Week two - Bogota Columbia

TUESDAY OCTOBER 9th                                                  Total Budget after Ecuador = $40,221.14

After an amazing week in Ecuador we arrived in Bogota Columbia right on time at 12:50 pm. We had a little issue when one of Kevins bags didnt arrive with us but the airline said they would have it delivered to our hostel by that evening or early morning. We converted some of our money to Columbian Pesos before leaving the airport.We made our way to the Transmilenio terminal right outside the airport. We decided to purchase a week long ticket considering how affordable it was- $1750 Columbian pesos per day or .85 American cents, totaling $36.75 for seven of us for seven days! Here are some pictures of the system. It travels everywhere in Bogota and runs M-Su 5am -11pm and Sundays 6am -10pm.

As you can see it is very crowded. We crammed in and thankfully Kelly and TY are fluent in spanish and helped with the  navigation to our first hostel.

www.gobrt.org/Transmelino.html

Our bus ride took about thirty minutes . Our stop was about a 3 minute walk from our hostel . We checked in and explored our accommodations. Our first accommodations were at Masaya International Hostel and Events. We were greeted with a complimentary cocktail of rum and punch and showed to our rooms.We chose three rooms , two with 3 double beds and one room with a double bed. We decided to draw straws to see who got the room to themself and Michelle did a victory dance when she picked the winning straw. 

  Tha accommodations were great ! 

www.masaya-experience.com

After unpacking we decided to go to a local market and do a little shopping for snacks. Daily breakfast was included in our accommodations so we figured we'd just grab munchies and drinks and have either a a large lunch or dinner out .  We spent $ 53,951.98 pesos, equaling $30 american dollars at the market. By this time we were all hungry and decided to go out and grab a bite for dinner and discuss plans for Wednesday. We decided to be adventurous and try some local fare. We asked some of the others staying at Masaya what was close , good and cheap. Mona's was suggested. After a five minute walk we arrived and were shocked at the portion sizes:

This is called Pollo y carne a la plancha. it is a heaping meat platter paired with roasted baby potatoes, patacones (flattened fried plantains), and everyone’s favorite, arepas. We ordered two platters and shared them . Total for this feast was a shocking $12588.79 columbian pesos, a mere seven US dollars! After stuffing ourselves we discussed our plans for Wednesday and decided on going to a bullfight in the afternoon. We headed to the Hostel and called it a night around 10:30pm.
Emily

Wednesday Oct 10th

We woke up around 9:00 am and enjoyed our complimentary breakfast . They had fruit, eggs, several meats , beans and rice. They also served super strong coffee . We decided to go walk around some shops to pass the time before we headed to the bullfight. We split up into groups and decided to meet back at the hostel at noon. When we returned Kevin's bag had arrived . We made our way to the Transmilenio stop and took it to the arena known as the Santamaria. Once we arrived we were taken aback by the size of the arena.

Jamie was so thankful that on June 14th 2012 Bogota's mayor Gustavo Petro outlawed the killing of bulls in bullfights. The arena was transformed into a center for cultural education. We learned alot about the history of bullfighting and the battle to outlaw the killing of the bulls.Several demonstrations were done over the past few years to ban the killing of the bulls.
(byebyebullfighting.org)

After a full morning of shopping and an educational afternoon at the arena we felt like letting loose a little bit.
(Total spent on shopping and Bullfight came to $107,862.07 pesos or $60 American dollars shopping totaled $48,531.65 pesos or $27.00.) We went back to the hostel to inquire about things to do. We grabbed a snack and freshened up before heading out to dinner and a night of exploration. 
Alex had heard about an awesome place called Andres DC-  Andres Carne de Res is an experience. Not just a restaurant or a club, but a wild nightlife destination for Bogotános. We took the transmilenio there around 7:00 pm ordered food and let loose.

We all had a blast and around midnight we got a cab and headed back to the hostel.Our cab driver got a little annoyed because we were all singing , red solo cup,  at the top of our lungs. Our cab ride cost us $17983.00 pesos or $10 US dollars. Our night out of dinner, drinking, and dancing had cost us $116,835.45 pesos or $65 US dollars. Way cheaper than it would have been in the US. We were beat and headed to bed . (www.andrescarnederes.com/)
Kevin

Budget Update

Total remaining after Bogota Columbia= $37,526.89 Budget for each country after Ecuador = $6,254.48
Emily


Total Pre-trip planning for ALL flights and accommodation: $58,528.86
$100,000-$58,528.86=$41,471.14/7=$5,924.45
Budget for each individual country excursion= $5,924.45
Michelle

Off to Ecuador!

Tuesday, October 2, 2012

At 5:30am, we all met at RDU with bags packed and ready for the trip! We boarded American Airlines flight #1234 and took off for Miami, FL at 6:05am, right on schedule. We arrived at our layover in Miami at 8:10am. We rested in the airport and got lunch around 2:00pm. Then we boarded flight #931 and took off for Quito, Ecuador at 3:50pm. We were so excited to be finally on our way!

We landed in Quito, Ecuador at 6:50pm and were exhausted from the long day of travel. The Marsella airport shuttle took us to our accommodation at Hostal Marsella, which is in a beautiful, colonial part of Quito.

We ate some snacks that we packed including: granola bars, chex mix, and pretzels. We went to bed around 9:00pm, eager for Wednesday to come.

Kevin

Wednesday, October 3, 2012

We woke up around 8:00am and walked to the local supermarket to purchase some groceries for the week. The groceries costed approximately $55, but will feed us for the week. We walked back to Hostal Marsella and cooked a hardy breakfast consisting of eggs, bacon, and hash-browns in the shared kitchen at the Hostal. 

At around noon, we took a taxi to go visit and tour the Company of Jesus Church. The Company of Jesus Church is a masterpiece of baroque and Quiteno-colonial art with lavish golden altars and gilded columns, making it one of the most ornate structures in Ecuador. 

We toured the Company of Jesus Church for about 4 hours until we were kicked out because Michelle and Kelly couldn't seem to follow the "No Touching" rule with some of the artwork! By that time, we were all pretty ready to leave anyways, so no one was upset. We caught a taxi and took it to El Espanol, which is a traditional delicatessen and cafe that specializes in hot and cold subs. For $24 we shared three large subs and they were delicious! After that, we headed back to Hostal Marsella to get a good night's sleep before Thursday, which we decided to spend hiking the Pasochoa Wild Life Refuge. We were asleep by 10:00pm and so excited for Thursday's adventure!

Alex

Thursday, October 4, 2012

At 7:00am, we were all awoken by T.Y., who surprised us by waking up early and cooking breakfast for the whole crew! Thanks again, T.Y., it was delicious! We purchased and scheduled an all inclusive 1-day guided tour of the Pasochoa Volcano through Latin American Travel and Tours for $150. Information for Latin American Travel and Tours can be found at: (http://www.larc1.com/ecuador/volcano-avenue/volcano-tours-1-day-hikes.html#Pasochoa_LNK). We decided to do the Pasochoa Volcano Peak Hike:

Pasochoa Peak Hike.
- This route takes 8 hours and goes through the subtropical, cloud, and mountain forest to end in the highland, where we will keep ascending to the rock pyramids where the condors live, to finally reach the peak of this ancient volcano. 

Tour Includes: 

Transport

Entry fee to Pasochoa Natural Park

Specialized Guide

Our itinerary was as follows: 

09:00 Departure from Quito

10:30 Arrival at the Wildlife refuge Pasochoa
14:30 Box-lunch at the volcano summit
15:00 Descent
17:30 Return to Quito 

We arrived back at Hostal Marsella at 5:30pm and were all exhausted from a long day of hiking. We all had such a good time at Pasochoa Wild Life Refuge! Here is a picture of us hiking:

After working up quite an appetite, we decided to go out for some local Mexican food. At 6:30pm, we went to Rosa Mexicano and had an incredible Mexican feast! Much to our liking, they were rather affordable as well; costing us a total of $40 for 7 people! We finished our food and headed back to Hostal Marsella at 8:00pm and fell asleep almost immediately when we arrived.

Kelly

Friday, October 5, 2012

On Friday at 8:00am, we woke up to beautiful weather and decided to visit and spend the day at the historic Old Town of Ecuador! Old Town is Quito's chief attraction. It holds a dazzling array of churches, monasteries and convents dating from the early days of the colony. Known to Quiteños as el Centro Histórico, the Old Town falls into a fairly small area that can be comfortably covered on foot in a day.

At 9:00am, we caught a taxi over to Old Town and were so excited to tour the historical churches, museums, and to shop at the three different plazas! At 10:00am, we began our tour at the most famous Old Town museum known as the Museo de la Ciudad. The Museo de la Ciudad housed many archeological relics and other art that presented Quito's social history in an accessible and engaging way, we were all quite impressed! Next we headed for the Museo Manuela Saenz, which is a museum dedicated to the history of two of South America's heroes of the Independence era. At around 3:00pm, we got lunch at a food truck at the Plaza de la Independencia for $30 total. Then we headed over to visit the Cathedral, Government Palace, Archbishop's Palace and City Hall.

At 5:00pm, we took a taxi back to Hostal Marsella. We all thought historic Old Town was really cool! Once we got back, we headed back out for dinner. We went to La Vina, which is a local Mediterranean cuisine. It was fantastic and affordable, costing us a total of $45! We all believed that a place like this in America would most likely cost double what we paid! At 8:00pm, we all headed back Hostal Marsella and ate ice cream and played Monopoly until we were ready for bed. We were all asleep by 10:00pm.

Jamie

Saturday, October 6th, 2012

At 8:00am on Saturday, we woke up and headed over to Cafe de la Vaca for breakfast. We all ate well for $40. We decided that we would go rock climbing at Rocodromo, which is a local 25m high climbing facility with over a dozen different routes of all difficultly levels. We packed lunch and then took a taxi and arrived at 10:00am. Admission was $5 a person including climbing equipment. Here is a picture of the facility:

Since none of us have climbing experience, we had to take a 2-hour training class before we could use the facility on our own. We all passed the assessment at 1:00pm and we were ready to try it on our own! First, we ate the lunch that we had packed and then we headed back to the climbing walls. Emily was absolutely terrified of rock climbing, so it took quite a bit of peer pressure and reassurance to get her up the wall. We were all so proud of her for getting to the top of the blue wall(shown in picture). 

We decided to call it a day at 6:00pm and caught a taxi back to Hostal Marsella. When we arrived, we cooked dinner in the shared kitchen. After we finished eating, we finished playing our game of Monopoly from Friday night, which we all lost to Jaimie who happened to be a Monopoly expert. We were all asleep by 11:00pm.

T.Y.

Sunday, October 7th, 2012

On Sunday morning, we slept in until around 10:00am. We didn't really have anything planned for the day, so we went down and asked the receptionist if there were any parks within walking distance to spend the day at. She told us there was one about 4 miles away called La Carolina. It was a beautiful day, so we decided to save some money and take on the walk instead of taking a taxi. 

At around 11:00am, we cooked a quick breakfast in the shared kitchen, packed our lunch for the day, and departed! It took us a little over an hour to walk there and were thrilled when we arrived at 12:30pm. The park was beautiful! We all agreed that it resembled New York's Central Park due to the fact that it was in the center of all of Quito's buildings. We were all very impressed by the park and it was quite the happening place on Sunday! The exhibition center at the park was holding a special event featuring live music and karaoke at 3:00pm, so we decided that we would stick around for it. We decided to walk around for a while. There were people everywhere; they were walking, jogging, flying kites, reading, picnicking, playing soccer, etc. The park had various sports fields, a skate park, a botanical garden, and even a pond with paddle boats for rent. We decided to rent 2, 4-seater paddle boats which only costed $6! We quickly learned that getting around on a paddle boat was not as easy as we thought it would be. The ladies made T.Y. and I split up between the two boats because they had secretly plotted to make us do all of the peddling! 

3:00pm rolled around and we headed back to the exhibition center for some karaoke. We listened to a variety of singers who let's just say, should NOT quit their day job. We decided that at least one of us had to go up and sing, so we all tried to peer pressure T.Y. into it. Reluctantly, he gave in and agreed to sing. He chose to sing "The Way You Make Me Feel" by the king of pop, Mr. Michael Jackson. We were all surprised by his song choice, but when he started singing, it all made sense! T.Y. has an incredible singing voice, we were all blown away! When he finished the crowd begged him for an encore, so he sang "Ain't No Mountain High Enough" by The Temptations. This one was even better than the last, T.Y. puts on quite a show! 

At 4:00pm, we decided to eat the lunch that we packed right near the bridge shown in the picture above. After we finished eating, we decided to start the long walk back to Hostal Marsella. We made it back home around 5:45pm. We decided to go out for drinks at one of the local bars. We asked a local where a nice bar with cheap drinks was located and he directed us to Huaina. We took a taxi to Huaina and arrived around 8:00pm. We ate dinner when we got there and it costed a total of $48. After that, we headed for the bar and ordered a few rounds of beers. 11:00pm rolled around and most of us were getting pretty tired with the exception of Alex, who seemed to be having by far the most fun out of everyone! We finally decided to head back to Hostal Marsella around midnight, so we called a taxi. The bar seemed to take a toll on Alex, as she had 1 or maybe 7 shots too many. We got back to the hostal around 12:45am and fell almost immediately asleep.

Michelle

Monday, October 7, 2012



We woke up around 11:00am and most of us weren't feeling so great from the night before, so we cooked a hardy brunch and decided to rest a little while longer. Around 1:30pm, we had a meeting to discuss our plans for the rest of our trip and to put together details for our flight to Columbia tomorrow. 

At 3:00pm, we decided to take a taxi to the Teleferiqo, which is a popular tourist attraction that features 18 different gondolas, which are essentially indoor ski lifts. These gondolas take passengers up the side of the Quito's western mountain range along the Pichincha Volcanoes. We arrived at Teleferiqo at 3:30pm and immediately got on the first gondola that we saw. It was really cool! It only took 10 minutes for the gondola to make it to the top. Here is a picture of the gondola:

Once we arrived at the top at around 3:45pm, we were amazed by the breathtaking views from the altitude of over 13,300 ft! There was a lookout platform at the top that was complete with coffee, snacks, horse rentals, and even oxygen for those struggling from the thinner air. Here is a view from the lookout platform:

We decided to get a few snacks (total cost: $30) and then check out some of the hiking trails, which we heard lead to more beautiful views of Quito and the Pichincha Volcanoes. We hiked a few of the trails and were amazed at what we saw. 

We decided to catch a ride back down on the gondola around 5:30pm. We took a taxi back to Hostal Marsella around 6:00pm and arrived at 6:15pm. For the remainder of the night, we laid low in anticipation for the big day tomorrow. We were sad to be leaving Ecuador in a few hours, but were very excited for what the rest of the trip held for us. We cooked the remainder of our groceries around 8:00pm and then headed for bed. We were asleep by 9:00pm.

Emily

Tuesday, October 9, 2012

We woke up around 8:00am and began packing all of our stuff and cleaning up our rooms. This took about 2 hours total. After we finished, we checked out and caught a taxi to the airport for our 11:10am flight to Bogota, Columbia. We flew Aero Galapagos flight #602 and arrived in Bogota at around 12:50pm.

Financial Totals for the Week:

Taxi total: $350
Food total: $400
Admission fees total: $500
Raleigh to Quito Flight total: $4039
Quito to Bogota Flight total: $2149
Hostal Marsella Accommodation total: $336

Total for the Week: $7774 including flights and accommodations.


Kevin Burnet

Emily Currier Bogota Columbia Pre-Trip Planning

Flight Details

Leave Bogota Columbia on October 16th flying to Buenos Aires Argentina. 

Leaves on Tuesday arrives on Wednesday

Leave Tuesday 10/16 flying Avianca airlines flight #85- Departs at 9:36 pm from BOG 

arrive at 5:31 am at GRU (Guarulhos international)

2hr 29 min layover at GRU

Fly GOL airline- GOL flight #7678 departs at 8:00 am arrives at 10:50 am at AEP (Jorge Newbery Airport)

This is an overnight flight 

Searched on Trip Advisor, Booked through Expedia

Total cost $835 pp - total $5,845 dollars. 

Total travel time would be 11 hours and 14 minutes.

Emily Currier

Transportation from the airport and around the city will be the Transmilenio (the red busses). This system is similar to the subway systems in NY. It is a great way to get everywhere in the city and very affordable at 1300 pesos- .55 cents per trip and we can buy a pass for the week. This will cost us approx. 10 dollars per person - equaling 70 dollars for the week.                 

                           For a complete overview of the Transmilenio go to http://www.gobrt.org/transmilenio.html   

                                                                                                                                                  $70.00

Our first accommodations in Bogota will be at the Masaya Intercultural Hostels and Events. This Hostel is in the center of Bogota and has alot of things to do such as dance classes, a bar, cooking classes, bbq area, pool table and rec room . We would split up into three rooms. Two of which have 3 double beds and one room with a double bed. Breakfast is complimentary as well as selected drinks included. This is a lively hostel and will be a fun way to start in Bogota. The total cost for Masaya would be 271.88 USD. We would stay here  Tuesday 10/9-Friday 10/13.

                                                                                                                $271.88 USD

Saturday morning we will be picked up from our hotel by Mantaraya Travel Tours. We will be going on a weekend overnight adventure !

Feel the Adrenaline on our Bogota Adventure Tour!

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During your stay in Bogotá you can take an exciting tour to Tobia, just 90 minutes away from Bogota and a fantastic place for adventure sports such as White Water Rafting in the Negro River, horse riding, rappelling down waterfalls and exploring canyons.

During this weekend trip you will leave from Bogota and head towards Tobia where you will set up tents provided by us for your weekend adventures accommodation.

You will over the two days embark on exciting activities such as horse riding, white water rafting down the Rio Negro, rappel down a 75 mt waterfall and go canyoning in the Tiger creek.

All activities will be with very experienced, professional and medically certified guides. Two lunches 1 breakfast and 1 dinner is also included. Dont miss this exciting trip where you will immerse yourself in some of Colombias exuberant nature!

            Information

                                            Starting from
$231 USD

                                            Availability
See Tour dates *

                                            Duration
2 days / 1 night

                                            * Price per person for the whole package

           

            


            Mantaraya Travel - Day Tours and Trips for Colombia




            More information

What is Included

                                            Horseriding

                                            White Water Rafting – Rio Negro.

                                            Meals: Lunch and dinner day 1, Breakfast and lunch day 2.

                                            Rapelling

                                            Canyoning

                                            Private transportation: Bogotá – Tobia – Bogotá. (Around 2 hours)

                                            Tour guide in Spanish or English.

                                            All tent equipment including bedding

                                            Accident coverage

            Not Included

                                            Gratuities

                        Drinking alcohol the night before this trip is not recommended nor supported by the trips guides as it is important to not drink before doing any of the trips extreme sport activities.!

As you can see this is going to be alot of fun. The trip gives us a chance to check out other parts of columbia and get our adrenaline fix in. Meals are included and we will be camping . 

   www.mantaraytravel.com/sightseeing-tours/bogota-2-day-rafting-tour    total for this adventure is 1617 +150 tip

The tour will drop us off at our last accommodations mid afternoon on Sunday. We will finish our trip off staying at the Anandamayi Hostel and Hotel. We will be staying in a 12 bed dorm. We will have 7 of the 12 beds. As of now we are the only ones in the dorm. The hostel offers free breakfast , cafe, communal kitchen, free wifi, lounge area, and television / entertainment room.

The cost for this hostel for Sunday 10/14-tuesday 10/16 will be $233.10 usd.                              $233.10 USD.

Accommodations for the hostels were found through Hostelbookers.com 

This will bring the cost of the trip so far to  $2,341.98. This is only for the trip costs thus far , excludes airflights.

I will include costs of food and other activities as I find them -Chao                Total thus far: $2,341.98

Emily Currier

There are many things to explore in and around Bogota Columbia. Here are a few things we would like to fit into our seven days there:

A Football match, (soccer ). Most games are offered on Sundays and would be attended right after our return from our overnight adventure. The match is held at Nemesio stadium.

Bullfighting is a part of culture in Bogota . We are definetly going to experience this while on our trip.

One of the main things people think of when they hear Columbia is coffee. They offer a half day long coffee school where we will get hands on experience and some of the freshest coffe on the planet.

This is the Fenicular. It will take us to the top of Monserrate Hill. From there we will go on a hike to La Chorrera.

La Chorrera

 Chorrera: Colombia's tallest waterfall

La Chorrera is Colombia’s tallest waterfall and for keen hikers and adventurers, it’s well worth a visit. The journey itself is for the most part on foot, and in total takes roughly 1 hour and 15 minutes. You’ll need to have a lift arranged for you to navigate the journey through cloud forests to the other side of Bogotá’s mountains, but once you’re there you begin a 45 minute trek to the first stop off point. Here you’ll find a helpfully located restaurant where you can get a good meal for around $13000 pesos. Once you’re sufficiently rested, you’ll take another half an hour to reach the waterfalls. The views here are magnificent and you can even walk through the waterfalls to discover what lies behind them. For the brave it’s also possible to swim but be warned, it’s very cold! If you arrange the trip with See Colombia Travel, it’s also possible to pre-order a delicious meal of local trout for your return, the perfect end to a memorable hike.

A short distance outside of Bogota  is a town called Zipaquira. This is where the Salt mines and cathedral are. This is a historical site exclusive to Columbia and a must see while there. 

Along with finding amazing places to eat , these are some of the things we will experience while visiting Columbia.

Emily