Bogota and San Gil
17 July

Friday 12
We had drinks in the Usaquen area which appeared lively and cool. Vic recovered quickly from the excitement of the meeting at the airport. It's always nice to be picked up from Arrivals. Particularly by people wearing ponchos.
Bogota was a delight. Many thanks to Ina for being a superb guide.

Saturday 13
A car ride to the quaint town of Tabio. Excellent burgers and steaks at an al fresco eatery called el Galapago
www.facebook.com/elgalapagocampestre
I thought the Alpine desserts place was nice too.

Andres Carne de Res was a fitting and amazing end to a great day. What an astounding club, more of a street festival really. There are lessons here for any UK nightclub owner. The music was probably a factor in the positive mood, but even so it just goes to prove that if you treat people with respect they will act with respect to each other. The decoration of the club was superb, with a red lit heart forming an underlying theme throughout.

Sunday 14
Well wasn't Ron Medellin a fun guy? Maybe we had a bit too much of him though. It made it difficult to get out of bed on Sunday. The cable car up the mountain was fun. The funicular down equally so. The 'bus stop ' that night was a fiasco. It is good judgement we left the bus stop. Simple bad luck we happened to get into the most dangerous taxi in South America. That guy can't have been straight. Surely not. I think he was high. Good judgement to get him to drive us to the bus station.

Monday 15
Parque National de Chicamocha
Cable car. Canyon. Awesome beef restaurant. Ostrich farm. That place has everything.

Tuesday 16
Another good day. Rafting was awesome. Particularly the times we got to float down the might Rio Suarez. I'm sorry about the French woman who tried to tell me Uruguay is the safest country in South America. I had good reason to disagree with her vehemently. But I regret nearly making her cry.
Gringo Mike makes a good sandwich.

Wednesday 17
I think we were quite lucky to be on this bus at all. The steamy Caribbean coast flies past now, but its only good luck and good judgement that we made it. The bus was nearly an hour late leaving San Gil last night which was poor even by South American standards. It's a nice bus and there's probably only 15 or so people on it.

It's also nice to see the Caribbean Sea. It's been a while since I've seen it. It's our third ocean, having previously traversed Latin America from Brazil's Atlantic to Chile's Pacific.
It's lush with banana plants and tall palm trees. The bus speeds past petrochemical installations and small stalls that hang pineapples and rum bottles from their eaves. Vic is asleep, reclined on the seat in front. I am close enough to flick his ear from here without even stretching. I decide to let him sleep, because I predict Santa Marta is going to be a jol and we will be up late tonight.

I think I've got time to doze off again before we get to Santa Marta. I think I'm going to treat myself. We've all earned it.