The Longest Day...an Appointment with the President!
View of Bogota from MontserrateOur flight was a non-event, thankfully, from Buenos Aires to Bogota. We arrived a little after noon, and met Mike outside the terminal. After the 20 minute ride to their home, we had a delicious and most welcome home cooked meal, thanks to Elaine's hard work. It was good to see everyone...hugs all around!
Mike had previously arranged a tour of the Presidential Palace in downtown Bogota, the place where Miguel Santos works and lives. The security was tight, and we needed our passports for IDs. No cameras were allowed, so I decided not to bring it, nor my bag or any other item. We were met at the gate by a tall, smartly dressed woman in national police attire, who checked us in. There were military personnel flocking around the palace, and one became our guide for the tour.
We were soon ushered in, and taken first to the cabinet room, where members sat with the president for meetings. Our guide pointed out that Santos sat among the cabinet members, instead of at the head, to show that all were 'equal.' during the remainder of the tour, we visited various rooms where dignitaries met, and one where marriages of government official's children were arranged. This room was very similar in style to those found in the palace of Versailles, but on a smaller scale. We were shown various articles (vases, sculptures, paintings), that were given as gifts to former presidents from Spain, England, Germany and France. The building itself was over 500 years old, and the architectural style looked Parisian.
At one point in our tour, a number of security guards were bustling about with intercoms. One requested that our guide keep his voice down. He told us that the President was having a televised press conference at that very minute in a room just a few yards from us. The media and reporters were everywhere. We were curiously admiring a painting of a pudgy 'flying nun' by an Colombian artist named Fernando Botero. There was a group passing quickly behind us, and we soon discovered that Santos was being ushered out of the area with our backs turned, so we never saw him! I was so disappointed!
The tour finished, so we headed towards our car. The rain began to pour, so we ducked into a gold coin minting museum, a favorite of Mike's, for about an hour or so. Gold has been mined in Colombia for many years.
We also had an eyeful of Botero's works which were rather amusing. Somehow, he painted with a magnifying glass, so every figure looked bloated, in a creative sort of way. Each person had similar facial features of the artist himself. They made us giggle as we moved from room to room viewing his works of art.
We arrive home tired, had a bite to eat, and retired for the night. The four of us had been up since 3:45am, so the pillow looked extremely inviting!
The holiday of a lifetime. The company is Alaksa-owned and thhat makes a big difference to the experineces you get i.e. meet genuine First Nations tribes people. The amount of wildlife was beyond my expectation, and seeing everything on sucha small, intimate boat made it even more spoecial and unique.
Liz O
2 days ago
Adventure Life covered all the details in planning our trip to Ireland. Any questions we had were answered immediately. Any trip glitches, which always happen when traveling, were resolved immediately. There were no worries, just fun!
Kathleen Weller
2 days ago
It was an outstanding, up-close, educational vacation of nature, culture, history, animals and geology! It was everything they promised! Binoculars were plentiful on the boat, but I'm glad I brought my own. Food was excellent. Rooms had black-out shades. Pack/wear multiple layers of clothing (I carried a small backpack when off the ship). Crew were delightful and very accommodating! Remember to jump FEET FIRST first when taking the optional polar plunge! Spend as much time outdoors as you are able and ENJOY!!!
Janet Dutton
1 week ago
Excellent travel advice and service
This is my second experience working with Adventure Life. I’m sold. Jess Heuermann is an experienced traveler and provides a lot of useful information when planning a trip. These are the questions I like to ask at the outset - What’s it like to go here, there, what would you suggest, what do people report, can we add any additional side trips? Jess took the time to answer my questions and seek additional information to share with me. Petchie Colina is outstanding in helping with travel logistics and final preparations. Adventure Life has excellent guides and offers private guides and small group adventures. We enjoyed the opportunity to talk with the guides and drivers to learn more about their countries, cultures and histories. A highlight was having the guides pick local restaurants where we could share meals together. Highly recommend.
Claire Cordon
1 week ago
Our six-day tour in Iceland went smoothly with one exception. We had asked for two rooms each night. Somehow we were booked with one room with three beds. It could not be fixed at the first hotel in Reykjavik because the hotel was fully booked. Once informed of the problem, however, Adventure Life rebooked for two rooms for the remainder of the trip. As an 85-year-old traveler, I appreciated that one could participate at different physical levels at many of the stops. Iceland is a great place to visit but on the expensive side.