Putting off the photoblog again, sorry.
So we flew from Cusco to Lima to reunite with the squad, and after a day or two we flew from Lima to Bogota in Columbia for a layover. We got there around 4:00am so we slept and in the morning we waited for our Noonish flight. As we waited something became apparent. Our flight had a gate change and we had no idea, but once somebody realized we all scrambled as a squad to get to our true gate. Unfortunately it was too late. The plane hadn’t taken off yet but we weren’t allowed on. Because of the way our flights worked a small group of us had a different flight that went directly to Guatemala and two of our three squad leaders just happened to be in that group so it was up to the one with us, Ally, and our newly appointed team leaders from within our teams to make things right. Because we stopped them in time they were able to unload our bags off the plane so we weren’t separated from our bags. Our leaders eventually decided to have us go through customs earning me a nice Colombian passport stamp. I was wondering if we would have to stay another night in the airport and if so how would I do that since my pack and by extension sleeping bag were wrapped in a lime green saran wrap which I didn’t want to take out since I would have to pay to get it wrapped again and this wasn’t exactly the type of airport, although somewhat nice, that you can find an empty corner in and sleep. Towards 4:00 we we’re allowed to go get food. My first meal of the day. Me not eating all day was probably the worst part of this day for me although I can’t speak for our leadership who worked really hard and stressed out to fix this mess. After dark they finaly had a solution and praise the Lord because it could’ve been a really bad situation. They managed to get us all flights again for free with our old tickets, I hear that it would’ve been 16,000 dollars otherwise and Adventures just doesn’t that kind of money. Because of the circumstances our free flights were still a little complicated. We would be split into two groups and both of them would have to wait a day. One group left the morning of the 10th. The other, my group, had a 12:05 flight on the 11th. Where would we sleep then? Well as it turns out Melissa’s family has friends in Bogota and they were more than happy to accommodate us. We managed to make it to their house late that night and as we drove through the city I was awe struck by the massive amount fo beautiful Christmas lights and I was ever so thankful for the nice house I slept in. Even if it was on the floor our generous hosts provided some blankets and pillows and also bought snacks and drinks for us. I was just happy to have some water and a place to get a good nights sleep. The next day one group of us had left but I still had a whole day in Colombia. Our hosts provided us with breakfast and lunch and before lunch we went out to a park nearby. Let me tell you this city was the most beautiful city I’ve ever been to. It was so clean and nice but not to the point it feels stuffy. For some reason it just felt really homey, not because it reminded me of Florida or because it didn’t look like a third world country, I’m not really sure of the reason but it just felt to me like how the world did when I was little. The park was beautiful with so much space and trees and grass and a pond and you could see mountains. The weather was wonderful a little breezy and a little shade and a little sun. This place truly was paradise for me. In the evening they took us to a gondola up a mountain to a cathedral showered in Christmas lights and decorations with a beautiful view of the city. Up there I had a really nice one on one with Caleb and just enjoyed the sites. We could see the sun set when we got there and afterwards the lights of the city. We went to a mall afterwards for dinner and this mall was completely covered in Christmas lights. I got another good nights sleep and the next day we finally got our flight and headed to our new home. Funnily enough both groups new flights had gate changes while we were there but we learned our lesson and kept track.
So now I’m peacefully at our new base, so greetings from Guatemala!
