Bogota 2019 - Day 1

Bogota Colombia

Our first trip to Colombia was about two years ago. We drove from Tampa to Fort Lauderdale and boarded a flight to Medellin in February of 2017. It was an incredible trip and we knew we'd have to come back and see more of this great Country. Our second venture into Colombia was to Cartagena May of 2018. We were debating over going to Bogota at that time instead of Cartagena but heard from another traveler that Bogota wasn't that great so we opted for Cartagena. We knew all along that we'd get to Bogota, the question was when. 

E-bikes in Bogota

As is typical for us, one day we found ourselves with too much time and started weeding through travel vlogs on YouTube. Knowing how much we loved our experiences so far in Colombia, we began revisiting Bogota vlogs and decided it was time to see Bogota for ourselves. We were looking for travel options for New Years Eve 2019, and nothing in the US was jumping out at us. hotel and airfare were way over inflated and we weren't about to put ourselves in a crowded place where our safety might be in jeopardy. Kind of funny, we leave the "comfort" of the US to go someplace safer for NYE, and that place is Colombia. So we booked JetBlue flights direct to Bogota from Orlando and headed south two days after Christmas. 

Arriving in Bogota at around midnight on the 28th we had arranged with the hotel to have a car pick us up. This service was about $40 US for the four of us. Since it was late at night we did not want to chance to find a local cab that could carry the four of us and our luggage. It's hard enough to fit four American adults in South American cabs, let alone luggage. The airport is first rate and a 20-30 minute ride from Downtown. 

Curbside at the Airport

We chose Casa Dann Carlton as our Hotel for the trip. Casa Dann Carlton was selected based on the price we wanted to pay per night, the proximity to restaurants, bars, nightlife and the attractions we wanted to see. In addition, we had stayed at a Dann Carlton property in Medellin, so we knew what to expect. When looking for a hotel in a foreign country, one way to know its safe is proximity to nightlife. If there is nightlife surrounding the hotel, it is most likely in a safe location.  

View from our Balcony at Casa Dann Carlton

Our first morning we decided to venture out a bit and find some of the noted attractions of Bogota. First up, check out our neighborhood Parque 93. Plenty of restaurants surrounding a small park which found out later would be lit up at night with Christmas decorations.

Holiday Lighting in all the Parks

From here we took an Uber (yes they have them) to the Museo De Oro or The Gold Museum. The ride over was interesting as we skirted along in the foothills of the mountain dropping down into the city on occasion.  The cost to cross the city via Uber was approximately $5 US. We found that most cab rides were similar. Uber does not have a large number of drivers so in many cases we found cabs were the better option.

Ancient Gold at the Museo Del Oro

Ancient Gold at the Museo Del Oro

The cost to enter the Museo Del Oro was about $4 US per person and it was a great experience. In total, we explored the museum for about an hour and a half, and it wasn't very crowded except for the occasional paid tours. You are welcome to take photos as long as you are not using a flash. After the Museo Del Oro, we headed over to a local cafe for a little pick me up. Not being very fluent in Spanish and only in the country one day, we did face some challenges purchasing our first meal. Fortunately, two of us had been practicing our Spanish via Duolingo and had Google Translate ready on our phones as our back up plan. 

Street performers at the Plaza De Bolivar

Cathedral at the Plaza

From the cafe, we took a short walk down to the Plaza De Bolivar. The Plaza is basically the old town center and in my opinion overrun with street performers, beggars, and pigeons. It's worth seeing, just be prepared to say "No Gracias" a lot. On the East side, there was a Cathedral that was impressive and heading North a pedestrian mall that had plenty of local shops and restaurants...and more street performers. 

VIP Capitol Bar

Here we found a bar called VIP Capitol where we successfully ordered many Bogota Brewing Company (BBC) Beers. We quickly found out that Bogota has more Bogota Brewing Company locations than gas stations. Unfortunately, there is really nothing special about BBC beers, other than they aren't Colombiana. This particular bar was nice and cozy and on the second floor of a building looking out onto the pedestrian mall. In addition, the staff was very friendly and it had a clean restroom for guests. The two days we spent in this area had us coming back to VIP for these reasons. 

Our plan at this point was to take a short walk uphill to the entrance to Montserrat and take the Fernicular or Gondola to the top of the Mountain. Unfortunately, the Gondola was closed creating a long lineup and wait to get to the top. We opted for a quick bathroom break some Graffiti art sightseeing and a cab back to our hotel. From here, we could regroup and get ready for our first full night out in Bogota. 

Bogota's Grafiti Art

Bogota's Grafitti Art