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We had a decent last night in Colombia, but it was time to say goodbye and continue our journey to Panama City. We had a long breakfast and then walked around the neighbourhood one last time. We got to the airport early enough to check out some lounges. Check in wasn’t as smooth as we expected it to be. We only have one night in Panama City, but we have never had issues getting our luggage to a layover city. The agent said it was not possible and that they would send our checked luggage all the way through to our final destination rather than Panama. So we went through my bag on the spot and got out whatever essentials we needed, most importantly our swim gear. The rest of the formalities went by smoothly and we got to the Copa Club lounge with plenty of time. The lounge itself seemed cozy but there was no food except for some chips. Kilian and Oksana stayed behind, while Ashleigh and I took Kalina to a much nicer lounge next door. The lounge even had a small exhibition from the gold museum. We had some breakfast there and then returned to swap teams. Now it was Kilians turn to go with Ashleigh to check out the Amex “lounge”, a very small nook right in the middle of the walkways. The rest of us met them there and since we still had fifteen minutes before boarding, we swapped teams again for a final lounge hop. This time Ash and Oksana took Kalina and went to the LATAM lounge for a coffee while Kilian and I checked out our gate. It definitely made time go by fast and when we got to the gate, we walked right on. Kilian and I are sitting in the first row on Copas 737 business class which is spacious enough to relax. Ashleigh and Kalina took the window seat in the rear business cabin which consists of only 4 rows. Oksana was shafted to the back of the bus, but I am sure she appreciated the peace and quiet from the kids as a break. It took a very long time to get out of the airport since it was super busy. Kilian was happy about it so he could play games and watch the many planes land and takeoff in front of us. The flight to Panama is just over an hour so as soon as we were in the air, I told Kilian a story and he went to sleep. The service was lacking and I basically had to beg for a glass of wine. Fifteen minutes before landing we got some pretzels and that was it. Getting out of the airport was pretty quick, and only immigration took a while as they were hung up on whether I had any checked bags or not. Hopefully this isn’t going to end up in a lost bag tomorrow. Either way, we got to the hotel and went straight for food. There is a massive mall nearby of course so options were plentiful. We ended up sitting down at Applebee’s of all places and afterwards the ladies did some shopping at the mall for clothes, all of which were pretty cheap. I still couldn’t find sandals unfortunately that I liked. Back at the hotel we had just enough time for a dip in the pool before the rain started. Since we only have one night here we won’t be getting into the city proper. Oksana has already been here anyways and we were personally not keen on city sightseeing. The canal would have been great, but the traffic must be brutal since Google indicated it would take one hour to get there, and it’s only 20kms away! So we would have to be satisfied with our dinner at Applebee’s in Panama.
We still had a morning here, and since we were all up around 530am to the sound of the birds we packed up right away and then had breakfast, before heading on one last adventure. The town of Tabatinga lies in Brazil and happens to be easily connected to Leticia. A short tuk-tuk ride had us at the border in no time. We took some pictures of the few signs indicating we were between two countries and walked into Brazil for a few minutes. There really wasn’t much to see or do here and it seemed like it was one and the same. Either way, it was fun to check it out nonetheless. We got back and all relaxed for a bit before leaving for the airport. I will miss the comfy hammock and surrounding animal sounds. We are now starting a three day journey so stay tuned for details! Our first leg involves getting back to Bogotá for one night. The cool temperatures will be a nice break for a day! The kids both napped on the very full flight back to Bogotá. A row of young guys thought it was cool to watch a movie with volume cranked on their phone, but I was the bad guy and made them stop. That way I also got to close my eyes for a bit at least. Getting out of the airport was a breeze and we had the best timing to catch the free shuttle to the hotel. We dropped our things and then went to the mall to buy some snacks and a few treats for the kids. For dinner we did plan on having the pizza deal at the Aloft hotel which included a draft beer, but the bartender stated it was only good on weekends, even though the sign included all days of the week and we had previously ordered it during the week. I was already annoyed by the guy for making me wait at the bar for five minutes, plus I was hangry. All I wanted was a cold beer and a nice pizza x3! I even prioritized it over a nice shower since I was still all sticky from the jungle. Anyways, he called over another guy and they came back stating we could have only one pizza and two beers, but that’s it. I told the guy one pizza wasn’t going to fill us up and so annoyed we left to go elsewhere. We did want to check out the BBC, the Bogotá beer company which has a location nearby so that’s where we headed. We all got our cold drinks after all and a big platter of nachos! The shower after was still one of the best. All cleaned up, the kids went to sleep and we caught up on the dozens of emails and other internet activities. The wifi was useless in the Amazon, which was a nice break of course, but we are back online now.
We were all up around 5am and for good reason. The sound of the birds was deafening, one could not sleep through that much noise if they tried. We took our time getting up and walked down to a nearby park which finally had a playground for the kids. While in rough shape it was better than nothing. Breakfast was decent enough, scrambled eggs with fresh fruit and decent coffee. We got picked up right on time and then headed down to the waterfront. Since the river is currently very low, boats can’t launch from the typical spot and we had to cross an old wooden bridge over to an island and then walk to the main part of the river. The floating houses were no longer floating and instead just laid there at a rather steep angle, waiting for the river to raise with the rain season to come. We got a good glimpse of the simple life as we walked down to where the boats docked. Our captain was waiting in our small speedboat “Emily” and after we had our life vests on we started our journey up river. We were glad that our boat had some power and was covered from the sun! The breeze from the front made the sweltering morning heat more bearable. We were heading some 30kms upriver to a small river island and the journey took almost an hour. The kids both fell asleep from the constant motion and sound so we got to look around and admire the river shores and the mighty Amazon. In some spots the river was nearly 4kms wide so it didn’t even feel like we were still on a river, but almost seemed like we were on a lake. There wasn’t much else to see along the way other than endless jungle on the sides and the occasional logs floating into our path. We all arrived at the island excited for a little walk through the rainforest and also in time for breakfast. Breakfast for the nearly one hundred squirrel monkeys that is! Kilian was super pumped when he saw the small creatures up ahead. The guide had some bananas ready and as soon as he gave one to Oksana the monkeys swarmed her by the dozens. Kilian wanted to try as well and ended up feeding them a handful of bananas. We all had way too much fun with the monkeys as they were jumping from one head to the other. Kalina was less impressed and while she was interested in the monkeys, she did not like it when they jumped on her shoulder or wrapped their tails around her face. Overall we spent quite a bit of time walking back and forth on the trails observing the monkeys and also taking in the forest with its massive trees. After we had enough we took the boat down river and stopped at a small pond that was filled with water Lillie’s. To get there we had to first cross a wide sandy beach, a reminder the river was very low. Then we trekked along a raised boardwalk to the pond. On the way back Ashleigh spotted two macaw parrots sitting in a nearby tree. They were a beautiful sight and a nice surprise for us. We did initially agree that the boat would drop us at Santa Rosa an island across on the Peruvian side, but when we got there the border guards were making a big deal of us arriving on a non commuter boat. Whether they just wanted a bribe was unclear, but we ultimately were not allowed to enter Peru. So we took the boat back and our captain directed us to just take a commuter boat across. It was almost noon, so we declined and would try again some other time. We were all exhausted and hungry from our adventurous morning. We walked back through a very rural area and got a glimpse of life on stilts. All the houses near the water were simple and raised. They were connected by squeaky boardwalks which we followed until we got to the main road. Lunch was a simple affair of pastries and then everyone took a nap. I swayed in the hammock on our separate porch for a bit and also fell asleep. We woke up sweaty and still exhausted from the heat. It’s hard to imagine living in this constant heat and always being sticky.
After we all somewhat woke up, we decided to give Peru another shot. This time we took a tuk-tuk to the same place where we started this morning. To our surprise the bridge across to the island was now closed and they were indeed fixing it up, so it really was on its last leg. We had to take an even sketchier bridge across that had no railing and the small planks made it extra scary when people were coming the other way. We balanced across them holding on to our kids as tightly as possible since a drop down into the muddy stream would not end well. On the waterfront everything went smoothly this time. The Peruvian border guards were nowhere to be found of course. We couldn’t agree on a price for a tuk-tuk in Peru so we walked through the sandy part on the other side until we got to the small road. Here we did find a driver that would take us to the edge of this small village to a restaurant that of course also had “Amazon” in its name like every other place here. The town in Peru does differ quite a bit and the people also look somewhat different overall. Everyone was super friendly and the restaurant at a perfect location overlooking some fields. We got a large bottle of beer and some fruit juice to get us started. For dinner we ordered a shared platter that had chicken, beef, fish, fried plantains and a bunch of other good food. It was a massive heap of mostly meat so there was no way we could finish it all. We did fill up as best we could while watching a few parrots come by. One wanted some water so we got up very close to it as someone opened the barely dripping tap for the bird. Kilian made friends with a boy and Kalina was dancing on the planks to any song really. By the time we finished dinner, it was starting to get dark again. We walked around a little bit and then took a tuk-tuk back to the boats. This driver went very fast and then took us all the way down the sandy parts which involved some treacherous driving. Our boat captain relieved us of our last few Peruvian Sols and was in no rush to get us across. He slowly chugged over, allowing us to watch the kids go for a cooling swim in the river while waving goodbye. The sunset was quite impressive as well and by the looks of it a storm is building up far in the distance. The walk back to the city was much more tolerable with the heat of the day finally settling. Even the bridge was fixed up again! We got a few cold waters and headed back to our place. We were all super hot still from the afternoon outing and since the somewhat cold showers are not refreshing enough, we jumped into the cold “hot tub”. They fill up the hot tub towards the end of the day with cold water so it’s the best way to cool off. The kids were loving it as much as we were. It took a while to wind them down, but once settled we were once again just left with the critter sounds around us. What an adventurous day it was today! Definitely one to remember and we are all thrilled to have made the journey down here, even though it’s uncomfortably hot! We spent our last day in Cartagena relaxing by the beach and pool. The weather was perfect, blue skies and very hot. We spent a few hours on a nearby beach and the kids built their sandcastles while we swam in the sea. The rest of the day we hung out by our pool and ended our day at a nearby restaurant. The kids seemed a bit off, so it was probably a good idea to have a relaxing day. We are glad to move on and leave behind the noisy city.
The next morning we left early for the airport so we could grab some breakfast at the lounge. The selection was sad, but at least we stocked up on water for the day. We are now flying Latam for the first time and the assigned seats, while together are middle, aisle, aisle, middle so Kilian was sad about not getting a window seat. We got to Bogotá on time and had just enough time to grab a quick lunch before boarding began for our next flight of the day. We are heading deep into Columbia, the Amazon Rainforest to be exact, to a town called Leticia. The only way to get there is either to fly in or to take a long boat ride along the Amazon river. There are no roads that connect it to the outside world so it’s quite the secluded little place. Leticia is a tri-border city and half of it is in Colombia while the other part Tabatinga is in Brazil. Across the mighty Amazon river lies Peru so it’s a unique corner of the world. One can start their river cruise down towards Brazil or upriver into Peru. Ashleigh is already terrified of the creatures we may encounter, but overall we are of course pretty excited to check out the rainforest. Our seats on the next plane were exactly the same, but at least Ashleigh and Oksana got the entire row this time. I am surprised how full the flight actually is. It’s a mix of people returning home and what appears to be the Colombian adventure travellers all decked out in brand name gear ready to tackle the Amazon. Kilian went to sleep as soon as we took off since that was our deal. Even though he no longer sleeps past 5am, at least he is still great at napping. We arrived to sweltering heat and humidity at a rather modern airport. We paid the tourist tax and then waited for a taxi. They have mostly the same small yellow Korean kind here so fitting us all in would be difficult. Some had roof racks, but we waited instead for an old station wagon to pull up. The trunk was massive, even though it was broken and one could see the light of day through the doors and basically the rest of the vehicle was going to fall apart any day now. The driver, while super friendly with a big smile, weaved around the terrible potholes like it was a game. One could easily get stuck in some of these massive holes. The roads in town were terrible as expected and the traffic flow a nightmare. The constant honking didn’t seem to make any sense, but somehow people are getting around. We checked into our large cabana at the Amazon B&B, advertised to come with air conditioning. It did have Air Con, but with the open mesh windows and no real glass it was nearly impossible to keep the room cool. Luckily a couple fans are keeping the air circulating. We didn’t stay in the room for long and took off immediately to chat with a local tour guide about our options to explore the area. We jumped in a tuk-tuk which seems bizarre in itself down here and then found the agency in town. The kids loved the tuk-tuk ride of course and so did we. Most of the tours around are multi day adventures that go deep into the forest which wasn’t something we could entertain this time around. Instead the owners son offered us a very cool half day trip up the river with a few stops. We agreed on the details and haggled a good price and then just had to exchange money to pay the man. Luckily we had enough cash between all of us to exchange without needing to take out cash at the ATM. All settled for our tour the next day, we walked to a recommended local restaurant and finally sat down with some cold drinks. For dinner we tried a local speciality called pirarucu, a massive fresh water fish of the Amazon river. The fish chunks were breaded in yuca and deep fried which made them extra delicious. It was dark by the time we finished dinner and so we took a tuk-tuk back to our place. There wasn’t much else to do at night so we just chilled and went to bed early, excited for our adventure tomorrow. We had invited my sister Oksana out to Colombia right before we left Canada and she arrived bright and early on Saturday! We watched the plane come in from our balcony and less than an hour later she was here. The kids were excited to see her and are already glued to her every minute plus it changed up our routine a bit as well. We can now both get a break from carrying kids once in a while, very much appreciated! Since Oksana was pretty tired from the three flights we didn’t stir far from our place. In the morning we went down to the beach and actually swam in the water quite a bit for the first time. We even gave in to one of the many vendors and tried some mango topped with salt, an interesting combo. After nap time we lounged some more by the pool. One has to book it due to limited space, and apparently the morning slots were fully booked even though we didn’t see a single person by the pool. So we got the pool in the afternoon and had it to ourselves. There is a rooftop pool as well, but the location is a bit intense since it’s on the 43rd floor of this somewhat crumbling looking high rise. We did check out the incredible view from up there, but letting the kids run around freely seems like a bad idea so we are sticking to the ground floor pool.
Overnight we had a crazy storm roll through that got me jumping out of bed. I opened the balcony door around 2am and was plastered by high winds and the rain beating against my face. I barely managed to stack the plastic chairs before they went flying plus had to save our loosely hung up clothes as well. The storm didn’t last too long but it was powerful enough to shake our windows and keep us up for a bit. Looking at the radar it seemed to be a sliver of the edge of tropical storm Ian that was working its way northwest, the centre several hundred kilometres away. The next day was a cloudy day, so perfect for more sightseeing. We left our building in an Uber and drove through a few flooded roads back towards the walled city. This time we explored a new area called Getsemani, a very bright and colourful part of the old city. The streets were narrow and had some quirky decorations strung between the buildings. One street was filled with country flags, the next with kite size pieces of fabric and the coolest one had umbrellas strung in between, quite unique indeed. Since it was still early, the streets were pretty empty on this Sunday morning. Not surprising since the rest of the people likely just went to bed, especially our neighbours from below. They were partying all night and didn’t stop until Kilian was up around 5am ready for his morning cartoons. The storm also didn’t bother them, as they were screaming back at it and just turned up their beats, seemingly the same song all night as the consistent bass line didn’t seem to change all night. Anyways, this gave us the chance to see the old city during quiet hours. By the time we got back to the highlights it was the perfect time for brunch. The kids were all sweaty and tired so we managed to find a place with AC to cool them down. We may have pushed them a bit yesterday on an hour long walk around the neighbourhood since Kalina all of a sudden had a high fever last night. It didn’t last long and she was over it today so perhaps it was just too much heat. Brunch was excellent and before we knew it, we were ready to head home to put the kids down. The Uber drivers are all disappointing and today was no different. On the way to the old city we had the worst one yet. He dropped us off ten minutes from our place, a ride that was supposed to cost around $4. Rather than stopping the ride here, he continued on a long drive way out of town racking in an impressive distance before deciding to stop “our” ride. The final receipt we got was more than ten times as much at nearly $50 and Uber seemed equally concerned leaving us a few messages to ensure we were ok since the driver stopped for a while to rack up the timer as well. So Ashleigh submitted the complaint (this was the fourth one so far in Colombia) and we got the price adjusted. The driver back wasn’t too much better, he stopped 50m short of the pickup place and then instead of driving straight down one road and getting us home in ten minutes decided to turn right and a few more rights taking us on a “free” old city tour. I told him he made a mistake which he seemed to ignore, but ultimately must have clued in that we were not impressed. He didn’t end up charging us for the extra ten minutes of driving, so at least we didn’t have to submit another request to Uber. Our afternoon was relaxing, chilling by the pool and then going out to a nice beach restaurant nearby. The restaurant had a playground for the kids and delicious cocktails for us. I finally tried the famous Coco Loco cocktail with local rum and dinner was also excellent. We had the perfect sunset right in front of us and even when we got home, the sunset colours still lingered. A lightning show was also visible over the water far in the distance. The weekend noise has finally stopped and the party crowd moved on or went to sleep before their workday starts. It has been a fun few days and having Oksana join us is great! We are excited to check out some other places over the next few days as well, so stay tuned for more updates and hopefully less rants about terrible Uber drivers. Time seems to be crawling by in Cartagena. While the breakfast is amazing at the Marriott, the location near the busy main road gets annoying fast. We have been making the walk into the walled city a few times per day and explored the many corners and side streets by now. It’s still a very neat place every time, especially the view from the top of the wall. The cathedral reminded us of the one in Grenada and the small shops are plentiful. The kids love walking on the uneven streets and are getting plenty of attention when playing on the ground. We have noticed that there are almost no kids around, not even local kids which seems a bit odd. Besides the old city we also checked out the beach across the road for one morning, but the busy road makes it far from attractive. After two nights, we are ready to roll again.
After naps we took the free shuttle down to the very end of the peninsula, our home for the next few days. It’s completely different than the northern part or the parts around the old city. There are still lots of white washed, or mostly grey washed at this point, buildings but it’s way more touristy, in a good way. There are lots of restaurants and more action. Our host was not ready for us as he was still fixing up something in the apartment. That meant we had to go for a walk around the area to kill time. We found a few small stores which seemed more expensive compared to what we were used to as well as lots of eating options, which seemed cheaper for the most part. Once we were allowed in to our place, we quickly dropped our stuff and headed back out for dinner. We found a nice place nearby and even though it took a while for the food to show up, the kids were busy playing with tooth picks and napkins while we drank cold beer. We managed to pick up a few things from the store and then headed up to our 14th floor ocean view apartment. The views tonight were amazing as the sun sets right over the water. Looking out from the living room it seems we are literally on the water. We also have a nice view of the harbour area and neighbouring islands. It was a good find that’s for sure and worth the extra wait. The kids were exhausted from playing and we relaxed for a bit before calling it a night also. We haven’t been doing a whole lot, so there isn’t too much to write about. Since we arrived in Cartagena we have been staying for three nights at a high rise apartment building north of the airport. Our place had a great view over the mangroves and even a glimpse of the ocean. We all enjoyed watching the planes come in and out of the view as well from the 8th floor. We spent our days walking up and down the only street that divides the swamps from the ocean. The beach kept us all busy with digging our feet in and we built plenty of sand castles. We had a few mornings at one the the few pools as well. The beach vendors are all friendly and not too intrusive. The only exception was a friendly lady that really wanted to give Ashleigh a massage. So Ashleigh ended up with a two minute free massage by the time we were able to get her to move on. The lady seemed capable, but the setting just wasn’t right with the kids clambering over Ashleigh while the lady was trying to give her massage. Also the kids were scarred by a man rapping Still D.R.E., the Spanish version of course; it was all fun though ultimately. The kids are playing well together for the most part, and Kalina is still screaming at everything she wants, something we are working on with her. Our place, while very nice did not have hot water, a bit of an oversight on our part or more of an assumption we had for a fairly new building so none of us have had a proper shower in a few days. The quick rinse offs always result in the kids crying so they remained sandy for the most part. On our last full day we were told the pools were closed for maintenance, even though I did not see anyone doing any work all day. We were a bit disappointed and raised the issue with our host after we had already messaged him about not having any hot water. He ultimately gave us a free night! We did contemplate checking out early, but ended up staying after his offer. The food choices in the area were limited, but we found a great place and have been going there mostly. My favourite dish so far were deep fried plantains the size of pancakes loaded with all types of meat and topped with cheese and fried onions. The mini market nearby has everything else that we needed. However, after a few days we were ready for a change of scenery and so we left our Airbnb behind and then drove fifteen minutes towards the old centre. We are staying at the Ermita Marriott hotel near the old city, a rather fancy little boutique hotel. We arrived to a perfectly maintained building and even though checkin took half an hour, we got a nice room upgrade, free breakfast and early morning checkin. The room is modern and spacious and while the kids had a pillow fight, we finally took our long awaited hot showers. When both kids were out, Ashleigh and I were surprised by some chocolate treats from the hotel while watching a movie.
In the afternoon we made our way to the rooftop pool which is quite nice. The kids had a lot of fun and so did we! Since the weather was a bit cloudy it was the perfect time to wander into the old city of Cartagena, a UNESCO World Heritage site. There are only so many ways to get into the walled city, so our walk took some time. We aimlessly wandered around admiring the many colourful beautiful buildings, many of which were wrapped by flowers and vines. It really is a highlight and must see place while here. Right on the edge of the old city they built a massive mall which is amusing to see since it just doesn’t seem to fit in, but people really must enjoy high end malls here. Everything was overpriced and I still couldn’t find sandals. For dinner we stopped at a restaurant overlooking one of the many plazas. We all chose vegetarian options tonight for a change and the food was delicious. It was a proper sit down meal finally! The walk back was along the walled sections and the view from atop of the wall is excellent. We stopped often to take in the surrounding views and the kids had to sit on every single cannon as we made our way back to our place. While we did walk a lot, we also got approached by at least a dozen horse carriages so perhaps next time we may jump in one of the price is right. We are looking forward to a few more visits into the old city and lots more time by the pool of course as well. We spent our last day in Bogotá at the science museum for kids. While it was all labelled in Spanish and a bit dated, we still managed to stay there for over 2 hours. The kids tried a bunch of experiments and we may have learned a few things also. In the afternoon we went for a few walks around the area and had subway for dinner. Having four full days in Bogotá seemed enough so we were all ready to move on. We had a quick breakfast and then took the shuttle to the airport. The Check in process went smoothly and didn’t take long at all. We had a few snacks at the lounge which was literally called “the lounge”! The kids area was a bit sad, and Ashleigh got in trouble for sitting on one of the kids chairs. We have been somewhat surprised so far by the order around here, not the South America we remember. We were enjoying a cold beer outside at a park yesterday and didn’t even think twice that public drinking may not be allowed. Apparently it isn’t in certain places like the park we were in, since a security guard told us to move on to either the cafes patio or walk home. We shall see how the rest of the country is as we continue to explore it. Our flight boarded on time and we are now on our way to Cartagena, a popular beach city on the Caribbean coast! We arrived to the much anticipated humidity and heat. The airport is small so it was easy getting out. Our first place is only ten minutes north of the airport at one of the many white washed high rise apartment buildings. We have a lot of space which is great and the views are excellent from the 8th floor. The kids took a nap while I got us some drinks. We spent the afternoon checking out the wide beach in front of our building. It isn’t what I was expecting, but I hadn’t read into it so it was a bit surprising. There are literally cars driving on the packed sand beach and a long line up of make shift tents is dotting the beach front. It was still the weekend so the last of the parties were taking place with exhausted weekenders passed out in the sand. A few beach vendors approached us with some goodies but we needed a decent dinner after not having lunch today. There is a small shack next door which served us some great food, so we will likely go back there! The kids enjoyed a bit of beach time today and Kilian was so excited he carried his bucket and shovels all the way to the grocery store before we even went to the beach. When we got the kids ready for bed we found out the hard way that we only had cold water for our showers, a bit of an oversight in the listing but also a bit surprising for such a modern apartment. Anyways, the kids were not happy getting washed down at night, while Ash and I skipped out on our showers. Once the kids were down, we enjoyed some wine and a great lightning show in the distance. The traffic noise is quite loud so it will take us a night to get used to it. Here is to a few relaxing days in the heat!
We all slept for nearly twelve hours and woke up ready to take on some of the cities main sights. After a big breakfast, which ended up being quite messy for the kids since they were covered in fresh fruit, we quickly changed and then took an Uber into the city centre. Clogged up roads seem to be the normal here so the 15km ride into town took nearly 45 minutes. The driver was super friendly and we got chatting about all kinds of things. His Spanish was clear enough for me to get, and in my broken Spanish he also seemed to understand me with the occasional English words thrown in. We started our walk near the Iglesia de San Francisco, a beautiful church. The city was still waking up, but the many street vendors were setting up shop early. We walked down a pedestrian street to the famous Plaza de Bolivar where Kilian chased around the hundreds of pigeons. Kalina wanted to join in too, so they both ran after them in joy. We looped around the plaza into a side street to try out some locally baked goods, all of which were loaded with dulce de leche - caramel sauce! We sat on the steps of the cathedral and then walked to the gold museum. The entrance fee of just one dollar seemed worth a visit, even for us non museum folk. There is an impressive collection of over 55k pieces of gold so we had to check them out. Kilian was in search of the biggest piece while all Kalina wanted to do is walk around by herself of course. When we were done with the museum we weaved our way through the cobblestone streets on to the main road and headed back to the hotel for nap time.
The kids napped for almost three hours so by the time we got out again, we just went to the supermarket for a few items and chilled at the hotel lounge. The next day we started out with the traffic clogged drive towards the city again. It was a bit gloomy today and it was only a matter of time before the rain clouds moved in. Our goal was to check out Monserrate Peak which is looking over the city. We took up the funicular along the steep mountain slope, which was quite the adventure for the kids. Right before popping out near the top, the cart goes through a tunnel which was pretty neat. It was a short walk up from the station to the top of the peak, which is sitting at a lofty height of 3150m! There is a church on top which is a popular pilgrimage sight and overall it was a lot busier than expected. We were happy to not come here over the weekend! The views were impressive to say the least and we could clearly see the entire city beneath us all the way past the airport. After a quick snack, the clouds started to roll in and so we took the funicular back down. There were a few lineups so it took us all morning for this short excursion. We picked up some empanadas for lunch and then chilled at the hotel during the rain showers. In the afternoon we headed to dollar city, the equivalent of our dollarama, even the logo seemed to match. Kilian got to pick out an item for arts and crafts time. That kept us busy throughout cocktail hour. We had some craft beer while the kids were busy making animals from felts. A successful few days of sightseeing so far! The summer in Canada really did fly by. It’s hard to believe it has already been two months since we came back to Calgary. We had an amazing hot summer, but the smell of fall is in the air and so we decided to go traveling again! Our friend Will dropped us off with plenty of time at the airport and we had a great breakfast at the maple leaf lounge. The kids seemed equally excited to be on the road again; now that Kalina is walking meant she was roaming around the lounge non stop and insisted on walking most of the way to the gate. While Kilian and I were confirmed in business class, Ashleigh had to wait until the last minute to see if she would be upgraded. She didn’t end up getting Biz, but at least they bumped her to the bulkhead seat in premium economy! Air Canada flight attendants did make a bit of a deal out of me wanting to switch her seats. They did say it’s fine but I wouldn’t be able to come up to help get Kilian down for a nap. So Ashleigh remained in premium while Kilian got settled into his seat with Dino games. We did purposefully choose the flight time over nap time, plus the plane was a Dreamliner so it had proper signature class with lie flat seats for the flight over to Montreal. Premium economy of course is still more comfortable than economy! Kalina had a nap and then she joined me up front to eat most of my beef tenderloin, plus all of my cheese. Kilian was a good boy, and napped for almost two hours. Once he was up, Ashleigh took Kalina back while Kilian had his lunch. The flight took way longer than planned, as there was only one runway available and bad weather in Montreal. Kilian went to the bathroom before the seat belt sign came on, but everything took so long while we circled endlessly that he had to go again of course. When I asked the attendant she said he couldn’t use it because we were landing, even though it was still half an hour or more before we actually landed. I was not impressed and Kilian cried so hard because he couldn’t hold it in. Once we landed, taxiing still took forever because a dozen other aircraft all landed back to back. I had enough and just took Kilian to the washroom to avoid an accident as we were making our way to the terminal. When we finally did make it to the gate it was already dinner time. We initially went to the maple leaf lounge, which was very busy. The kids were restless so we found a playground at the end of the terminal which kept both kids very entertained. Kalina wanted to climb up everything and Kilian was creative in building a jump course out of seats. On the way back to the maple leaf lounge we stopped at the national bank lounge. It was a sad one indeed, the only good thing to say was that the kids loved the banana bread. Since our flight to Colombia was delayed, we hung out at the lounge until closer to boarding. Kalina was extremely tired and when another delay was announced Ashleigh put her to sleep while I told Kilian endless stories. He was a real trooper though and waited until after takeoff to lay down which was close to 1230am Montreal time. He even passed on his apple juice! While the flight is delayed, we are glad the kids can sleep a bit at least. We picked seats in the back of business this time in hopes of a quieter cabin. It was actually pretty empty so we shuffled around a bit. Kilian all tucked in and Kalina happily snoozing on Ash, we got our beverages and starters to enjoy some peace and quiet. Rereading the post makes me realize that it will take a few days to get used to the travel life again and the many hiccups. A reminder to be more patient, especially with the kids. While it sounds like we had a few minor hiccups with delays, it really was a great journey so far. It is the small moments that are most enjoyable. One of those moments was when we were sitting at the lounge overlooking the many planes taxiing, the kids were glued to the window while an A330 was pulling out. It was pouring rain so we could barely see the pilots, but encouraged the kids to wave goodbye. Kalina was waving with both hands and Kilian wasn’t sure whether they would wave back, but they did! Not only did both pilots notice the kids and waved, they even put one of the windshield wipers on as a wave which Kilian found hilarious of course.
The night was short, but both kids slept the entire flight. Getting out of the airport went smoothly and we got to the hotel in time for breakfast. It’s great to be back in South America as it has been over ten years for us both. South America is also Kilians 6th continent, pretty impressive at age 3! We did pay a bit extra to get early checkin which was the right call as we all needed a nap mid morning. We woke up almost three hours later, all hungry for lunch. There is a massive shopping mall nearby so finding food was super easy. Our mission at the mall was to also find new sandals for myself, since mine are nearing the end of their lifecycle. We had no luck with sandals, but did spend a few hours walking around. Even though we had a good nap, everyone was tired early and so after a pint and some pizza we called it an early night. Tomorrow we will begin exploring Bogotá proper! |
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