Quebrada la vieja: Nature hike in the middle of Bogota

So I went on a walk this morning to a place friends had recommended that's not listed anywhere on the internet that I could find and not on google maps -- a tragedy! It's great! A nature-filled hike right in downtown Bogota.

Tucked in behind some apartment buildings to the east just off the circunvalar in Bogota (between 70 and 72) is this great walking trail.

Part of it follows a road up to an army storage cave, and the rest is a walking trail that criss-crosses a gushing stream, following what look like an indigenous path up a valley (anyone who's been to the lost city will be familiar with these!). Near the top the roosters crow from a small farm, where unfortunately, I had to turn back because the gates close. The best part, especially for Colombia, is that it's safe -- police were scattered all along the path, and it's only open from 7-10 from Monday to Saturday (not Sundays or Festivos), so there are other walkers on the route. No one's allowed to enter after 9, and while I walked out the gate at 10.15, and others were behind me, the police told me they always close before 10.30, but earlier most days.

The coolest gate for walkers I've seen -- no need to use the gate!

Guadelupe and Choachi

Guadelupe 3300m

It is every tourist's mission while in Bogota to go up the famous Monserrate, whether by funicular, gondola or a steep walk on a Sunday morning. Very few foreigners make it to the twin hill, Guadelupe's top, however. We made it our mission to get there today. It was not an easy journey. We took a transmilenio to the Tercer Milenio station, where the busses up the hill park nearby. However, today was the first Sunday of the month (a special time), and it was Lent. This meant that the mountain was extremely crowded. The collectivo busses couldn't get up the hill for all the traffic, so we had to walk up. It was about a 40 minute walk up from where it dropped us off, and when we saw how far it should have taken us, we wished it had gotten further than what it did.

Aside from the tacky religious souvenirs for sale, and multiple fried bread, meat snacks and cheese with jam and arequipe snacks, there was not much space at the top. A mass was being held so all the people had spilled out of the church onto every available chair. There must be mass going on all day by the look of the crowds! It was a pleasant walk down the road to the main road.

View of Bogota with Monserrate in front on the hill. 

The view from Guadelupe looking over the hills behind to our way to Choachi.

Choachi 1900m
Ever since Julian told me about the hot pools in Choachi, reached via a gorgeous drive, I have wanted to go. What a spectacular drive it was! Sheer cliffs drop off what was the level of 3000m to around 1900m in true canyon fashion, with striation and colors and gaping chasms. The road disappeared for a while and when we looked back up and saw the precarious bridge we had crossed we were amazed.

The town center in Choachi is similar to many other colonial era towns in Colombia with a church perched on a town square surrounded by shops and cafes. We wandered into a cute little hotel, and then found a great little restaurant just off the square. We took a bus out to the hot springs (1500 pesos, 2.5km), but decided it was too crowded, too over-manicured, too overpriced, and not rustic enough, so came back again. Oops, wasn't that why we were there? We wandered up the hill to the buses going home, past the cute little chivitas (tuk tuks), waving to our football team friends, for a spectacular view on the ride home.

Information:
Getting there: Transmilenio H93 goes to Tercer Milenio from our area up north. The collectivos up to Guadelupe are 1450 pesos and leave as they fill up. We do not recommend going on the first Sunday of the month, and on other days of the week, security on the road can be an issue. Unlike Monserrate, there are no full restaurants up Guadelupe, although there are lots of snacks -- I even found some nougar (touron).

Collectivos to Choachi leave from the same station, or you can pick one up on the road there (such as at the turnoff up to Guadelupe) for 8500 pesos. It takes around 1 hour to get there. A nice hotel with a Mexican flavor in the center of town is Casa Espinel at www.choachimilco.com 313 892 3710 (around 80-100000 pesos per night). We do not recommend Hotel Central (which shows up on Google Maps) -- it looks cheap and shady! There is also the Hotel Santa Monica on whose grounds the thermal baths are -- around 250000 per night. To enter the hot pools it is 26000 per day (domingos and festivos) or 21000 Mon-Sat. 

These slippers make me happy

Not just because I won't slip out of them and fall on the stairs and drop water everywhere, but I enjoy looking at them. How can you not smile? They are fuzzy and cute and have glow in the dark toes!

Seasons Greetings 2012

Seasons Greetings 2012! Hope you had a Merry Christmas and that your new year will be wonderful.

I brought in the new year in Shiraz, Iran, where it was very quiet and subdued, as their new year is in April. While we were in Iran we also went to Persepolis, Bishapur and to Qeshm Island off the coast, which you can read about by clicking on the links! It is such a beautiful, hospitable country. After that, I tried very hard to get an Azeri visa, but was unable to due to the new rules. Instead, I spent the time in Dubai with my parents before returning to Bogota.

I did much more travelling in Colombia this year, going to Villavicencio in Los Llanos (the plains), and the eerie high Andean Chingaza National Park with its unusual tundra-like vegetaion, and in June, off the Caribbean coast where the seven ocean color tones of Isla San Andres and Providencia proved true. During my July holiday, I fulfilled a long-held goal of mine to walk in the Sierra Nevada National Park where I climbed to the Lost City -- an amazing jungle city of the Tayrona people that was ¨lost¨ until 1975 when the grave-robbers´ new stash of gold significantly affected the gold market triggering alarms and then a search. Afterwards, I also spent time in Cartagena, such a gem!

During the Easter holidays, I dived into Peru. Machu Piccu is many a Traveller's dream and I expected to feel underwhelmed, but it lived up to expectations.... an incredible place in a beautiful location. I wanted to do the Inca trail but had hurt my ankle in March, but taking the train and walking all around was plenty! Peru also had many other delights that I had not expected. Lake Titicaca was interesting, but not nearly as good as the Nazca lines, the Huacachina Oasis, or the Colca Canyon gorge. Loved the cities of Arequipa and Cuzco, and Lima had a lot going on, too. I didn't feel like I'd seen hardly any of the country, however: the more I see, the more I discover other things I want to see!

One thing I've wanted to do for years is related to the Darien Gap, which is the one barrier between driving from the top of North America to the bottom of South America, an area so wild there are several rebel groups and paramilitaries that fight over territory. It is near impossible to cross it, but the alternative is to go around it, so I took a yacht from Cartagena da Indias to the San Blas Islands in Panama. It was around 30 hours to cross the strait and then we spent a blissful 5 days in the San Blas islands, before being deposited in Panama City. Was lucky enough for return to Panama with my students for a Model United Nations conference in October, in the middle of the rioting and protests, so several afternoons, including the closing ceremony were cancelled, but we made it to the canal, much to many of my students despair.
I spent the rest of the summer elsewhere in Central America, exploring the ancient Mayan cities of Chichen Itza, Tulum, and Tikal. I love the cenotes (sinkholes), the amazing diving and the gorgeous beaches. One of the highlights was whale encounter #1: whale sharks off of Cancun, where they swim in their hundreds on the surface of the water. The incredible beasts are covered in spots, a fingerprint of uniqueness, and are harmless to humans as they swish past you. Snorkellers are permitted, but touching and diving is not. What an amazing experience! Have wanted to go to Belize for years, and loved diving the Blue Hole and snorkelling to see the sharks and rays even if we didn´t see a manatee, and the caves in the mountain are excellent. Tikal--- an ancient Guatemalan jungle city of awesome proportions! Semac Champey, also in Guatemala, an unusualy rock formation, was followed by a wonderful catch-up with a friend from Burma, Cecile. What a wonderful year it was for Myanmar. It was so special to hear of Barak Obama visiting that place so close to my heart. Anyone who lived there and saw the suffering of the people can only have felt wonder at watching such a historical event take place and hope for the future, despite the short term hardships in transition such as huge inflation, uncertainty, and rapid changes.


For my October break I diverged from the norm and took a solo trip to the island of Gorgona, off the Pacific coast of Colombia. Very isolated and quite difficult to get to, it is a haven for diving and whales. Thus saw whale encounter #2: I swam with humpback whales, a mother and her baby, as they swam south. Up close and in the water with them they are awe-inspiring. The island was a prison at one stage, with some political prisoners held here. Being on Gorgona, I was cut off from civilization for the week in a misty quiet place of reflection: just what I needed. I took on a head of department role in August at my school in Bogota and am finding that my work day is very long and my private time is precious and limited, so the respite was amazing. Incidentally, I have decided to stay another year in Colombia, so will be here until June 2014. Colombia is such an amazing place, under visited, and much much safer than its reputation. There are so many wonders and different places to see and things to do; its very close to North America. Please come and visit before I leave!!

In November I was privileged to visit the Amazon again with my school. In a reversal of typical schools, my school in Colombia has more men than women, so I as one of the only females in upper Bach I was able to go the the Amazon a second time! The Colombian Amazon is small, and in reality we jet across to Peru and into Brazil without ever leaving Colombia officially, but I love the birds, the jungle, the water and was thrilled to see alligators, pink and grey dolphins, spiders, parrots, tucans, monkeys and other amazing things. Returning, my proud moment of the year was two-fold as I became an Aunty to my brother's son Timothy and bought a house in the same week. I have been looking at properties in my hometown, Queenstown for the last couple of years and finally settled on one, but I will be poor for a while!

The delight of my year though has been in anticipation of my Christmas trip: Antarctica! On December 18th a friend and I set sail for a 10-day voyage in the Antarctic peninsula and the islands off its western coast. The voyage of a lifetime: it has been truly fantastic. Asking other passengers on the ship over the heavy dinners, we all agree that seeing the volume of ice in the glaciers and ice caps and in the icebergs that have dotted out path has been a humbling experience. The whales, seals and penguins truly rule down here and our insignificance in nature and the harm humans are so capable of becomes clear - I felt the global warming every day of the trip -- it was practically balmy. I wanted to become a penguinologist and wished I'd studied to be a marine biologist to follow my lovely whales around the world. This, of course, was whale encounter #3. Humpbacks and minke whales breaching, diving under the small zodiac boats,  flashing us their flukes (tails), and spying on us with one eye above the water from the great oceans below. I learned all about krill in ways I would never have imagined... did you know they are a crustacean? Did you know they are the life force of everything in the food chain down there? Watching, hearing and feeling the wave of a glacier or iceberg calving reminds us how small we are.

We started and ended the cruise in Ushuaia, Argentina, which was also a penal colony/prison for many years and the southern-most city in the world. My friend and I will spend the next two weeks circling Argentina, and then back to work again.

For me, this has been the year of the whale: three times, three different places... and perhaps prisons: two times, two places... whales have always been important to me, and this year certainly proves it!

I hope you have all had a wonderful holiday and festive season. Best wishes for 2013 and hope all your dreams come to fruition!

xxoo Natalya