A few times we have told about the occasional surprise or random encounter. For me they are the best part of traveling. For example, we met my language tandem from Dresden in Cusco, Peru. Well here in Bogotá multiple coincidences occur at once…
But let’s start from the beginning: Two years ago, when Conny started working in Kassel, I offered our apartment for couch surfers. My first guests were a group from Germany and South America, of which two girls were from Bogotá. It was one of the most beautiful experiences in the entire time of couch surfing. Shortly before we reach Bogotá I write them hoping that we could maybe meet for a beer, talk Spanish and perhaps get to know more about the city and Colombia in general. The girls not only have time for a beer, but have a vacant apartment available for us that they’d like to relinquish shortly. We can use the entire apartment and meet them twice with a lot of Spanish talking involved.
Just like in Buenos Aires there is a lot of street art in Bogotá and likewise there is a tour, which shows and explains the whole story. We sit at the meeting point five minutes before the tour starts when a couple comes around the corner to participate in the tour as well. “I know this guy!!!” He turns around and I am not that certain anymore. Then he approaches us and says: “Do you still know me?”. He is an old friend, with whom I played floorball in Leipzig already way back in school. We haven’t seen each other for more than 10 years and now we meet in Bogotá. He and his girlfriend began their journey in Colombia and would like to travel through South America for the next months.
Not enough coincidences? After Colombia we intend to visit friends in Sao Paulo, that Conny knows for a very long time. Meanwhile many of these friends live in Europe for various reasons. The economic and political problems of the country may play a role in their decision. In our calendar we can narrow down which weekend we will be in Sao Paolo. When we ask the Brazilians whether they have time for us on that particular weekend, they respond: “It would be a pleasure, we are looking forward to your visit. Oh and by the way, the others from Europe are coming too, on that very weekend”. What the heck… We can’t wait to have a few passion fruit Caipirinhas with the whole gang.
Back to Bogotá: The city is famous for its great museums. We manage to go to two of those. Firstly, the museum of the painter and sculptor Botero, who depicts people, animals and still lifes all of which are overweight. Very peculiar and extremely entertaining. Secondly, we visit the famous gold museum. Here golden and other pieces are on display, that stem from an unbelievable number of pre-Hispanic cultures from several eras from all over what is today Colombia. The Spaniards never found El Dorado, but the amount of gold in that museum alone, let’s you get an idea how wealthy the new world once must have been.
We enjoy the culture, climate and international cuisine of Bogotá very much, before we will probably melt at the Amazon. We hope that the lucky coincidences will continue to happen to us. We can surely use them in the jungle.
