Footloose in Bogotá (Colombia 10)

Bogotá was supposed to be an airport stop before connecting to a US-bound flight. The Avianca flight from Cartagena flew around and around the mountains for an hour, then returned to Cartagena. OK, no USA flight that day. When we finally reached Bogotá, Avianca put us up in the elegant Sheraton Hotel. What to do with a spare day? Easy, hire a retired opera singer and car for a tour to the cultural core of the city.

Bogotá is the capital and largest city of Colombia, and is a vibrant metropolis of 10 million people. It is the center of government, industry, and universities in the country. Spanish conquistador Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada founded Bogotá to be the capital of the New Kingdom of Granada in 1538, making this one of the oldest capitals in the Americas. For a casual visitor just getting off a plane, it might be a bit overwhelming.

Cathedral Basilica Metropolitan & Primate of the Immaculate Conception & Saint Peter of Bogotá (1807-1823)

Most tourists go to the Candelaria district. La Candelaria is Bogotá's historic 17th century Old City.  The architecture of the old houses, churches and buildings are an interesting mixture of Spanish Colonial, Baroque, art deco, and some post-modern residential. This area also has universities, libraries, museums and government buildings. Oh, and lots of coffee shops!

Plaza Bolívar after the rain (Leica M2, Fuji Acros film)

No, he won't poop on your shoulder. Bolívar Square

Plaza de Bolívar or Plaza Bolívar is the main central plaza in La Candelaria. This is where people gather, laugh, take selfies, dodge the pigeons, and occasionally demonstrate or riot. Interesting place.

As you can see, there are outdoors art classes and lectures, narrow alleys dating back to the 1500s, and students everywhere. Public art is a major theme throughout the country. Recall the Parque El Gato De Tejada in Cali, that I photographed earlier in the trip.

Hanging out at a coffee shop

Well, after another coffee, it was time for some culture at the Museo Botero del Banco de la Republica at Calle 11 No. 4-41.

Fernando Botero has a unique vision of the people in his world. OK, they are a bit chubby - maybe they ate too much of the excellent Colombian cuisine. From the Museo Botero:

In the year 2000, Fernando Botero donated an art collection of 208 pieces to Banco de la República. 123 of these were his personal artwork and 85 were from his private collection of renowned international artists. Based on this collection, the Botero Museum was founded. The museum is located in the La Candelaria neighborhood, a historical section of Bogota, in a colonial house that until 1955 served as the office of the archbishop. The house was restored and adapted by Banco de la República to become a museum, under the guidance and curatorship of the master artist himself. As of the first of November, 2000, the collection has been available at no charge to the public every day, except on Tuesdays.

This has been an all too short of a stopover in Bogotá. There is much more to see - some other year. I spent a short time here in the early 1980s, another life when I worked for the geotechnical company. But I could not find any negatives from that era. 

The black and white frames are from Fuji Acros film exposed in a Leica M2 camera. The color frames are from a Moto G5 mobile phone.

Thank you all for coming along for the ride. Explore your world, always look for new experiences, peoples, food, climates, and geology. And take film pictures.

Footloose at the Sausage Restaurant, Santa Rosa De Cabal (Colombia 09)

Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to eat sausages

Oh oh, danger, the tourists were hungry and bus-weary. Even more danger: one of the popular sausage restaurants in Santa Rosa de Cabal beckoned to us. La Portada Campestre No. 2 (Sector la Postrera, Km 1 Via, Santa Rosa de Cabal, Risaralda, Colombia) is a road house famous for its sausages and hearty meals. Hmm, the entire town is famous for its sausages. Great town. 

The sausage-master works out on the sidewalk at the charcoal grill. You can see what you will get. Many rural Greek restaurants are set up like this, too. If you do not want a sausage, a mega steak will satisfy your most carnivorous needs.

The cooks in the kitchen make the other parts of your meal. 

Indoor or outdoor dining - everyone was having a good time.

Jeep art was the theme here, along with sausage art, of course. This was well-done folk art.

Traditional Willys and similar real Jeeps from the 1940s and 1950s are popular here in the coffee-growing country. Many have been restored and have become cultural icons. A coffee planter told me that these Jeeps were imported after World War II to replace mules on coffee plantations. These old ones were narrow, light, and had narrow tires, perfect for steep hillsides and muddy trails. The bloated soft play-Jeeplets favored in American suburbia are too wide and unreliable for real work on coffee plantations. 

After this immense meal, we proceeded back to Cali, snoozing off as we digested. Thank you for riding along!

Our next destination was Cartagena de Indias, the lovely tropical sunny town on the Caribbean:

Getsemaní district

Old Town

Footloose on Los Nevados (Colombia 08)

We were amazed; humming birds live and thrive at 4100 m (13,500 ft) elevation in the Parque Nacional Natural Los Nevados. Obviously, there are enough blossoms with nectar to sustain these little guys. They definitely do better than we sea-level-sissy tourists do in this thin air. But, surprisingly, none of us got sick or even felt particularly fatigued.

The visitor center served us coca tea (mate de coca), which is supposed to reduce altitude effects. But I looked at the package ingredients, and the amount of coca was so minuscule, it really was just over-sweetened tea. Oh, well.

The plants up here in the mists are quite spectacular - unusual succulents, lichens, and fungi. The fog and drizzle blows in and out, revealing an amazing garden of unusual plant life, bathed in the soft light.

Lava flows, Los Nevados

In color, the light is mellow. In black an white, it is almost ominous.

Hotel Termales del Ruiz, Los Nevados, Colombia

We stayed at the Hotel Termales del Ruiz, which is built literally over a hot spring. The oldest part of the complex was built in 1937, and during the post-war era, thrived as a ski center and hydrotherapy center. Being at 3500m elevation (11,500 ft), the air is brisk. The accommodations were very nice; the restaurant was OK needed a bit of organization or efficiency management. The hot pools were divine.

The area boasts 14 different hot springs, varying in temperature between 28º and 91º Celsius, with waters of different chemical conditions.

Chair with a view, Hotel Termales del Ruiz, Los Nevados

This ends our short sojourn on the Los Nevados volcano. The hiking trails to the summit area were closed when we were there due to active volcanism, but I would like to return some day to do some hiking (there are a thousand places to which I would like to return some day....).

The black and white photographs are from Fuji Acros film exposed with a Leica M2 camera.

Footloose in Manizales (Colombia 07)

Room with a view: Manizales from the Varuna Hotel

We spent a few nights in Manizales. This is a fascinating town perched on a ridge-top, the capital of the Department of Caldas, and near the Nevado del Ruiz volcano. The ridge runs approximately east-west, and to the north and south, the mountain drops off steeply. How did anyone choose to build a town here at about 7,000 ft altitude? Was there dependable drinking water? 

Manizales aerial commuter tramway (Fuji Acros film, Leica M2 camera)

The roads are twisty and windy, really interesting. To save us from a seep mountain ascent and (uurp) car-sickness, our van left us at the bottom terminal of the Cable Aereo Manizales aerial tramway. Thousands of commuters use this daily to get to and from work or school. Most of us associate a tramway as having a bottom and a top station, as on a mountain resort, but this one has intermediate stations. Think of a subway where you can get off or on at any station you select, but instead you are up in the air.

Cable Aereo stations

View from the gondola (Jan. 25, 2019)

Tramways have operated in the city since the 1920s, but this one was built by Leitner Ropeways and inaugurated in 2009. In ten years, it has carried 30 million passengers. It can also carry victims of medical emergencies. Tramways are slowly becoming more common in hilly cities that have traffic problems (e.g., almost any modern city). Even Ankara has an aerial tram today.

Calle 26, Manizales

Calle 24, Manizales. Note the fellow on the scooter

I told you the side streets are steep. 

Carrera 23, Manizales

We walked along the main shopping street, Carrera 23, towards the cathedral. The place was packed with wall-to-wall people. Latin towns are like this at dusk; people are out forgathering, enjoying the end of the work day, and seeing and being seen.

Stores and sidewalk vendors sold all sorts of merchandise, clothing, electronics, foods, and drinks. No one paid any attention to us. "Oh, some more doofy tourists."

The neo-Gothic Catedral Basílica Metropolitana de Nuestra Señora del Rosario dominates the Plaza de Bolívar downtown. It is an unusual reinforced concrete structure, begun in 1929 and completed in 1959. The height of 106m for the top of the tower places this cathedral in a ranking of tallest churches in the world. Unfortunately, it was too late in the day for us to climb up into the tower to the balcony. 

Who takes selfies in front of the cathedral? Answer, everyone. 

Dear Readers, this has been our short visit to Manizales. It is an interesting city with an innovative means to address the topography and traffic issues. On your next trip to Colombia, make a point to visit Manizales.

Footloose in Buga (Colombia 06)

Guadalajara de Buga, in the Valle del Caucais department, is a mid-size city in the central valley north of Cali. It is one of the oldest cities in Colombia, having been founded in 1555 by Giraldo Gil de Estupiñán. 

Roughing it with croissants and coffee, Hotel Guadalajara Buga

We stayed a night after descending from birding in the coastal mountains. The rest of the group left at 06:00 to look at birds in the reservoir and wetlands, but we decided to enjoy a luxurious breakfast and explore the city. The Hotel Guadalajara Buga, a historic hotel from 1954, was really nice - I like roughing it like this.

Gentlemen of Buga

We walked downtown along Carrera 14 towards the Parque, Jose Maria Cabal. This is a busy place! Folks were out enjoying the good weather, chatting, eating, sharing stories, and just hanging around.

Of course, there were plenty of vendors with produce of various sorts.

Mid-morning, quick, what do you do? Drink a Colombian espresso, of course.

Calle 8, Buga

Calle 7a, Buga

Carrera 13, Buga

This town is bustling with commercial activity. But stay off the street when the motor-scooters are buzzing towards you! I almost got smushed once.

Basilica Del Señor de los Milagros, Buga

The Basilica of The Lord of the Miracles is an impressive pink complex of buildings and church. It receives 3 million pilgrims every year. We walked around and looked at the crypts. 

When most of you read this, it will be winter in North America and Europe. You will not be seeing a fruit and vegetable stand like this for a long time. Savor and think about the flavors of ripe produce, real food. 

I love exploring thriving towns like this. And I like to see all the street activity. 

Most of the photographs are from Fuji Acros 100 film, exposed through my Leica M2 camera with 35mm and 50mm Summicron lenses. I use a Gossen Luna Pro Digital light meter in the field to measure exposure. The fruit vendor is Kodak Ektar 100 color film from a Yashica Electro 35CC camera. Click and photograph to expand to 1600 pixels on the long dimension.

Stand by for more Colombia photographs and thank you for following along..