Hola mis amigos! Prepare yourselves for the onslaught of travel updates to begin. After a very lack luster attempt at my final exam of the semester… Laura and I eagerly jumped into the back of my parents SUV for the daunting task of crossing the U.S. border. Laura, with wide-eyed fear, waited nervously for our fate. My dad pulled up to the border guard… and to our dismay… it was a woman. No good could come of this. That is until my dad turned on the charm. He immediately won over the female guard, explaining that these two young girls in the back were leaving them behind for a glorious trip to South America. She was so wooed by him, that she neglected to ask us any questions, even which country we were going to. I guess we’ll let that one slide, since most Americans think South America is a country. We were off to a great start. To summarize our epic day of travel. Whitney = 60 hours and 45 minutes without sleep. Laura = Gravol addict. And we both would like to thank Menno Travel for our free guest passes to the President’s Club Lounge in Newark… amazing airport by the way. I now skip ahead to midnight on May 1st when Laura and I were greeted in Bogota, Colombia by my friend Beatrice, who I worked with at Menno Travel and her wonderful father-in-law, Joaquin. We were welcomed with open arms and crashed as soon as we got to our new home away from home.

Beatrice’s Apartment

Today was our first full day in South America. We woke up early to take the tourist train to the nearby town of Zipaquira. The two hour ride was filled with photo ops and live music from our cute little traveling band. Upon arrival we visited the Catedral de Sal (Salt Cathedral) which was quite impressive. The underground salt mine boasts the largest indoor cross in the world at 16m tall and 10m wide. We were also shocked to learn that they actually hold weekly mass in this one-of-a-kind cathedral. Although, the mines are frequented by tourists during the day, they still mine 50 tons of salt per day during the night. Along the way we read some interesting Spanish signs with English translations. One of which read, “Jesus meets the Holly mother.” No that was not a typo on my part… apparently we’ve been wrong all along. Holly, not Mary, is the mother of Jesus. We definitely enjoyed that one and are now on the lookout for more Spanglish errors. We ended our time with a short 3D movie about the history of the mine… seriously? 3D? So random.

Entrance to the Salt Mine

Lunch that day was at a typical Colombian restaurant in the town square. I had plantains with the freshest, most delicious guacamole of my life. The only downside of the day was the extremely annoying and continual tingling sensation in my hands and feet. Apparently, this is a very serious side effect of my altitude sickness pills (Bogota is approximately 2500m above sea level). According to my information, I am to seek medical assistance immediately. Oh joy… thanks body… hit me baby one more time.

Mmm… so good!

Once we were back in Bogota, Beatrice’s father-in-law, my new favourite person, picked us up at the train station. We drove to pick up Beatrice’s four year old daugher Mikaela from her friend’s house. Mika and I are buddies from back in Canada so we were excited for our reunion. We then drove up into the mountains that surround Bogota to Calera where Joaquin’s siblings live on a gorgeous farm. We had tea with his family where I tried to use my newly acquired Spanish skills. I’m giving myself an A+ for effort. We were also able to indulge in some Colombian coffee, and I now fear that I may become an addict by the end of this trip. Sorry Starbucks, but Juan Valdez is where it’s at.

Me and Mika at Juan Valdez

On the way back into the city Laura and I had a sudden and unexpected burst of patriotism when we sang Oh Canada in the car to remind Mika of her birth place. That’s right friends… we’re representing. I guess the view of Bogota by night was just that breathtaking. But honestly, this city is beautiful… which I didn’t expect with a population of nearly ten million. We’ve both felt so safe and welcomed… Colombia is definitely winning us over. The night took an interesting turn when we returned home to find that Paco, Beatrice’s two month old labrador puppy, had completely trashed her apartment. He had destroyed an orchid plant, devoured five bananas leaving the peals all over the floor, ripped up several newspapers, and left six special presents for us all over the apartment. I’m about ready to call the Dog Whisperer. Cute only goes so far before the constant urination and attempts to tear off my jeans with his teeth bring out the worst in me. Although, I am blaming all bad behaviour on the altitude sickness pills. I’m sure Beatrice will forgive me if I accidently lock her dog in the freezer. Well, that’s the condensed version of our first full day. More to come as we continue what is proving to be an exceptional trip thus far. Ciao!