Bogota Update

Arrived in Bogota Sunday midday - ish. Noticeably cooler than up on the Caribbean Coast. We are the extreme minority wearing shorts and sandals and there are some interesting looks by the locals. Things to share:

1. Bogota is a city of 9+ million.
2. It is a sprawling metropolis 2600m above sea level.
3. They have an amazing city bus system that has taken over the middle four lanes of the main thoroughfares (2 each way). You pay one set fee of 1700 pesos ($1U.S.) and you can go anywhere. Mind you there is only breathing space on some of the buses - and we have been on a few in that situation. We caught 7 different buses yesterday -within the city and taking us to a neighbouring town. It wasn't too difficult. A bit like coping with the London Underground - but it is all in Spanish!.
4.There is a security / police presence everywhere! At a neighbouring mall all cars going into the parking area get searched by police with dogs! Most shops have a security guard. Security really is BIG business here. Many of the police have Doberman dogs (muzzled) but we have also seen Labs, Retrievers.
5.You can buy ANYTHING on the streets. There are small market stalls everywhere, including in shopping areas where the shops are far more upmarket.
6.The distribution of wealth is obvious. We haven't seen too many beggars but many people offering menial services to make a living -e.g. cleaning your shoes. There are others that have a selection of cell phones (chained to them) and they sell 1 min of cellphone time for 10 to 15 c N.Z. And there are plenty of people using them!
7. Bogota's weather is a bit like Aucklands It can rain any day and any time of the day (and we had our first rainy day of our holiday today). Temp around 16 in the winter.
8. A famous historian - Simon Bolivia attempted to unite all of South America, centred on Bogota, hence there are some VERY  impressive presidential / government buildings in the old centre of Bogota.
9. The Colombians are a mix of 3 races . The Indigenous Indians of South American, the Spanish and the West Africans. With some the origin is very obvious, with others the blend is definitely a blend. Some are fascinated by our presence but more often they are simply very friendly and very helpful. We have never felt threatened being here and the crowded buses have given us plenty of opportunities to feel that way if it was the case.
 In Bogota we got to see 3 museums (possibly 1 too many - but it rained), an incredible cathedral carved out of salt inside a salt mine high in a mountain, took a gable car up to a view point at 3200m above sea level, wandered around a fascinating flea market (they are all over the city everyday, but this was the special Sunday one) and a wettish walk around the old buildings in the old part of the city.

Some thing (non Colombian) that I forgot to share before was that our skipper on the yacht coming over was a 2m tall Austrian (38 year old). Rolly was his name, though with his frame and tanned lean body, it was far from appropriate!!!!Believe me the galley was no place for him to linger.

We have now arrived in Armenia (west of  Bogota, in the coffee region ....but that will be another blog)
Adios!