easy Fly baggage handlers who wanted to practice his English.
At last we got on our also late flight. Less than an hour flight to Medellin. Took a taxi to our B and By
Su Casa Colombia in the Estadio neighborhood. Taxi driver asked for directions 4 times. The Casa is run by a very accommodating young American couple. It's the former home of the wife's grandparents. We had read many glowing reviews on trip advisor,
Not exaggerated! Owner Noah took us on a short walk in the neighborhood to a very lively street full of restaurants. He left us at his favorite with a good map and instructions about how to get back. After a nice dinner we walked back, lots of people out, and slept really well in our magnificent king very comfy bed with great linens. Noah and Marcela fixed us a great breakfast in the am which we ate on the nice upstairs patio.
Today we'll do a few errands in Medellin and then be picked up tomorrow to go to several birding reserves around the Medellin area.
Sent from my iPad
Sent from my iPad
Jan 12th, 2012, 08:27 AM
#8
Join Date: Feb 2003
Posts: 2,678
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
I'm really enjoying reading this. So sorry about your 'traveller's distress'! That really puts a crimp in one's plans. We each spent a day lying in bed in a B&B in San Cristobal de las Casas. Although we didn't enjoy being laid up, we were so glad it wasn't the following day when we were due to take the bus to Palenque.
Thanks for posting.
Thanks for posting.
Jan 22nd, 2012, 01:45 PM
#11
Original Poster
Join Date: Aug 2003
Posts: 1,256
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
After a leisurely breakfast on the patio of Su Casa Colombia, we were picked up by a driver working for Ecoturs. He drove us 3 hours to a restaurant in the town of Puerto Boyacan, where we joined up with 5 lovely people from the UK with whom we'd share transportation to the. 3 birding reserves run by the group Pro Aves. They were accompanied by an excellent bird guide (Colombian resident, but actually Irish).
We all switched to a nice comfortable van and then drove most of the day to the El Pajuil reserve, known for the blue corrosow bird that frequents the area. The final 3 hours of this drive were on a bumpy dirt road. Oh joy. But the best was yet to come! We got to the last little village, if you could call it that, before the reserve and stopped. Guide announced that this was as far as we could go in this vehicle. So we all piled out of our nice van and into a beat up truck with cab and covered back with bench seats. (we're talking here about 5 "mature" passengers, aged 62 to 81!). Lucky me, as last ready, I got the passenger seat in the cab.
But a mixed blessing, more comfortable yes, but able to see the way down! Those crushing each other in the back were spAred knowing. The way down was 3 kilometers straight down, occasionally steering on two cement tracks, but mostly just up down and Round big chunks of clay. It's now pitch dark by the way. The large sweaty driver, acquired in the village, is Assisted by two young men hanging onto the cab at each door shining more light on the road ahead, etc. Fortunately we All arrived in one piece, Mas o menos.
We arrive at the reserve and are shown our rooms. Luggage is delivered later (brought in another truck). Husband and I and the single UK traveler get the two rooms worth a/c. But the cost for that luxury in this very, very hot place (90 plus and very humid) is a neck breaker walk up a long flight of bamboo stairs (not bad when dry, but deadly slippery when wet). These rooms are wood cabins with reasonably comfortable beds, fine clean bathrrooms with cold shower, and mosquito nets.
After a nice dinner in the simple outdoor gazebo area, we crash to prepare for our 5:30 or so wake up. That is, we crash after husband does the manly thing - traps and sets free out the door a flying cockroach the size of a Buick - well at least the size of a small songbird. Not squeamish about insects and creepy crawly things generally, but couldn't imagine sleeping with this one dive bombing around the room. Sleep reasonably well.
Next am creep cautiously down bamboo stairs to breakfast. Set off on reserve trails and hour later. Followed the same routin both days we were there. Trails into great rainforest, up and down, a very good workout. Much impressed by the agility and endurance of those older than we. They are more experienced birders than we and a group of old friends who have been traveling all over the world together for decades, mainly focusing on birds. Their guide and the local guy who manages the reserve help us spot many, many species of birds. We lunch and rest a bit in the heat of mid day and go out again in late afternoon. In addition to birds, we see 3 species of monkeys, a few owls, some interesting toads and frogs. The terrain before the reserve and forest was unlike anything we'd ever seen. Like continuous high sand dunes covered with grass - grazing fields. A wonderfully, beautiful area. But definitely not easy to get to.
On day 3, we get up for 5 am breakfast. Reserve employees (mostly one whole family) help us all and our luggage down a slippery muddy bank to a large canoe! In the dark. A terrifying experience to watch others and then experience self, but staff is very adept and very helpful. Good job preventing 7 broken hips! Forgot to say there was a fairly long and loud thunderstorm in the very early am, just letting up in time for our departure to reserve 2, Arrierte.
Fortunately canoe had a motor, so we had a lovely breezy ride down river maybe a half hour or so to our van "in town". Much better than the terrifying truck ride.
Food at Pajuil was delicious. Inventive use of simple local ingredients. Great soups and light flan like desserts.
We left Pajuil at 6 or so and arrived at Arrierte at 7:30. The longest, hardest drive I'll ever need to experience. Remember the 3 hour drive in on a bumpy dirt road? Well that meant three hours back that road. But we stopped to look at birds along the way. Fabulous blue and yellow macaws flying and perching in the trees. Many others as well. Folks on horseback coming down road. Horses grazing. Just beautiful.
Stopped for lunch in Puerto Boyaca again and elsewhere in town to pick up reserve supplies of various sorts. A very, very long drive. Beautiful scenery though, high mountains, beautiful valleys. The last couple hours were killers as we ascended to about 5000 feet, nonstop switchbacks along good but narrow and high roAd. We kept the same driver all the wAy, a very good one with nerves of steel. One of our group lost his afternoon coffee mid way thru the hairpin turns, though he wS fine thereafter.
At last we arrived at Arrierte. Lodging area is smaller, more compact here. We're all in a line of motel like rooms one next to another. Cooler here (springlike) thank god. Comfortable beds with blankets and ye old electric shower (hot wAter dispensed at a dribble) . Have dinner of great squash soup followed by chicken and rice and Wine bought in town. Sleep like the dead under cozy blanket.
Up next day at 5:15. Hit the trail at 6 or so. Up, up, up through forest and along high ridge.
Pretty quiet today, but do spot a desired endemic species or so for those who care. Back for lunch where we watch a handful of hummingbird species buzz the 10 feeders belong the dining porch. Also some beautiful tanagers visit bananas on another feeder. A little cloudy and cool now as I sit on the back patio behind our room. We'll go back out soon to wallk the road and look for more birds. More of the same tomorrow I suspect.
After 2 great days at Arrierito, we left early next am for another all day drive to our third reserve, Las Tangaras. Another long and arduous drive, the end nonstop switchbacks, but the most spectacular scenery we've yet to see. Again very high mountains and deep green valleys, but this time the mountains are lined with coffee trees. Our van stopped at the last "town" and we climbed into two jeeps to do the last few kms. Some interesting road there, landslides from excessive rain had narrowed the already narrow roads further. (did I mention that we had fabulous skilled drivers with nerves of steel?) Las Tangaras has brand new lodging this year on the reserve.
6 or so rooms in a line, large with cement floors, good beds, and, at last hot water with pressure.
There's the usual outdoor palapa for dining, a small kitchen building and a small house for the resident forest guard and his family, who were just lovely. GuArds at all reserves came on hikes with us and
all were excellent at spotting birds. Our little group was joined on pur 3rd night there by 6 us women accompanied by a guide from cornell u and a young Italian man traveling on his own. Food here was quite delicious, great soups, salad slaw, chiken, meat, fish and always great juices.
Today we all slept in, had a 9am breakfast, and left at 10 for more travel. Too bad because it was just gorgeous there this am, sunny clear beautiful clouds, and green, green, green. But we were off to our next stop, the small town of Jardin. We stopped along the way next to a river to look for, but not find, a particular bird on the list of the serious birders. Then had the best lunch yet at a palapa restaurant called Mayoria del San Juan. Just inside the town of JArdin, we stopped and walked to the end of a street and straight down toward the river. This was to peak in at the coq of the rock (very special bird)
Lek on private property. We were lucky enough to get a very nice view of the bird sitting on a branch in the open. Jardin is very lively today because it's Sunday, everyone is out! Lovely plaza full of people. We're looking forward to checking it out tomorrow. Then we figure out how to get where we need to go to meet Noah and Marcela from medellin in order to spend a couple days at their finca a few hours away.......... More as it develops
(an aside here for birders inrerested. Staff at Las Tangaras spotted a coq of the roc on the propeety yesterday. And the forest guard discovered a lek on the reserve. He was very excited. So viewing them at Las Tangaras now looks possible)
Sent from my iPad
We all switched to a nice comfortable van and then drove most of the day to the El Pajuil reserve, known for the blue corrosow bird that frequents the area. The final 3 hours of this drive were on a bumpy dirt road. Oh joy. But the best was yet to come! We got to the last little village, if you could call it that, before the reserve and stopped. Guide announced that this was as far as we could go in this vehicle. So we all piled out of our nice van and into a beat up truck with cab and covered back with bench seats. (we're talking here about 5 "mature" passengers, aged 62 to 81!). Lucky me, as last ready, I got the passenger seat in the cab.
But a mixed blessing, more comfortable yes, but able to see the way down! Those crushing each other in the back were spAred knowing. The way down was 3 kilometers straight down, occasionally steering on two cement tracks, but mostly just up down and Round big chunks of clay. It's now pitch dark by the way. The large sweaty driver, acquired in the village, is Assisted by two young men hanging onto the cab at each door shining more light on the road ahead, etc. Fortunately we All arrived in one piece, Mas o menos.
We arrive at the reserve and are shown our rooms. Luggage is delivered later (brought in another truck). Husband and I and the single UK traveler get the two rooms worth a/c. But the cost for that luxury in this very, very hot place (90 plus and very humid) is a neck breaker walk up a long flight of bamboo stairs (not bad when dry, but deadly slippery when wet). These rooms are wood cabins with reasonably comfortable beds, fine clean bathrrooms with cold shower, and mosquito nets.
After a nice dinner in the simple outdoor gazebo area, we crash to prepare for our 5:30 or so wake up. That is, we crash after husband does the manly thing - traps and sets free out the door a flying cockroach the size of a Buick - well at least the size of a small songbird. Not squeamish about insects and creepy crawly things generally, but couldn't imagine sleeping with this one dive bombing around the room. Sleep reasonably well.
Next am creep cautiously down bamboo stairs to breakfast. Set off on reserve trails and hour later. Followed the same routin both days we were there. Trails into great rainforest, up and down, a very good workout. Much impressed by the agility and endurance of those older than we. They are more experienced birders than we and a group of old friends who have been traveling all over the world together for decades, mainly focusing on birds. Their guide and the local guy who manages the reserve help us spot many, many species of birds. We lunch and rest a bit in the heat of mid day and go out again in late afternoon. In addition to birds, we see 3 species of monkeys, a few owls, some interesting toads and frogs. The terrain before the reserve and forest was unlike anything we'd ever seen. Like continuous high sand dunes covered with grass - grazing fields. A wonderfully, beautiful area. But definitely not easy to get to.
On day 3, we get up for 5 am breakfast. Reserve employees (mostly one whole family) help us all and our luggage down a slippery muddy bank to a large canoe! In the dark. A terrifying experience to watch others and then experience self, but staff is very adept and very helpful. Good job preventing 7 broken hips! Forgot to say there was a fairly long and loud thunderstorm in the very early am, just letting up in time for our departure to reserve 2, Arrierte.
Fortunately canoe had a motor, so we had a lovely breezy ride down river maybe a half hour or so to our van "in town". Much better than the terrifying truck ride.
Food at Pajuil was delicious. Inventive use of simple local ingredients. Great soups and light flan like desserts.
We left Pajuil at 6 or so and arrived at Arrierte at 7:30. The longest, hardest drive I'll ever need to experience. Remember the 3 hour drive in on a bumpy dirt road? Well that meant three hours back that road. But we stopped to look at birds along the way. Fabulous blue and yellow macaws flying and perching in the trees. Many others as well. Folks on horseback coming down road. Horses grazing. Just beautiful.
Stopped for lunch in Puerto Boyaca again and elsewhere in town to pick up reserve supplies of various sorts. A very, very long drive. Beautiful scenery though, high mountains, beautiful valleys. The last couple hours were killers as we ascended to about 5000 feet, nonstop switchbacks along good but narrow and high roAd. We kept the same driver all the wAy, a very good one with nerves of steel. One of our group lost his afternoon coffee mid way thru the hairpin turns, though he wS fine thereafter.
At last we arrived at Arrierte. Lodging area is smaller, more compact here. We're all in a line of motel like rooms one next to another. Cooler here (springlike) thank god. Comfortable beds with blankets and ye old electric shower (hot wAter dispensed at a dribble) . Have dinner of great squash soup followed by chicken and rice and Wine bought in town. Sleep like the dead under cozy blanket.
Up next day at 5:15. Hit the trail at 6 or so. Up, up, up through forest and along high ridge.
Pretty quiet today, but do spot a desired endemic species or so for those who care. Back for lunch where we watch a handful of hummingbird species buzz the 10 feeders belong the dining porch. Also some beautiful tanagers visit bananas on another feeder. A little cloudy and cool now as I sit on the back patio behind our room. We'll go back out soon to wallk the road and look for more birds. More of the same tomorrow I suspect.
After 2 great days at Arrierito, we left early next am for another all day drive to our third reserve, Las Tangaras. Another long and arduous drive, the end nonstop switchbacks, but the most spectacular scenery we've yet to see. Again very high mountains and deep green valleys, but this time the mountains are lined with coffee trees. Our van stopped at the last "town" and we climbed into two jeeps to do the last few kms. Some interesting road there, landslides from excessive rain had narrowed the already narrow roads further. (did I mention that we had fabulous skilled drivers with nerves of steel?) Las Tangaras has brand new lodging this year on the reserve.
6 or so rooms in a line, large with cement floors, good beds, and, at last hot water with pressure.
There's the usual outdoor palapa for dining, a small kitchen building and a small house for the resident forest guard and his family, who were just lovely. GuArds at all reserves came on hikes with us and
all were excellent at spotting birds. Our little group was joined on pur 3rd night there by 6 us women accompanied by a guide from cornell u and a young Italian man traveling on his own. Food here was quite delicious, great soups, salad slaw, chiken, meat, fish and always great juices.
Today we all slept in, had a 9am breakfast, and left at 10 for more travel. Too bad because it was just gorgeous there this am, sunny clear beautiful clouds, and green, green, green. But we were off to our next stop, the small town of Jardin. We stopped along the way next to a river to look for, but not find, a particular bird on the list of the serious birders. Then had the best lunch yet at a palapa restaurant called Mayoria del San Juan. Just inside the town of JArdin, we stopped and walked to the end of a street and straight down toward the river. This was to peak in at the coq of the rock (very special bird)
Lek on private property. We were lucky enough to get a very nice view of the bird sitting on a branch in the open. Jardin is very lively today because it's Sunday, everyone is out! Lovely plaza full of people. We're looking forward to checking it out tomorrow. Then we figure out how to get where we need to go to meet Noah and Marcela from medellin in order to spend a couple days at their finca a few hours away.......... More as it develops
(an aside here for birders inrerested. Staff at Las Tangaras spotted a coq of the roc on the propeety yesterday. And the forest guard discovered a lek on the reserve. He was very excited. So viewing them at Las Tangaras now looks possible)
Sent from my iPad
Jan 28th, 2012, 06:52 AM
#13
Original Poster
Join Date: Aug 2003
Posts: 1,256
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Rather than take a 6am bus from Jardin to Puente Igelesias to meet Noah and Marcela we left later and hired a taxi to take us directly there for$50. We were early so had some time just to have coffee and enjoy the quiet scene at this country crossroads. Talked to the policeman stationed there. Walked on nearby iron bridge. Just a few tiendas and single restaurant there.
Eventually Noah arrived in his Suv with two other US couples, and we were off to the finca. We arrived after another 45 minutes. This finca was recently built. Just beautiful. Gorgeous setting on hill with spectacular views of mountains in all directions. Beautiful landscaping, a nice pond for swimming,
A half dozen horses for local trail rides, a super nice resident couple to attend to guests needs. Great typico food. We had 3 lovely days at the finca just enjoying the beautiful place, the good company, swimming, riding, walking, looking at birds, and swinging in the hammocks in the lovely outdoor common area reading or snoozing. Perfect. Highly recommended. Google sucasacolombia for info on Medellin b and b and related finca.
Yesterday with deep regrets we all said goodbye tothe finca. Noah dropped the two of us in the nearby town of La Pintada and returned with the others to Medellin. We two jumped immediately on a collectivo kind of bus and for $10 each rode the 3 hours south to Manizales in the coffee area. It was a fairly comfortable drive since the bus wasn't full. A lot of road constructiongoing on now because of heavy rains over the last several months. Many washouts under repair.
From the very large and modern bus station in Manizales we took a taxi to our hotel. Estelar Recinto de Pensamiento. This is a corporate kind of venture of the coffee federation, new with convention areas,
Nature trails, restaurant, little zoo, butterly house,etc. Brand new rooms with king beds, fancy bathrroms etc. It'sthe weekend but there are 3 times more employees than guests. We relaxed yesterday, walked the 3 km nature trail, did internet, and slept well in pur great king size bed. Luxuriated too in our hot water high pressure shower. Ate lunch and dinner in austere dining room totally alone. Decent food. Lots of choice. Got up at 5:30 this am for early walk on natureath with resident nature guide. A beautiful am, saw 35 species of birds. Most we'd seen before but some were new. Already, a few hours later, it looks like rain. The pattern here is sunny ams and rainy afternoons. Today we'll get a cab into town andlook around, have lunch, and collect more info. We're interested in a trip to Los Nevados, mts much much higher up.
Eventually Noah arrived in his Suv with two other US couples, and we were off to the finca. We arrived after another 45 minutes. This finca was recently built. Just beautiful. Gorgeous setting on hill with spectacular views of mountains in all directions. Beautiful landscaping, a nice pond for swimming,
A half dozen horses for local trail rides, a super nice resident couple to attend to guests needs. Great typico food. We had 3 lovely days at the finca just enjoying the beautiful place, the good company, swimming, riding, walking, looking at birds, and swinging in the hammocks in the lovely outdoor common area reading or snoozing. Perfect. Highly recommended. Google sucasacolombia for info on Medellin b and b and related finca.
Yesterday with deep regrets we all said goodbye tothe finca. Noah dropped the two of us in the nearby town of La Pintada and returned with the others to Medellin. We two jumped immediately on a collectivo kind of bus and for $10 each rode the 3 hours south to Manizales in the coffee area. It was a fairly comfortable drive since the bus wasn't full. A lot of road constructiongoing on now because of heavy rains over the last several months. Many washouts under repair.
From the very large and modern bus station in Manizales we took a taxi to our hotel. Estelar Recinto de Pensamiento. This is a corporate kind of venture of the coffee federation, new with convention areas,
Nature trails, restaurant, little zoo, butterly house,etc. Brand new rooms with king beds, fancy bathrroms etc. It'sthe weekend but there are 3 times more employees than guests. We relaxed yesterday, walked the 3 km nature trail, did internet, and slept well in pur great king size bed. Luxuriated too in our hot water high pressure shower. Ate lunch and dinner in austere dining room totally alone. Decent food. Lots of choice. Got up at 5:30 this am for early walk on natureath with resident nature guide. A beautiful am, saw 35 species of birds. Most we'd seen before but some were new. Already, a few hours later, it looks like rain. The pattern here is sunny ams and rainy afternoons. Today we'll get a cab into town andlook around, have lunch, and collect more info. We're interested in a trip to Los Nevados, mts much much higher up.
Feb 2nd, 2012, 06:28 AM
#15
Original Poster
Join Date: Aug 2003
Posts: 1,256
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
We reupped for a couple more days at our nice hotel so that we could go to both Los Nevados and a nearby reserve callex Rio Blanco, managed by the water commission and allegedly one of the three best places in the world to see birds.
Our Los Nevados day trip was. Long but interesting day. Husband had wanted to go all the way up and spend one night in the cabins at El Cisne, but it seemed from the info that we were able to get that it would be very expensive, so we opted for the day trip, for which we pId a still rather expensive sum of $60 each. We were picked up at pur hotel about 7:30 by full mid sized tour bus with SpAnish speaking guide. Another long hairy mountain drive with spectacular scenery, with delays Long the way for the ubiquitous "obras en la via". Road work. A stop for a typical breakfast (included). Few stops after we reached the fascinating moonscape like paramo area at about 15,000 feet. We did a short steep hike up to stand in snow. Needless to say all the other colombian tourists were more excited by snow than we. But it was amazing up there. On the way back we stopped for a nice typical lunch ( included)
A nice couple on our bus from Medellin befriended us, so we worked our Spanish at lunch. They also were kind enough to show us the ropes at the final in luded stop at Termales de Otono near Manizales.
Natural hot springs swimming pools. We enjpyed taking in that whole scene. Our friends bought us a beer. But we were too wimpy to do as the locals did, get out of the hot pools, take a cold shower, and get back in. After an hour at the pools we got back in the bus and zoomed down the dark hairpin turn road back to down. We were dropped at pur hotel at about 7:30. Poopes the next day, a Monday, we hung T the hotel, did internet, and walked the nature trail on the grounds again, where we always saw something interesting, if only the reisdent mot mots and fabulous hummingbirds. On rhe last day we saw two gorgeous green toucanets in close trees on the path.
Tuesday we took a 7am taxi to the Rio blanco reserve. (you must call and get permission first to go and must hire one of their guides). Indeed this is beautiful forest! Our guide was a nice guy, but not a very ambitious or particularly knowledgeable bird guide, so we probably saw less than possible. Still we found a quetzal and a trogon on our own and eventually other new birds S well. We were up there a out 4 hours and the guide did work hard listing the birds we'd seen for us. We ran into a group of birdwatchers from US on tour with guide.
The following day we left el recinto with regret. Bid goodbye to our desk clerk friend Orlando who had been super helpful to us. Taxi ti the Manizales bus station. Then 8 $ bus ride of 2 and a half hours to
Armenia to hop a small collectivo to this lovely little mountain town of Salento. Here we are at the charming and rustic Hostal Ciudad del Segorbe, basic small room with comfortable bed and tiny bath with great shower for under $40. Very helpful nice owners here. Town wakes up early, so we won't be sleeping late here. Walked the steep steps to thw town mirador yesterday at sunset. Another spectaculat valley view- looking toward the famous valle de cocora near here. Tomorrow we will do the popular hike to that valley to see the famous wax palm trees, the protected national tree of Colombia.
Our Los Nevados day trip was. Long but interesting day. Husband had wanted to go all the way up and spend one night in the cabins at El Cisne, but it seemed from the info that we were able to get that it would be very expensive, so we opted for the day trip, for which we pId a still rather expensive sum of $60 each. We were picked up at pur hotel about 7:30 by full mid sized tour bus with SpAnish speaking guide. Another long hairy mountain drive with spectacular scenery, with delays Long the way for the ubiquitous "obras en la via". Road work. A stop for a typical breakfast (included). Few stops after we reached the fascinating moonscape like paramo area at about 15,000 feet. We did a short steep hike up to stand in snow. Needless to say all the other colombian tourists were more excited by snow than we. But it was amazing up there. On the way back we stopped for a nice typical lunch ( included)
A nice couple on our bus from Medellin befriended us, so we worked our Spanish at lunch. They also were kind enough to show us the ropes at the final in luded stop at Termales de Otono near Manizales.
Natural hot springs swimming pools. We enjpyed taking in that whole scene. Our friends bought us a beer. But we were too wimpy to do as the locals did, get out of the hot pools, take a cold shower, and get back in. After an hour at the pools we got back in the bus and zoomed down the dark hairpin turn road back to down. We were dropped at pur hotel at about 7:30. Poopes the next day, a Monday, we hung T the hotel, did internet, and walked the nature trail on the grounds again, where we always saw something interesting, if only the reisdent mot mots and fabulous hummingbirds. On rhe last day we saw two gorgeous green toucanets in close trees on the path.
Tuesday we took a 7am taxi to the Rio blanco reserve. (you must call and get permission first to go and must hire one of their guides). Indeed this is beautiful forest! Our guide was a nice guy, but not a very ambitious or particularly knowledgeable bird guide, so we probably saw less than possible. Still we found a quetzal and a trogon on our own and eventually other new birds S well. We were up there a out 4 hours and the guide did work hard listing the birds we'd seen for us. We ran into a group of birdwatchers from US on tour with guide.
The following day we left el recinto with regret. Bid goodbye to our desk clerk friend Orlando who had been super helpful to us. Taxi ti the Manizales bus station. Then 8 $ bus ride of 2 and a half hours to
Armenia to hop a small collectivo to this lovely little mountain town of Salento. Here we are at the charming and rustic Hostal Ciudad del Segorbe, basic small room with comfortable bed and tiny bath with great shower for under $40. Very helpful nice owners here. Town wakes up early, so we won't be sleeping late here. Walked the steep steps to thw town mirador yesterday at sunset. Another spectaculat valley view- looking toward the famous valle de cocora near here. Tomorrow we will do the popular hike to that valley to see the famous wax palm trees, the protected national tree of Colombia.
Feb 4th, 2012, 02:15 PM
#20
Original Poster
Join Date: Aug 2003
Posts: 1,256
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Susan, well maybe we will run into you then! We'll be the woman with the short white hair and the bald guy with beard, probably exhibiting a number of what I've just read are fodors travel fashion faux pas-
Zip off pants, though our socks with sandals look won't be needed in Cartegena, ha ha.
Rivet! Hello! Wish i could say my Spanish is showing vast improvement, but alas . . .
We're moving around too much to take any classes really. And the thing is, I've learned the grammar 100 times over the years. Practice is what i continue to need. And I am getting that. I think my speaking may be improving a little, but I'm disappointed in my comprehension. If these people would just cooperate and speak at a snails pace,I'd be fine. Increasing vocabulary is difficult too because I find that i forget new words. And, for some reason. I am often unsure of first and third person verb endings in past tense. Despite having learned them 100 times. Maybe I'm getting senile.
Zip off pants, though our socks with sandals look won't be needed in Cartegena, ha ha.
Rivet! Hello! Wish i could say my Spanish is showing vast improvement, but alas . . .
We're moving around too much to take any classes really. And the thing is, I've learned the grammar 100 times over the years. Practice is what i continue to need. And I am getting that. I think my speaking may be improving a little, but I'm disappointed in my comprehension. If these people would just cooperate and speak at a snails pace,I'd be fine. Increasing vocabulary is difficult too because I find that i forget new words. And, for some reason. I am often unsure of first and third person verb endings in past tense. Despite having learned them 100 times. Maybe I'm getting senile.
