Last week I returned from spending a week in South America with my friend Christina! We found a cheap flight not only to Bogota, but also to Quito in/out of Toronto, so why not?
Unfortunately the flight departures were at very inconvenient times, but sometimes that's the price you pay for a great price! We headed up late in the evening of May 27 to Toronto and got my car parked for the week while we were dropped off at the airport. We hung out there until our flight left at 1am for a DIRECT flight to Bogota, Colombia! We arrived bright and early at 6am local time.
Our first hotel was Hotel Castellana Inn. After we caught a taxi in the morning we were confused to find upon arrival that the hotel had recently changed addresses and was actually around the corner...with a different name! Now it was Hoteles Bogota Inn. They assured me they were the same hotel (then said they couldn't find my reservation). Finally they found our reservation and were kind enough to give us a room several hours before the official check in time. We happily took a nap!
We knew we had the whole day for exploration so we actually already had an excursion booked that afternoon for 2pm! We took a taxi into downtown about 30 min away and walked around the plaza for a bit before meeting our guide for the now private tour of the street art and graffiti in the city. Sounds weird, but it's a big thing there!
We learned a lot about the local artists, art movement, and even joint community projects to represents the culture such as this large project...
We also learned a lot about the political statements being made and how the people are beginning to demand truth and answers from their government.
After the tour it was time to forage for food so we returned to the main plaza and of course I found a street hot dog that I had to have! One in each country. Evidently around this region it's typical to cover the hot dog in sauces, cheese, and potato chips! This one was a bit messy so I shared some scraps with the pigeons.
The next day we had a bit of time before our tour so we walked around a lot of the city checking out little shops and stores. We found this cute gift shop full of handmade trinkets. I loved the little mushroom jewelry and book!
All over the city we marveled at the size of the plants that thrived in the temperate mountain climate (Bogota sits in the eastern Andes at an elevation of approx 8600ft).
A one footed pigeon living his best life!
Our next tour was a favorite--a food tour! We met our small group and started off in a local market where we had fresh made ajiaco soup (potato and chicken), plantains, and rice.
Next we sampled many different local fruits. We also got to try to chicha (fermented corn drink) straight from the famous lady who makes it AND has her face on the label! Evidently she's a local celebrity and we even saw a mural of her on a wall.
Next was lechona that was SO good. It's a roasted pig stuffed with veggies and rice.
Next we came to a pastry and bread place that had a restaurant in the back. We sat down and got to enjoy a delicious tamal--a little different that Mexico's tamales. These were corn dough stuffed with pork and steamed in banana leaves.
After the tamal we got to sample hot chocolate with cheese in it (a local tradition) as well as some caramel with figs.
Our next stop was a coffee shop for some authentic Colombian honey coffee. No the coffee does not have honey in it--that refers to the slightly different technique of the coffee bean's fermentation process to produce a different taste. I honestly thought it was very bitter!
Next was a collection of cafes and bars where first we were introduced to the Colombian game of tejo! It's sort of like cornhole + darts + gunpowder. They take folded triangles of paper that have gunpowder in them, stick them in a formation on a clay board, then you take a heavy metal object and toss it at the board to try and make them explode. And boy do they!
We also got to sample a sort of cheesecake, as well as a couple of local beers.
And some baked potatoes and pork belly! Yum
Our very last stop was for some coca tea which I'm a big fan of. It's lovely and soothing at these high altitudes, and always a nice was to sit and rest for a bit.
Since we were absolutely STUFFED after this food tour, we walked over to the Botero Museum for some entertainment. I had no idea the picture below was an actually famous artist evidently from Colombia! I had only seen it as a meme haha! But no, he has a whole museum which I highly recommend checking out. There's 2 floors of art and statues including some Monet and Picassos.
We enjoyed walking around the bustling city as we made our way to the next adventure. We saw alpacas, street art, and busy plazas.
For the evening our destination was Montserrate! Cerro de Montserrate is a mountain that overlooks the city. There's a cable car to the top, and a chapel there as well. It was impressive how huge the city looked from the top at 10,300ft. We got to enjoy dusk from the mountain and see all the lights of the city shining below.
After that full day, we grabbed a taxi and headed back to end the day.
On day 3 we were picked up at our hotel for an excursion OUT of the city! It was nice to leave the chaos behind and get back into nature. For this private tour Gabriela took us up and over the mountains into the Choachi cloud forest where we hit the trails into the woods. We saw beautiful flowers and trees as we wound our way around the trails over creeks and past waterfalls.
Towards the end we came upon a person's house on the mountainside who invited us into their "store" for some treats and handmade cheese. We enjoyed the questionable but fresh cheese along with some sugar cane tea!
Afterwards back in the city we were starved so we walked around in the neighborhood by our hotel and found a little plaza with several restaurants and stores. Many different vendors were trying their hardest to woo us with menus, treats, and food however we headed toward the little hole in the wall local place with no fancy sign or menu. We sat down and simply picked almuerzo de dia, or "lunch of the day". And it was delicious for only $6!
This was our last evening in Bogota and we were blessed with a rainbow as we walked around a bit more. We found a large mall that we had fun going into and seeing all the different stores and things that were inside.
On May 31 after breakfast we packed up and checked out for the taxi to take us back to the airport for our 2hr flight to Quito, Ecuador. We immediately saw this city was much less chaotic and busy than Bogota! Quito is also the second highest capital in the world at 9350ft.
The taxi took us to our hotel at Quito Basecamp in the historic center and we happily unpacked in our room and took a needed afternoon rest. Check out the view from our window of the city and mountains!
Since we were in the historic district (also an UNESCO world heritage site!) we were able to walk around and enjoy the historic buildings and sites. Open plazas were around each corner.
Of course we grabbed some street popsicles to enjoy while walking around!
The Quito Metropolitan Church (which we toured on a different day, keep reading!)
And you know me, I found a hot dog vendor calling my name so I traded money for food!
We cleaned up and rested for the evening, and enjoyed this beautiful view from our hotel window.
For June 1 we had a grand adventure planned! Have you heard of Cotopaxi? I only knew it as a brand, but it's actually a major volcano in Ecuador. So that meant we had to go see it!
We were picked up early in the morning with a small group and headed south of the city to Cotopaxi National Park. However our tour did not enter through the main entrance....we entered through the "no touristy way" back entrance! We enjoyed beautiful mountain views as we made our way to some horse stables for the next part of the adventure.
Horse time! We love riding horses in exotic places, so up a volcano in Ecuador was right up our alley. We each got fitted with a traditional poncho and unfortunately a helmet, then mounted our horses for a journey around the mountainside.
After about an hour we returned to the stables then drove to a different area to park and begin our hike up to Cotopaxi basecamp. Was the hike easy? Yes and no. The path was smooth and we were simply "walking". However at 15,000+ft elevation this is no easy task. With my asthma I had to take it pretty slow and catch my breath at times. The thin air makes simple walking a difficult task but the challenge is worth knowing you accomplished the feat!
We happily arrived at basecamp at an altitude of 15, 953ft and amazing views of the glacier covered summit just above us. True mountain climbers spend the night at the camp before continuing on with their mountaineering gear to reach the summit of the volcano--the second highest in Ecuador at 19,347ft and one of the highest active volcanoes in the world.
As per usual there's a cafe inside the basecamp and I enjoyed a much deserved hot cup of coca tea. Look at those views!
The hike down went MUCH quicker! We exited the park and headed back to our hotel just in time for finding dinner.
The next morning we got to enjoy a hotel breakfast before our next excursion. First we had a delicious plate of fruit and yogurt, followed by some toast and eggs with coffee and juice.
For day 3 in Ecuador we had another highly anticipated food tour! This private tour led us all over the city with a huge variety of delicious (and plentiful) samplings.
We started with cevichocho which is a regional variant of ceviche. There's lupini beans at the bottom, and it's made with meats other than fish. This one had {cooked} pork belly in it (ceuro). It was actually delicious!
At the next stop we had huge portions of tigrillo queso (mashed and fried plantains with eggs and cheese) and bolon chicharron (balls of plantain and pork that are fried).
Next we walked around a lovely artisan market filled with handmade trinkets and souvenirs. I ended up getting some bookmarks and a shirt. We actually saw a few other gringos there haha!
After the market we each got a cup of ice cream. I enjoyed the pineapple!
Next was a cafe for some coffee, humita (mashed corn and cheese steamed in a corn husk similar to a tamale), and an empanada viento queso (an airy fried empanada with cheese).
Next was another market, but this one was much larger and had tons of fresh ingredients on the first floor with food stalls on the second floor. We walked around seeing all the handmade baskets, flower vendors, fresh fruits, veggies, and herbs. Evidently Ecuador is one of the top exporters of roses in the world!
For our final meal we shared a huge portion of hornado (slow roasted pork) and plantains with some fresh blended blackberry and alfalfa juice.
At a market stall we once again sampled several different fruits from the area! After this we were on our own and walked around the city.
That evening we made our way back to the grand plaza of the historic center and took a tour thru the Quito Metropolitan Church, built in 1532 and one of the oldest Catholic churches in Ecuador. We bought a ticket for $4 to tour the church as well as climb to the top of the dome. After walking all over the inside of the church, we were perplexed as to where the stairs to the dome were. We asked some guy who looked official where they were and he rounded us up with another couple and beckoned us to follow him.
So we followed him to this dwarf door on the wall where another guy with a gimp arm had the key to the door. He opened the door and the first guy led us into this dark and winding concrete stairway that twisted around and around. In broken English he told us repeatedly to watch our heads as we ducked and contorted around corners and metal rods. Finally we came upon another door and walked out of the stairway onto the walkway around the domes at the top of the church!
Here we got an amazing view of the plaza, the city, and the mountains.
There were two domes which each had these treacherously steep stairs up the side which of course we also climbed up. I could see a thunderstorm brewing over the mountainside near us so we wrapped up the climbing and headed back down into the hobbit stairs to wind our way back downward.
We finished just in time for the rain to start so we hung out below the church's shelter until it passed. A group of local school teenagers came up to us and with their little English and my little Spanish they asked if we could do them a favor and help them with their homework. Sure, why not? They proceeded to record an interview with us as they asked us all sorts of questions in struggling English about tourism in Ecuador and how our experience has been. It was actually pretty cute and we were all laughing by the end.
Once the rain passed, we moved on and grabbed some street fruit for dinner on our way back to the hotel.
For our final full day in Ecuador we had a private excursion booked for the mountains! Our guide Diego picked us up around 9:30am and we headed toward Rucu Puchincha volcano as he told us about the city and culture. The first leg of the journey was a cable car the TeleferiQo which took us 2600ft up to the the Cruz Loma viewpoint. This cable car is one of the highest in the world, and ends at an elevation of about 12,900ft.
A moderate walk past the cable car on some trails leads you to the touristy yet iconic Columpio en las nubes (swing in the clouds) where you can grab a photo op high above the city at 13,400ft.
After a bit of walking around and enjoying the amazing sites, we headed toward the horse stable where we each mounted a horse and began a ride up the volcano!
No helmets, no ponchos, no instructions--we hopped right on with Diego behind us and made our way up the treacherous trail passing hikers and cliff sides while Jesus took the wheel/reigns.
Christina's horse was very "spirited" and insisted on being in front. My horse got a bit too close to his personal space and unfortunately my leg was in the way of a curt back kick. Thankfully it wasn't too bad because the horse guides were none too concerned!
After about an hour of riding we pulled the horses off to a small area where we dismounted and continued hiking up on foot further up the trail. As we got higher into the clouds it began to rain on us and the wind picked up significantly. We stopped at a point where we caught our breath and the views before turning around to return back to the horses. I'm estimating the elevation to be around 14,500ft. The summit was a bit further past us at 15,400ft.
After a terrifying ride back down the volcano in the rain with the horses sliding around and stepping into holes....we arrived back to the cable car and visitor center. Unfortunately they had paused the cable cars due to lightning in the area so we grabbed a snack and coffee while we waited. Shortly after they started up again and we made our way back down the mountainside and to the hotel.
For dinner we returned to a little shop we had eaten at before and stuffed our faces again for our last night in Quito.
Our plane didn't leave until 4am June 4 so I paid for a 4th night at the hotel for us to rest and relax before heading to the airport at 1am. The hotel staff kindly met us in the entry and made sure we got into the taxi safely! We had a short layover in El Salvador where we got some more coffee to try and fight off the fatigue. Our last flight was direct from there to Toronto and by the time we landed at 3pm it was verging on a fever dream from how long I had been awake. It took awhile to get our car and our bearings, then priority was FOOD. We found a burger place called Harvey's where of course I got a hot dog. We ate our food in the car because it took 5 business days to get out of Toronto thanks to traffic. I arrived safe and sound at home around 8pm!
