Our visit to Colombia was only two weeks and we spent the first week visiting specific places. I have fewer general comments about Colombia as a result. Airbnb Our Airbnb rental was eight days, much shorter than usual. Our experience shows the ups and downs of Airbnb. Our host texted us GPS coordinates, and JonathanContinue reading “About Colombia”
Category Archives: South America
The High Noon Bird-Watching Society: Colombia Edition
Colombia is famous for the hundreds of bird species within its boundaries. You can spend two weeks or more on a dedicated birding trip just to get started. The High Noon Birdwatching Society takes a low key approach, looking at lovely flying creatures when it is most convenient. We have seen and heard some highlyContinue reading “The High Noon Bird-Watching Society: Colombia Edition”
Cartagena de Indias
The sign says it all. We arrived in Cartagena, one of the oldest cities in the New World founded in the 1500s. It has survived all these years despite colonization, wars and heat. Many places are suffering from high heat this summer, but Cartagena is always hot and humid. Hot, hot, hot, and sweat-dripping-from-every-pore humid.WeContinue reading “Cartagena de Indias”
Caribbean Colombia
No one moves fast in the Caribbean, it’s too hot. Barranquilla and the surrounding area rarely gets below 30⁰C (80s℉). This was our first lesson, as it took almost an hour to pick up our rental car. There were no problems, just an endless stream of information written on paper, xeroxed, typed into a computer,Continue reading “Caribbean Colombia”
Archaeology in San Agustin
We drive through the Colombian countryside alongside the Magdalena River in a tiny cab. When we met Hugo and his taxi at 9 am we were glad we decided to leave our big suitcases at the hotel in Neiva and travel with our carry-ons for our two-day trip to San Agustin. Other than the occasionalContinue reading “Archaeology in San Agustin”
Colombian Gold
We came to Bogota for a single reason: to see the best gold museum in the world. The Museo De Oro is full of gold panned from streams around Colombia, hammered and cast into amazing shapes. One of the fascinating parts of this history is that several regions of Colombia made gold objects in clearlyContinue reading “Colombian Gold”
Peruvian Gold!
But not the way you think. We had a chance to visit a gold and silver processing operation run by friends of ours. Even though the precious metals are invisible, it was fascinating to see how they are extracted from tons of earth, and why gold and silver mining involves moving mountains. First Jonathan putContinue reading “Peruvian Gold!”
June in Peru
A few years ago, this was field season. We spent every June, July and August excavating at sites near Barranca, leaving home around 8 am and returning around 3:30, followed by clean-up, lab work, dinner and more administrative tasks. I remember it being cold in general, but I’m surprised by how different I feel thisContinue reading “June in Peru”
The puzzle that is Bolivia
We saw wonders in Bolivia, a remarkable plain of salt, the capital of an ancient empire, rare birds. In between those high points we flew around La Paz in a gondola, then drove across miles of altiplano where we passed quinoa fields, grazing herds of cows, horses, sheep, llamas, alpacas, vicunas and even pigs. WeContinue reading “The puzzle that is Bolivia”
Bolivian Architecture: Aymara Exuberant
We couldn’t help but notice the houses built on top of apartment buildings near the airport in El Alto, on the plain above La Paz, Bolivia, since they are brightly colored and decorated like casinos. The more we found out, the more fascinated we became. These buildings are considered “Neo-andino” architecture by some, and areContinue reading “Bolivian Architecture: Aymara Exuberant”
Llywindatravels 2025 