The End of the Beginning...

As we come to the end of our time here in Bogota, and Colombia, it seems appropriate to reflect on what has been a truly life changing experience for us. We consider ourselves very fortunate to have had the opportunity to come to such an incredible country and to return with our beautiful daughter. We have tried to soak up every minute of our time here to the full, and to leave with treasured memories that we can share with Charlotte when she is a little older. We are very proud that Colombia will be a big part of her heritage, and we hope that she will be proud to. We very much hope that one day we can all return here, and ensure that Charlotte will have a brother or sister to share her childhood with.

There are so many people to thank, those who have helped us, those who have been there when we needed them, those who encouraged, those whom we have have had the good fortune to meet during this process and on our travels, those who commented on the blog and sent us emails, and all those good people who will be part of Charlotte´s new family. If you are reading this, then this thank you is meant for you.

Thanks especially to SDN, particularly Linda Filosa and her wonderful family, and to Chiquitines, without you none of this would have been possible. Our dreams are being realised, and for that we truly thank you.

And I guess that is about it for our travelogue. We have had a tremendous amount of fun putting the blog together during our stay here, and in a way we will miss it. We shall catch all of you on the flipside, so until the next time we all meet, thanks again and take care.

xxxx

:-)

Big in Bogota

Here we are in Bogota, and what a dramatic change from Cali! Bogota is at a 2800m elevation (around 8000ft!) and much colder than Cali. The altitude causes shortness of breath when you walk and also headaches. It´s either that or we are both really out of shape! The area is very lush and green, with a little more rain than other parts of the country. We are in the northern part of the Andes mountain range and it has a distinctly European feel, like Switzerland or Austria but without the clean air!



Discovering the ´bouncer´ with mummy

The neighbourhood where we are staying is in the northern part of Bogota, and our host is the lovely Flor, who has been taking care of families from Canada for many years. Nearby we have many restaurants, churches and parks set in amongst very quaint streets. Things can get a little noisy at night but generally it is a nice location. We are close to a couple of shopping malls and here we can get access to cafe latte, and the internet which seem to be our favourite pastimes!



Chillin´ out with baby girl

Our main task in Bogota is to get Canadian and US travel visas for Charlotte so we can head home. Thanks to Flor the Canadian visa was easy, Charlotte had to pose for some more pictures and this time it only took one attempt although this was not her most flattering pose! The US visa was a different story, and the ONLY reason we need this is because we travel back through a US airport. The US embassy in Bogota is HUGE, and when we arrived there were literally hundreds of people waiting for documents. It was very daunting and with many, many lines of people I honestly didn´t think we would be out of there for a couple of hours at least. Security was very tight with many gates and checkpoints. Fortunately Flor knows her way around and we seemed to get into just the right line. After about an hours wait our documents were processed and we were set to return in the afternoon to collect Charlotte´s visa.



Pretty in Pink, and taking a nap at the shops

Having collected Emma and Charlotte we returned in the afternoon to collect the visa. After the big build up I gave Emma about this place it was completely deserted on our return. We collected our visa, and after a few questions from the consular staff we were all done. Now all we have to do is go to Delta to change our flight, easier said than done. After much negotiation we have a return flight booked for next Monday, with an overnight layover in Atlanta before we get home on Tuesday. Not the best solution, but it does mean that we can hook up with my sister, Sarah, who is coming across from Charlotte to see us. Little Ellys can be the first to meet his new cousin!

So, we have a few days to kill here in Bogota. We will use the time to see the best of what Bogota has to offer; the Gold Museum (finally!), changing of the Presidential Guard, Salt Cathedral, botanical gardens, a trip to a coffee plantation and a nice treat for me as I go and catch a soccer game on Sunday. Go Millonarios Santa Fe!

Adios Cali

With our judgement finalized it's time to travel to Bogota for our visas so that we can finally head home. We spent our last few days in Cali relaxing and visiting some of the sites we hadn´t already visited. A trip up into the hills to the "Christo Rey" gave us a wonderful view of the city. You probably see the resemblance to the same statue in Rio de Janeiro, and many cities in South America have one of these overlooking them.



We also spent some time in the centre of Cali, visiting some of the wonderful old churches and enjoying some of the architecture both old and new. No day out would be complete without some gift shopping and at least one stop for ice cream!





Sunday came, and it was time to pack up our existence and say goodbye to everyone at the Hotel Arboleda. Some tearful goodbyes follow and we realize we will miss the friends we have made here. We have to say a big thank you to Allessandro, Valentina, Fabiolo, Roccio, Sineada, Lewardo and everyone else who helped us during our stay, and made our visit so enjoyable. We leave behind us two families; Albert, Rosanna, Laura Maria and Juan Diego and James, Sarah, Erica and Miguel who all shared in our experience.


We wish them the very best of luck and a speedy resolution to their adoptions. We will miss you guys!

Onward to Bogota!