I´ve slept really well, the bed was comfy and it was pretty quiet. When I open the door, I receive a warm hola from Camilo, who runs this hostel. We have a long chat and I get to meet his girlfriend / wife (?) Gina. She gives me a hug and a bookmark for my declaration of love for Colombia. I feel great here. But then Camilo asks me to move to another hostel for the remaining night in Santa Marta because my own and somebody else´s reservation were placed in the same moment. And the other person(s) would stay four nights. Oh gosh... Pity - but then he tells me that it´s also their own hostel and that was right by the beach. Convincing! But before I move I go to the supermarket to buy some things. After that and another short chit-chat with Camilo and some other guests from Argentina and Greece. The Casa del Ritmo really is a nice place to stay in El Rodadero!
At last Gina comes back from the other hostel to pick me up in her small Chevy Corsa. There is very little space for 4 passengers, 25 shopping bags, a bbq and my bags, so Gina decides that the 2 ladies should sit in the back next to the big bbq. Which means that Pablo, the Argentinian who works at Playa del Ritmo hostel and who is going to celebrate his birthday with a genuine Argentinian "parrilla" (bbq) there tonight, and I have to sit in the front. As Pablo doesn´t have a driver´s license it´s on me to drive. It´s only 5 minutes through chaotic Caribbean traffic and we´re there. Playa del Ritmo is really beautiful - and the beach is the perfect place to spend the last day in the warmth of the Caribbean.
Gina introduces me to everybody and then I´m taken to my huge room. It´s nice and colourful but I want to get out, so I change into my trunks and hurry to the beach. The water is warmer than anywhere else on this trip and I don´t get out for more than two hours - my last dip in the Caribbean! Out on the ocean there are a bunch of huge cargo ships as the port is not far away. There´s hardly anybody on the beach or in the transparent water. Just what I wanted!
But I can´t stay in the water forever and so I go back to the room, have a shower and then go to the bar, have fresh mango juice and work on my blog. Just in time I notice that there´s going to be another incredible sunset tonight. I rush to get my camera and enjoy the riot of colours.
Then it´s time for dinner: Red Snapper once more. Pablo´s bbq / birthday party starts and I spend a lot of time talking to Adele from Lecce / Italy who has been travelling in South America for months. Gosh, I´m jealous. I wish I were courageous (and well-off) enough to just leave my normal life behind and do something different. The party is fun but shortly before midnight I say good-bye to everybody and go to bed.
The night´s over at 7 am. I pack my stuff, have a shower and then breakfast - pineapple juice and coffee. After paying the bill I get a cab and go to the airport. Check-in is very straight forward and before boarding I change into my warm Bogotá clothes.
The flight offers great views of this gorgeous country. I´m going to miss it! Once I have my bag, I get a cab to Fran´s. There we talk and then have lunch at Crepes & Waffles. Back in the apartment we suddenly feel very tired and take a siesta.
At six my cab to the airport arrives. But before I get there Bogotá treats me to one last of its mega traffic jams. I need one hour to cover the short distance, almost 5 times as long as it would usually take. But I left early and so the lond drive is no problem. When I check in, the nice lady from Lufthansa asks me if I need to fly. They have a real problem with overbooking and if I volunteered to stay and got to stay, I´d receive a voucher for €600 and night plus meals at a nice hotel. I don´t need a second to say OK. I don´t feel ready to leave anyway. I have to wait for a long while but around 10 pm I´m finally told I´m going to stay. I receive the voucher and once I´ve got my bag am taken to the Hotel Capital together with the other volunteers.
The room is terrific - and it´s the first time in Bogotá I´m not cold in my room! I order my dinner from the room service (grilled chicken). I enjoy the rest of the night watching "The Big Bang Theory" - one last time in the English original version. It´s already 2 am when I switch off the light.
I need a while to actually find sleep, even though the bed is really comfortable - probably because of the exciting hours at the airport. It´s only seven when I wake up. I hit the shower. The water is piping hot and there´s plenty - a whole new Bogotá experience, and one I certainly like. Breakfast is good, but I had hoped for more fresh fruit. I feel ready now to travel downtown. I walk a few minutes to the next transmilenio (a cross-over of bus and metro) station and figure out how to get to the Museo del Oro, the Gold museum.
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| My hotel as seen from my balcony in the glass facade of a neighbouring building |
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| The hotel |
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| Transmilenio bus on its exclusive lane |
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| Transmilenio station |
It takes me about 45 minutes to get to the museum, one of the best of its kind. I had been wanting to go but didn´t have enough time, so that´s priority no. 1 on this unexpected extra day.
After the museum I stroll through the atmospheric streets and alleys of Bogotá´s historic centre, La Candelaria. I really like this part of the city.
I can´t help but end up in the Museo Botero. I look at some of my favourite pieces of art and then sit down in the patio next to the fountain. An oasis of tranquility in this tumultuous metropolis.
I´m beginning to feel a bit hungry - so I walk to a transmilenio stop nearby and head back to the hotel.
Lunch is good - I choose grilled trout in the elegant restaurant on the 10th floor.
After lunch I go back to the room, update my blog and have a nap. Then I get my stuff and myself ready for another attempt to leave Bogotá. But wouldn´t it be nice if got to stay another day?! The shuttle bus takes me to the airport and when I check in I am asked the same thing as yesterday. Of course I agree to volunteer but unfortunately this time I get to fly. I have to rush to get to the plane but I´ve got 11 hours to recover. The flight is boring - no sleep, no turbulences, dull food, but service is nice, so nothing to complain about. We left Bogotá 1 hour late, but arrive only 20 minutes late, partly "thanks" to a stewardess who got seriously ill during the flight. We couldn´t leave the plane right away, though, because the doctor needed the aisle space to get the stewardess. I´ve got less than 20 minutes to clear security and immigration and to catch my flight to Munich. I´m out of breath but I get there, although the security personel tries everything to make me miss the flight (in Frankfurt they are particularly unpleasant). It´s only a short flight and we arrive ahead of time. On my way to the luggage belt I cash in my voucher and then wait for my bag - which of course wasn´t as fast as me. So I report the missing bag and then take the shuttle to Augsburg. It´s a nice experience to travel light for a change and there´s nothing in the bag I´d need now. So I can enjoy the dinner with my parents at a Vietnamese restaurant, telling them about my trip before finally arriving at my flat and crashing into bed.
PS: The bag arrives the next day
Another unforgettable five weeks in gorgeous Colombia have come to an end. As the slogan goes: Colombia - the only risk is wanting to stay. So true, despite the night in Tierradentro! I really hope I´ll have the chance to return!
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