Wayward cleric
In Donald Macleod's Footnotes in The West Highland Free Press he once commented that a particular wayward Catholic priest would end up being sent to Bogotá.
True, the city doesn't feature in the Times' "Holiday Destinations" page, but I love it. Colombia's capital nestles in an Andes valley and is surrounded by green hills. The historic centre and culture haven't been forced to accommodate the US dollar nor the Japanese yen. The place is simply for the Bogotanos and it does its own thing. So the nearest airport hotels are halfway to the city centre and they have cocaine-sniffer dogs to greet you. The one we stayed in recently was quite upmarket and optimistically sought to cater for the potential tourist by using bilingual signs. These gave us much to think about; for instance, the fire warning instructing us to "ban your door with wet towels". This was as intriguing as the restaurant menu offering us the speciality of "Proceeded crab and quails eggs". Still I sensed what the Manager meant when he hoped we had a pleasant stay "on the hotel".
Colombia and Peru are two different worlds with a common experience of Spanish conquest, liberation, and bad football teams. Peru is much more a holiday destination, although remaining poor, Inca-tainted and increasingly evangelical. Colombia, uncatered for by Thomas Cook, remains obstinately catholic, drug-rich and sends players to Wimbledon.
As we drove from Bogota's airport, I saw a rainbow that dipped down and touched the buildings. Forty years of internal war has left Colombia as one of the least evangelised countries in South
America, but the message of the rainbow gave me a feeling of hope.
The Missions Board executive meets this Friday and will determine our future location. We'll see if Donald Macleod should have substituted Free Church minister for Catholic priest.
Catholic images on a hill above Bogotá
True, the city doesn't feature in the Times' "Holiday Destinations" page, but I love it. Colombia's capital nestles in an Andes valley and is surrounded by green hills. The historic centre and culture haven't been forced to accommodate the US dollar nor the Japanese yen. The place is simply for the Bogotanos and it does its own thing. So the nearest airport hotels are halfway to the city centre and they have cocaine-sniffer dogs to greet you. The one we stayed in recently was quite upmarket and optimistically sought to cater for the potential tourist by using bilingual signs. These gave us much to think about; for instance, the fire warning instructing us to "ban your door with wet towels". This was as intriguing as the restaurant menu offering us the speciality of "Proceeded crab and quails eggs". Still I sensed what the Manager meant when he hoped we had a pleasant stay "on the hotel".
Colombia and Peru are two different worlds with a common experience of Spanish conquest, liberation, and bad football teams. Peru is much more a holiday destination, although remaining poor, Inca-tainted and increasingly evangelical. Colombia, uncatered for by Thomas Cook, remains obstinately catholic, drug-rich and sends players to Wimbledon.
As we drove from Bogota's airport, I saw a rainbow that dipped down and touched the buildings. Forty years of internal war has left Colombia as one of the least evangelised countries in South
America, but the message of the rainbow gave me a feeling of hope.The Missions Board executive meets this Friday and will determine our future location. We'll see if Donald Macleod should have substituted Free Church minister for Catholic priest.
Catholic images on a hill above Bogotá
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