El Dorado airport, Bogotá- Arrivals. We stand outside the main doors of the terminal building, still clothed in the thick layers we slipped into 24 hours prior; 8’442 km away. It is Christmas Eve, and we are waiting for Andres, our trusted taxi driver to come and relieve us from the wobbling tower of suitcases balancing on the airport trolley beside us.
Yes, we can safely say our visit to Switzerland and the UK was a roaring success. The days were spent catching up with our loved ones, playing in the snow and ice, and stuffing our faces with foods we had missed over the last three years. Our six weeks were busy every single day but each minute spent in the presence of friends and family and every tedious check-in made at Bogota, Madrid, Zürich and London was well worth it. Thank you so much Peter (Richie’s Dad) for this wonderful opportunity!
So, back in Colombia with a renewed tourist visa in our passports, we were ready to embark on the second act of our Colombian adventure. This didn’t take long to get going because Jorge the owner of the trucking warehouse where Silverskin had been stored was expecting us. His family who lives around the corner had spontaneously invited us to celebrate Christmas with them. This involved a Turkey dinner at 10 pm followed by a countdown to Baby Jesus’ birthday at midnight. We were jet-lagged, had been up 24 hours and were feeling a little delicate, but we couldn’t turn down this generous offer and there were no regrets in doing so either. At the stroke of midnight, fireworks fill the night sky with their vivid greens, purples, golds and blues and each member of the family gets to open one present from under the tree.
We were surprised to discover that one of these gifts had Zoe’s name written on it. It may have been a spontaneous event for us but these guys had clearly been preparing for this celebration for a while. We were deeply touched once again by the hospitality one finds on the road.
After receiving her new Barbie doll, we joined the rest of the family on the terrace to wave sparklers and gaze up at the grand spectacle above us. There was definitely more of a feeling of New Years than that of Christmas but it so aptly marked the beginning of new exciting adventures for us.
Four hours later and we wake up to Jetlag’s knocking call. Christmas isn’t over in our camper and our excited little bunny is wondering whether the Santa we celebrate in Europe has acknowledged her new whereabouts. No doubt about it! Jorge’s tree inside the garage is decorated with enormous baubles and twinkling lights and a decent amount of gift-wrapped presents nestle beneath it.
Zoe soon transforms herself into a Disney princess and we ready ourselves for another Christmas meal. This time one more familiar to that of home. An American/British one, shared with our travelling friends, @hourlesslife.
They have rented an Airbnb 15 minutes away and have kindly invited us to join them for the festivities. Poor Brittany has caught something nasty but we chance the gathering and enjoy sharing roast Turkey with all the trimmings and pulling a cracker over the table (British touch).
Caught up on sleep – the next day we venture out into the government district. We may have the right to stay in the country for three more months but our Silverskin doesn’t, his TIP (Temporary Import Permit) needs renewing and with Richie and Zoe holding brand-spanking new passports, the online process wasn’t going to be so straightforward. So we decided to find the office downtown and simply do it in person. Well, such an office was not so easy to find, and after being passed from pillar to post, we decide to call it a day and just do some sightseeing instead.
Thanks to our very trusty app iOverlander we find out that an office just outside the airport could handle our affairs. And that they did. Two visits later, one where we had to bring Silverskin in, we were good to go and explore Grand Colombia again.
We decided to move on to Cota. You may remember from our last post speaking of ‘@Overland Sally’. He was responsible for taking care of the foreigners at the Overland Fest. Well, his services aren’t limited to just festivals. Juan (the name he goes by usually) and his wife, Lali are happy to share their knowledge of all things Colombia and welcome Overlanders to drop by, especially if they’re in need of some repairs or new off-roading gear. They make custom-made accessories (@4×4 gadgets,) and we were definitely keen on getting some new practical additions for Silverskin. We soon placed our orders with a shoe rack, a behind-the-seat organiser for Zoe’s road trip activities and a ‘Trasharoo’- a space where we can store all our charcoal, on the list.
New Year’s Eve was approaching and Cota seemed like the best place to run errands such as haircuts and dentist appointments before starting the new year fresh. It was still close enough to go and eat out at fancy restaurants in the capital and reunite with friends. Rodney and Heather were in town and we wanted to say thank you to Andres and Pilar for helping organise safe storage for Silverskin while we were away. We all met up at a Lebanese in the Usaquén district.
The last evening of 2022 was spent in our Cota carpark over a ‘Lomo Al Trapo’, sharing stories of New Year’s traditions across the globe. As well as sending fireworks soaring into the sky, the Colombians are known to pop a grape into their mouth for each of the 12 strikes at midnight. Each grape brings good luck for the 12 months of the upcoming year. Some Colombians would also go as far as carrying lentils in their pockets, supposedly bringing in money and prosperity for the new season. That might explain why I saw a considerable amount of people trying to sell lentils to me on the streets of Cota.
50km northeast of Bogota lies Laguna de Guatavita. Our location to celebrate the start of the new year. We join Andres and Pilar, their daughter Marianna and Abuela as they roof tent with their Dodge Ram by the shore of what Colombians once believed was a lake of gold. According to Lonely Planet, the Muisca people once believed this lake was “created by a crashing meteor that transported a golden god who resided in the lake’s floor.” (August 2015 edition) There were many offerings made by the tribal leader, offerings of gold pendants and figurines (known as tunjos). The tribal leader would throw those items, which were inscribed with wishes, into the lake before plunging in himself to obtain godlike power. Over the centuries that followed, many people have made huge attempts to get their hands on these items including a huge drainage operation in the lagoon, leaving an English man very bankrupt.
Here on the first day of 2023, the only tunjos that can be found are those that are now housed in ‘The Museo del Oro’. We don’t mind, we have our own version of gold. Crispy golden pork crackling, known here in the Americas as Chicharrone. Richie had purchased a big slab of pork belly and cooked up a storm for all our camping neighbours.
Catedral de Sal, Zipaquira- considered one of the seven wonders of Colombia. It is a Roman Catholic Church built 200 meters below the ground within the salt mines.
After, leaving the lake of gold, we make a beeline to this huge tourist attraction, which lies 60km away. We pull up in the carpark mid-afternoon, next to two other Overlanders (yes, according to iOverlander one can spend the night there too). It is still festive season, and the queues are said to be long but as synchronicities go, @makroadventure (from Switzerland) and @joyce_visual_roadtrip_ (the Netherlands), and the three of us decide to take on the deep underground tunnels of salt together.
The church which is still active with 3000 parishioners attending weekly is indeed carved out of salt. The walls are made of salt and salt stalactites drape from the low ceilings. It is indeed a wonder!
It is said that the cathedral started out as a small sanctuary around 1932. The miners wanted a base for their daily prayers, seeking protection over their day’s work. This then became part of a bigger project and was inaugurated as a cathedral in 1952.
After visiting the stations of the cross and watching an impressive laser presentation on creation, we ventured out into the pouring rain, prying Zoe away from licking yet another salty wall.
We veered away from salt entering a region full of sweet surprises. The region of Boyacá. You may remember from our last post getting a taste for Boyacá’s natural charm when visiting the oh-so-famous ‘Villa de Leyva’. Well, as promised we were back for more and certainly couldn’t get enough of the vibrant, colourful, quirky pueblos dotted across the lush green valleys. Unlike Santander every colonial town in Boyacà is unique. Raquirà for its giant pottery, Tibasosa for its feijoa delicacies (and so it appeared Encanto exhibition), and Iza for its puffy meringue. In fact, the morning after our romantic soak under the stars at ‘Balneario Erika’ (it was our 11th wedding anniversary after all), our walk into the neighbouring town Iza was like stepping into one giant cream cake. Each tienda and restaurant, lined around the square was decorated with an array of tantalising desserts, and the ladies crossing the cobbled streets with their enormous pavlova platters certainly had us giving into temptation at breakfast. The strawberry-creamed meringues were way too good to share!
Another pretty town worth mentioning is that of Pueblito Boyacense, which lies just outside Duitama. Or should we call it pretty sightseeing attraction? One has to pay entry to roam its alleyways and visiting hours are limited (9 am-9 pm). Yes, although people live in the houses, this village has been made solely for tourism and it appears; was a pretty recent idea too, opening its doors in 1996. There are seven blocks to explore, each representing a pueblo in Boyacà. I guess we were not the only ones who loved this state. The Colombians are so proud they’ve made a mini replica.
Well, we only got so far before getting pulled over for an interview. This time for the local TV station. They of course wanted to film inside our camper and the next thing we knew we were driving off leaving this model village behind, ready to take a deeper look at Boyaca’s most famous one, Villa de Leyve.
As a thank you for participating in the TV interview, our presenter arranged for us to have a private tour at the Chocolate Museum in Villa de Leyva. She had called the manager, telling him to expect a visit from us the next day.
We obediently followed instructions only to find out that the manager was in a meeting. Not to worry, we did treat ourselves to some very delicious chocolate drinks and desserts in the cafe and bumped into someone who remembered us from the Overland Fest on our way out.
Miguel, Liz and Amelia were taking a little holiday in Villa de Leyva at the time but urged us to visit their family’s tomato farm north of the region later that week. We of course said yes, saw another beautiful Boyacán pueblo, Santa Sofia, and experienced more of the wonderful Colombian hospitality. Zoe enjoyed playing with her new friend and tending to the animals on the farm.
Needless to say, we would have happily spent more time in this company but Bogotá was calling.
Brittany from Hourlesslife was undergoing a major operation and we had said we would help take care of her six-year-old son, Caspian. So that we did. With the help of Juan from ‘Overland Sally’, we found a perfect carpark just around the corner from their Airbnb in El Chico. Visits to the Science Museum, the Teleferico y Funicular Monserrate, El Chico parks and malls were had in the day, and meals out to themed restaurants in the evenings.
…and when in the El Chico neighbourhood, one must definitely check out the local German brewery! Actually, in true ‘Meataroundtheworld’ style, one thing leads to another. We meet a Venezuelan overland fanatic in the El Chico supermarket, who introduces us to a German cerveceria in the neighbourhood, which has us meeting the owner at a later date at a hot air balloon festival and then further alters our plans entirely- embarking on the most daring trip we have made so far- the Orinoco expedition. We will save that one for our next post.
Thanks for reading, and we’ll ‘meat’ you guys around the world!
