I finally made it to Colombia!!! I can happily report the rat tail and mullet are alive and well in South America! First off I must say never fly with Delta and if you book your ticket on Orbitz, Travelocy, etc. you´re on your own if anything goes wrong. Despite not being on a single Delta flight I was informed I would have to fork over a exorbinate amount of money to issue the exact same ticket for one day later even though there were plenty of open seats. So after some intense internet activity I boarded a red eye to Orlando where I had an 8 hour layover before catching my flight to Bogota. So what is the lesson here kids.... be at the airport at least 30 minutes early for domestic flights and one full hour for international!!! Luckily it was a good excuse to drop in on my buddy Jeremy and hang out in world-renowned Orlando for a couple of hours.
I can honestly say I was the only English speaking person on the Jetblue flight with the exception of the bi-lingual flight crew. I´ve heard Colombia is still pretty untouched by backpackers but I expected atleast one other gringo on the flight. After landing I grabbed my bag, changed out some $$$US for Colombian pesos and before I knew it I was on my way into the cocaine trafficing capital of the world!!! Now I have to be honest here, I have been pretty anxious about backpacking alone in Colombia (and by anxious I mean scared shitless) but once I was in the cab I couldn´t help but smile. First of all, I´m finally in South America. Second of all, I´M IN FREAKING COLOMBIA!!! You can´t help but be excited for what is about to unfold when heading into a completely foreign city for the first time. You know there will be some amazing stories and other times when you just want to end it all but no matter what you are going to return a different person. I checked into my fortified hostel and turned it in early to catch some sleep.
After missing my initial flight I now only have half a day in Bogota before I board my flight to Cartagena to meet up with the nephew of an old co-worker. Before leaving for Colombia I had lunch with the same guy to get some suggestions and the one thing he said to see in Bogota was the museo del Oro (gold museum for those that took french in high school). The place is amazing. The Spaniards would send the gold through Colombia to Cartagena where it would board the ships headed back to Spain so they have quite the collection. Gold helmets, masks, nose plates, figurines, etc. One of the more interesting museums I´ve been to in my travels and well worth checking out if you´re ever in the area to pay off the randsome of an old friend. From there I wandered around the streets for an hour, took some quick pictures and grabbed my first cup of coffee at the Colombian version of Starbucks, called Juan Valdez. Pretty good but I was expecting a little more considering the amount of coffee this place exports. From here its a quick quick bite to eat and then back to the airport for Cartagena.
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I would say "First off never fly with Schwalb on an international flight, he is notorious when it comes to missing flights (usually the most important ones) and will always choose a late night of drinking when offered the night before flying long distances." This is true even if he is not flying and you are. Beware, I strongly suggest not even talking to Schwalbe within 48 hours of any important flight! Glad to see you finally made it.
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