Traveling Through Colombia in a month – Part 1

Have I ever told you about Lucerito? Lucerito was my best friend for a little more than a year; she was my travel partner and my gateway to freedom. With her I cruised all of Colombia, crossed rivers, raced through the jungle and witnesses the most amazing sunrises and sunsets in a variety of unbelievable natural settings, and is thanks to her that I can write this Colombia Travel Blog post.


Lucerito  (“Morning Star” in Spanish) was a 1998 4x4 Pajero truck  I bought with the specific goal of starting a year round trip throughout my country. I was raised among two brothers, one of them a car racer,  and a car fanatic dad, I started driving at 14 – which is very rare in Colombia – so I HAD to grow up as a car lover, I love motors, carburetors and speed! So our first mission was a one month journey to what, for me, are the highlights of Colombia. It was one of those things that my parents would do when they were young but my generation wouldn't have the chance because of the political situation and the fact that the guerrilla used to own most of the country, but now things were different.

"Lucerito"

Colombia to the Everest: a dream of one, a dream of all

 I know this is suppposed to be a Colombia travel blog and I swear that when I wrote my last post about the Festival Iberoamericano de Teatro de Bogota, I promised myself that the next one would be the first in a series about traveling around Colombia in a month.  But then I received an email from a friend in Katmandu reminding me of some of the amazing things that are currently happening among Colombians and being as in love with my country as I am I couldnt help the urge to tell you about them.

As  I'm writing this words, there is a team of Colombian hikers on their way to Mount Everest, among them my very good friend Marcelo Arbelaez y Carolina Ahumada who sent me the e-mail I'm talking about. 
Some of them have already been at the top of the Everest three times, but what is very special about this one is that they will be attempting to take the first handicapped man with no oxygen to the 8.848 m.a.s.l. of Mount Everest, his name is Nelson Cardona, one of the nicest and bravest man I've ever met. 

Theatrics in Bogota, by a New Yorker that fell in love with colombia

I was writing just a quick entry to give you a glance of what has been going on in the Festival Iberoamericano de Teatro de Bogota. And I was planning to tell you that thousands of people wearing red wigs stood on the Carrera 7 (7th Street) to watch one of the most impressive parades the city has ever seen, the oppenig parade. And that I was so happy because Colombians behaved in such a respectful and caring way that you could feel an atmosphere of peace, love and belonging.

And also, that this year the Festival has used all technology available. Apart from their web page they also have a youtube, twitter, flickr and facebook account where you can follow and keep informed with what's going on. But what is most impressive (well, for me it is =)) is their  livestream channel which means that all Colombians living abroad and all of you - kindly reading this post - will have the chance to see live most of the shows and performances.

Ok, I'm soooo proud of what Colombia and de Festival have achieved that I could just keep writing. But I’m going to stop now and leave you with a beautiful post that a friend from New York  who has fallen in love with Bogota - and now lives here - wrote for us.

So thank you very much T&T and here you go.... enjoy!

Abrazos

Marcela

Theatrics in Bogota

By T&T

www.bogotabrilliance.com

On March 19, the curtain rose on the world’s largest international theatre festival, the XII Festival Iberoamericano de Teatro de Bogota (12th Iberoamerican Theatre Festival of Bogota) in Bogota, Colombia.  The launch was particularly significant as it also inaugurated the re-opening of the newly renovated Jorge Eliécer Gaitán Theatre with a special performance of Pedro Calderon de la Barca’s La vida es sueño (Life is a Dream), performed by the Teatro Academico Estatal Tartar, and directed by Colombian Alejandro Gonzalez Puche. 

Festival Iberoamericano de Teatro de Bogota: The world's biggest theater showcase

I'm not at all a theater expert , nope. But now that I'm spending a few days in Buenos Aires with my loved one ( Argentina's capital city is filled with theaters and a very active cultural life), I realize the importance of our Theater Festival in Bogota. Its funny, because Bogota's  XII Iberoamerican Theater Festival, today's post topic, was actually an initiative started by an Argentinean actress who lived in Colombia.


No wonder that not many people around the world outside theater connoisseurs  really know about the extent of  this fantastic event,  in which for about 2 weeks theater companies, circuses and performers from all continents take Bogota's street by storm, because, to be honest event most of us, the common non-theater-related people in Bogota are notaware that this is, in fact, the biggest theater showcase in the world....

Colombia's Tatacoa Desert: a weekend trekking, cycling and sleeping under the stars. (Or: get ready for a looong post)

I have to admit  I'm  a (very) heavy sleeper, so honestly I didn't feel the "bumpiness" of  the overnight bus ride from Bogota to Neiva, a small city (pop. 350, 000) well known here in Colombia for its yearly San Pedro festival  and even more popular due to its closeness to a certain Colombia destination I was dying to travel to for a long time: el Desierto de la Tatacoa (The Tatacoa Desert). There I was at Neiva's main square at 7 AM breathing pure unpolluted morning air, enjoying the morning silence while all local stores were closed on that sunny Saturday (its always sunny over there) and even at that early time, the temperature was quiet high.

After a nice local breakfast with scrumbled eggs, fresh bread and a hot chocolate at the same place were all truck drivers stop for an arepa and a hot cofee, we got on the bus and started a short drive towards Tello, the first stop on my journey to Tatacoa.