Vagabonding : 2009 December |

Dec
15
2009

Bonus night in Bogota

The crispy Bogota air had the rich aroma of brewing coffee and the lingering spice of a new day full of possibilities.

Scrappy the super bird woke up early feeling refreshed and had a delicious breakfast of leftover grasshopper parts. Being careful not to overeat, he took to the clear sky for his morning exercise and found that the sheer tingle of being alive moved him to fly higher than he ever had before.

“You can do it Scrappy!” his lower flying friends shouted as he pushed higher and harder than he ever had before. The very clouds seemed to part way for him as he beat his wings with the athletic fury of a champion. Soon, his friends were merely small black dots far below him. He took a deep breath and let out a sigh at how good this morning was turning out, basking in the sun and the wonderment of it all…..

Scrappy crashed through the window of my plane.

At 500 MPH Scrappy never saw it coming and neither did my pilots. All 200 of us passengers felt the sudden decrease in airspeed however as the pilots throttled back just 45 minutes into our flight. I have flown enough to know that something didn’t feel right so I waited patiently for the impending PA announcement that was sure to come.

I can’t even fathom the sheer trigonometry of it all. The math problem would boggle Einstein - the velocities, the flight paths, the departure times in milliseconds - so many variables that had to line up just perfectly on this fateful day for Scrappy. Somehow, for whatever reason, they did and my flight was officially over.

The pilot announced to a dim murmur of moans that we had “cracked the windshield” but the third (and final) safety pane in his cockpit window was holding well. I felt gravity push me deep into my seat as the plane did a U-turn.

We were going back to Bogota.

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Posted in Colombia |

Dec
01
2009

Taganga

Taganga, Colombia

After taking care of some business in Santa Marta like finding a working ATM and admiring the first Santa Clause I have ever seen on a beach…..we grabbed a 20 minute taxi across a sea cliff to the tourist village of Taganga, Colombia.

I gave the driver his $3 and paused for a minute to let my eyes drink in the scenery. Water the color of jewels, white albeit somewhat dirty sand, and lots of travelers…this was the coastal paradise that had me burning up kilometers across Ecuador for the past week.

We checked into the Casa Blanca, a Swiss owned hotel directly on the beach with incredible views but perhaps the most murderous, unfriendly bastards they could hire to staff the front desk (yes, I will tell you how I really feel).

There were cheaper and friendlier hostels such as the Dutch-owned Hollandia or the French-owned Casa Filipe where you can immediately smell the owner-chef’s latest creation when you walk in, but they were quite a ways up the hill away from the beach. If there is ever a time to splurge while traveling, your last week on the road in 2009 is the time to do it!

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