Colombia - Bogota, Quetzal Spotted!

We went to the Casa Museo Quinta de Bolivar, a museum house of the infamous Simon Bolivar. It was given to him by the people of Colombia for liberating the region and helping to bring together a number of South American countries into the Republic of Colombia.

Its a pretty house, very simple and beautifully decorated. We manged to spot the elusive Quetzal (official bird of Guatemala), unfortunately for this nearly extinct species - the one we saw was in a taxidermy viewing jar. Its a wonderful green bird with a pink fluffy head!

The gardens of the house were very well managed and the staff were particular proud of the herb garden and the irrigation system, which has been channeling water from the mountain for over 150 years.

Nice spot if you ever want to get away from the bustle of Bogota.

Colombia, Bogota - Cable Car

I was gutted not to ride the cable car in Merida, so when we arrived in Bogota and I saw they had a cable up to a pretty church with views over the city - we had to have a go!

It was walking distance from the hostel, so we set off up there this morning. The view was stunning! the city is huge and covers the whole of the valley basin.

Check out the pics of our ride up the mountain...

Colombia - We made it!

We were really pleased to arrive in Bogota, Colombia, to find a truly cosmopolitan city full of universities and students, clean new cars, new buildings, small bars, excellent restaurants, giant new malls, squares and wonderfully restored civic buildings.

Venezuela is by far more hostile and uninviting for the independent traveller. We've checked into a hostel called Platapus, it's got some interesting characters (the Americans are the oddest) but its in a charming part of town. Bogota is like a bit of Barcelona in Central America, very cool and progressive.

We bought a new camera yesterday (Panasonic Lumix FH20 - really good point-and-shoot camera for use in all situations). Here are a few pics of us walking around town this afternoon!