Road trip to Colombia

I travelled to Colombia on business. Mimi joined me. I was attending the SPE Latin American/Caribbean Conference in Cartagena. We have recently opened a new office in Bogota so we stopped there for a couple of days. Yes, security is something taken seriously there. Nelson, our driver picked us up at the airport. He was driving an armored Toyota SUV. If nothing else, the armor muffles the road traffic noise!

Bogota is a pretty city, situated at 2700 metres, the elevation moderates the temperature. Most business people are wearing suits, more formal than BA. I went into our office and Mimi went on a bit of a city tour. Nelson was gracious enough to drive Mimi around. She chose to sit in the front seat - you are little less obvious when you do that.

She said that the Museo del Oro (Museum of Gold) was amazing. I was afraid of what damage she could do in the gift shop!

The security was obvious at hotels and office buildings. Every vehicle that entered the building parkade was greeted by a big friendly dog. The dog hops into the car (front seat, trunk) and has a big sniff!

Speaking of security, if you want to steal a motorcycle - you have to steal the bike, the helmet AND the rider's vest because they all bear the licence plate number.

We then travelled to Cartagena which is on the Caribbean near Panama. The city has an old fort that had been attacked a couple of times but that hasnt been for at least 150 years. It is a very colorful city. Inside the old town there are lots of horse drawn carriages for rent. There were also lots of vendors who will approach you to sell you just about anything. Not pushy, just relentless - 'No gracias' was well practiced by both of us. The temperatures were a constant 32 degrees and 90% humidity every day.

We met a couple from Argentina who moved to Calgary about the same time we moved to BA. We met them for dinner and on the first night there, they wanted to go to a parilla, a typical Argentine type restaurant because they hadnt had a good empanada in months! It was fun.

We went for a walk one day and 'stumbled' into a local wedding. Dancers and musicians were waiting for the bride and groom to come out of the church and then they 'danced them down the street' to where the reception took place. It was really cool to watch.

While our time in Colombia was very nice, there is a strong military presence and we did see examples of torture - specifically cruelty to textiles.......

B.