Colombia: In The End

Mexico City

March 18 2015

In the end, Colombia exceeded my expectations.  I'd expected to spend time in Bogotá, take a few days trips out of the city, have dinner with Sandra, but that's not what happened.

Sandra's generosity was overwhelming.  She gave me the gift of seeing far more than the capital and its environs.

There are many things I will remember and many reasons to return.

I will remember the kindness and politeness of Colombians and how often I heard Si Señor, Gracias, para servirle.  What makes the people of some countries nicer than others? I observed this last autumn in Spain and Portugal.  The Portuguese were uniformly pleasant; the Spaniards, however...too much rudeness, too much aggression.

I will remember elegant stands of cypress and long allays of eucalyptus as we drove through the beautiful countryside of the state of Boyocá, the brilliant blue of the the altiplano.

I can still see mist climbing the high mountains of the Andes, the sun not yet burning off the thin cloud cover as we drove the highways early in the morning.

I will relish the cool, fresh, clean air of the high Andes and hold dear the new friend that I've made in Colombia.

In the end, I had forgotten the vast, open space of South America, the sheer size of the continent, the distance between cities, the beauty of the altiplano and the Andes.

I had forgotten the richness of Andean and indigenous culture, the convergence of Pre-Colombian culture with the 21^st century.

Thank you, Sandra. Thank you for making this a wonderful trip. I truly am impressed with Colombia and its people.

I will return!