The family and friends explorers club went south for Christmas and New Years. Colombia has been on the destination backlog for many years. Now that the internal conflict between the government and FARC has ended (mostly) and the flow of drugs shifted toward Mexico, it’s time to get going.

When we told people where we were going, the number one question was is it safe? Here are some of the articles we read that assured us, it’s a great place to visit.

When in Colombia, the top question we were asked from Colombians we met was “is the US as dangerous for kids as we hear about? How do you send your kids to school with all your shootings?

Our amazing travel concierge from Argentina, Madi, had expanded her business and chose Colombia as the next Country to organize trips. So we called Madi and she put together an incredible itinerary,

Itinerary

  • Fly PDX > ATL > BOG (This seems to be the least painful way to get there). Leave 6am arrive 7:30 PM
  • Bogota Dec 20-25
  • Fly to Medellin on Christmas day
  • Medellin Dec 25-29
  • Fly to Cartagena Dec 29
  • Cartagena Dec 29-Jan 4th
  • Fly home from Cartagena > Atlanta (overnight) > Portland

Bogota


After a delayed flight out of Portland, we touched down in Atlanta with 30 minutes to transfer to our Bogota flight but we were held on the tarmac for another 10 minutes. Eventually getting off the plane we sprinted across the Atlanta airport arriving to our flight boarding. The flight was smooth to Bogota but we arrived to a massive 1.5 hour immigration line. O used the time to chat with everyone around us including a dog.

After customs, our host Monica met us and we all climbed in a van for the trip into town. We arrived around 10pm at our small boutique hotel, Casa Legado.

We didn’t sleep much the first night a bar next door played loud music until 4am. The hotel was a highlight – the first couple nights our two families were the only ones there. A few guests arrived later in the week. Each morning there was a full breakfast with local fruits, bread and eggs of some sort.

On Saturday, we met Monica at nine for a city tour. We started taking the tram up the side of a mountain to Monserrate, a church and monetary at the top of a steep hill. As we approached the tram, Monica mentioned the tram brakes had recently failed and crashed hospitalizing 25 tourists. We let her know that information is better shared AFTER we take the tram.

We survived and spent about an hour checking out the city views and sights at the top. We tried coca tea made with the leaves of the coca plant which is native to South America. While it is made from the same plant that cocaine is made from, it’s legal in Columbia, Peru, Bolivia, Argentina and Ecuador. We found it had a similar effect as coffee and is good for altitude sickness.

After returning by tram we drove to a bar to play Tejo. The game is usually played in dive bars with buckets of beer. Similar to horseshoes you throw a metal disc at a board covered in clay with explosives (mecha) buried in the middle. If you hit and explode a mecha you get 3 points.

We continued exploring the city.

Next stop was into the back alley to find a woman that sold Chicha, a fermented corn beer. I wouldn’t say we liked the taste but the experience was moving.

We had lunch at Prudencia, the first of many amazing meals in Colombia. The craft food scene is on in Bogota.

That night, getting more comfortable with the neighborhood, we walked around and found Huerta Coctelería Artesanal, an unique and amazing craft cocktail bar. Later during the pandemic, the bar-tender led a cocktail class over zoom for a group of friends.

Sunday we woke up, had a great breakfast at the hotel and then met Monica who was taking the kids to a sports club outside of Bogota. We played pool, soccer and the girls rode horses. Dinner was at Crepes and Waffles (really good for fast casual).

Monday we headed to Plaza de Mercado and did some exploring and trying out some new fruits and coffee. At the end, we ran into a guy selling a multi-tool who asked the kids for some help improve his sales pitch… and of course we bought a few knives.

That afternoon we met up with some young entrepreneurs who started a book binding and screen printing business. We created some custom screen printed shirts (with their help).

Then a late lunch, early dinner at Nueve, which was another one of our favorite meals even though kid energy was dropping fast.

Bogota had lots of parks with exercise equipment that the kids HAD to try every time we went by. Helped up the energy level for our last day in Bogota.

Tuesday (Christmas Eve) flight to Medellin

The trip continued with our short flight to Medellin…

Continue reading part 2 “Medellin”

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Published by Expedition Leader

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