Regardless of the fact that my stay in Bogota was quite short, I knew there were 2 things I had to do no matter what. The first was to go on the food tour by La Mesa, which I talk about in my previous post. The other was to go on the Bogota Graffiti Tour.
This was probably the highlight of my time in Bogota, which is shocking as I love my food! But I love street art and the stories they tell and how they define and redefine space. Bogota is full of beautiful street art from some of the world’s biggest street artists and I only saw a tip of the iceberg during my 3 hour tour. I must say that the Bogota Graffiti Tour are an amazing organisation and our tour guide was fantastic and very knowledgeable. The tour is free but tips are expected and encouraged! I bet you, after your tour you will be emptying your pockets and begging your tour guide to take all your money. It’s that great!
Little words are needed for this post as the pictures speak for themselves! It is so beautiful how the murals have molded themselves within their context, they look like they were always there and grew into the streets organically.
I just returned from Bogota, Colombia and to be honest it still feels like an amazing dream. I knew I’d get to travel the world but to be honest, some places just felt out of reach. Central and South America, yeah the whole region, felt like the stuff of wildest dreams – beautiful but beyond grasp. Well, I lived some of my wildest dreams a couple of days ago when I set foot on El Dorado Airport, Bogota.
First glimpse of South America 😱🎉
I was in Bogota for work but I had about 3 days to tour the capital of Colombia. Bogota is a beautiful but busy valley town, surrounded by the Andes. It is actually one of the highest cities in the world and you do lose your breath very quickly up there.
I was in a consumers heaven whilst I was in Bogota because of the favourable exchange rate. Whilst I was there, £1 was about 4000 Colombian Peso! And things are more affordable there than in London, of course! For instance a 45min Uber ride cost just about £6 max.
My first full day of mooching started with a food tour by La Mesa Tour. Now, up until this trip, I didn’t know food tours existed. When I did find out though, I knew I had to go on one in Bogota come what may. I love food and seeing new places and this sounded like a great combination of both and it was. Not only did we get to eat a number of authentic Colombian and Bogotan cuisine, we also got some cultural sights thrown in! Our tour guide was amazing and very helpful, despite the fact that I was late (totally nothing to do with the fact that I’m Nigerian 😳) and held the whole group up.
Three things to note about Colombian cuisine:
Big portions
Loads of meat
They love their plantain and make it in different ways!
I do not remember the names of any thing I ate as they were all in Spanish of course and my brain doesn’t memorise anything Spanish as I don’t speak it. So all the names went in one ear and escaped out of the other. However, I remember 2 things, one was Ajiaco. Ajiaco is specific to Bogota and I had read prior to coming to Colombia that it was a must eat. Ajiaco is deliciously overwhelming. It has a lot going on as you can see below and portion sizes,as said earlier, are humongous. I don’t think I ever finished a meal whilst there, sadly.
Ajiaco 😋
The second unforgettable edible was a drink called Chicha- fermented maize drink. Apparently, to get the real deal, the maize is masticated and spat out, the saliva works its magic and ferments the maize and voila you have your appetising Chicha. Ours was not made like that we were told though….let’s just say the drink and I didn’t get along.
Chicha
I had many meals whilst in Colombia, but the food tour definitely helped get me stuck in really quick especially as I had so little time in the City.
A couple of popular places I went to eat in the city were Andres Carnes de res and Crepes y Waffles. Andres Carnes is the wildest restaurant I have ever been to, but I should have known. A restaurant that focuses solely on serving large portions of meat on platters would soon get crazy. The restaurant was huge and quirky, with performers milling around, dressed to impress and doing interesting little shows. After eating or during eating, people get up to dance salsa and they keep going till morning fuelled by beef and pork.
Rapidly emptying meat platters at Andres Carnes de res 🎉💃🏾🍗🍖
Crepes y Waffles is an altogether different kind fo restaurant perhaps more of what most people conjure up in their minds eye when they think of restaurants. In short, it was more sedate in comparison to Andres Carnes de res.
Crepes y Waffles is extra special because it has a unique social action ethos – all its waiters are single mothers! It was super cool and had a great menu. Most people ordered sensible dishes for dinner but since it was called Crepes y Waffles, I decided to go for a waffle. I had such a great experience there that when leaving Colombia, I had my last meal on the continent at Crepes y Waffles at the airport – this time I had a bolognese crepe!
Waffles at Crepes y WafflesBolognese Crepe at Crepes y Waffles
Other delightful meals I had during my stay in Bogota are visually represented below. I apologise for two things; I do not remember what most are called and secondly, I am sorry you can only see and not taste 😋
africanwildflower 