Our first proper day in Colombia, and we were both feeling a little bit spacy — probably a combination of jet lag and Bogotá’s altitude.
The weather was lovely and mild, so we set off on foot from Casa Legado, a beautiful Colombian-style hotel, to explore.
We quickly discovered that Bogotá is one of those cities where taking a wrong turn can suddenly land you somewhere that feels quite different! But that’s also part of getting your bearings in a new city.
We wandered through Plaza de Lourdes and its beautiful church, before eventually making our way into the historic centre around La Candelaria and the Gold Museum.
We had a good look around and enjoyed seeing another side of Bogotá, although, if we’re being truthful, it probably wasn’t our favourite part of the city.
We’re attempting Spanish wherever possible, with varying degrees of success! What has struck us, though, is how patient and friendly everyone has been while we stumble our way through it.
At one point during our time in Bogotá, our Uber was pulled over for what appeared to be a routine police check.
The policeman could not have been friendlier. He was trying to chat to us in Spanish, and we were doing our very best to understand and respond. There was plenty of smiling on both sides! It was such a simple interaction, but another example of how welcoming we’ve found people here.
After all the walking, we headed back to the hotel before wandering out again for dinner. We felt very comfortable walking around the area near Casa Legado, and there was a really good choice of restaurants nearby.
But first, we found a lovely Colombian bar with music playing and sat outside having a drink.
And then my gin and tonic arrived.
It was enormous. 😂
Then a beautiful steak dinner.
A very pleasant way to finish our first day in Bogotá.
Day two began with an unexpected hotel room move.
Casa Legado had a wedding on, with the reception taking place immediately outside our room. In fact, we would literally have had to walk through the wedding reception every time we wanted to get to our room.
The hotel handled it beautifully and moved us to another room, so with that sorted, we headed out to see one of Bogotá’s best-known sights — Monserrate.
We caught the cable car up the mountain, and this was probably the first time we really noticed Bogotá’s altitude.
Walking around normally was absolutely fine, but as soon as we tackled a steeper section, we could really feel our hearts working harder. Nothing dramatic — we just had to slow down and take our time.
Once at the top, though, the views over Bogotá were spectacular.
It gives you a completely different perspective on the city and, perhaps more than anything else we’d seen so far, made us appreciate just how enormous Bogotá is.
We wandered around the sanctuary and gardens and would have loved to do the bird walk, but unfortunately it was closed that day.
We took the funicular back down, which meant we got to experience both ways of travelling up and down Monserrate.
Bogotá was an interesting introduction to Colombia. It probably didn’t completely capture our hearts in the way some cities do straight away, but we enjoyed our time there.
More importantly, it gave us our first glimpse of the warmth of the Colombian people — something that has continued to stand out everywhere we’ve been.
And after two days, our Spanish?
Still terrible. But we’re trying.
Jenny & Simon.
I’m an expert in small ship cruising in the Kimberley and have completed four cruises on different vessels along this spectacular coastline. Cruises in the Kimberley are not one size fits all. There are different ships and itineraries, each offering their own special elements.
If you would like to have a chat with me about Kimberley cruising at a time that suits you book in a call.
