Zoo time and a trip to the Ranch

Keeping busy in the sunshine of Cali after our interview with the ICBF at the end of last week. The interview went quickly and well, so the legal wheels are turning fully now on the way to our adoption judgement. As you can probably imagine, these things run on South American time and so we can probably expect this to be completed in not much less than two weeks. We have been entertaining Charlotte with trips to the Cali Zoo last Saturday, and a wonderful trip out to a horse ranch in the country on Sunday.

Off for another adventure with mummy


We have the help of a great interpretor, Valentina, which is helping things go smoothly for us. She also acts as our unofficial driver as we frequently take trips out in the Hotel minivan for one thing and another. In Colombia they seem to break jobs down to the smallest possible level (I´m sure this is to keep as many people employed as possible), we were amazed to find a simple trip to the notary to have a couple of documents signed meant that we had to pass through the hands of about five people. They even have people here who you pay to stand in line for you, they spend their entire day standing in queues at the bank and government offices so that you don´t have to! For a small fee they will do the waiting for you, and with the morning and afternoon siestas that these places take you really need their help!

The Zoo was a lot of fun, and since we are down near the equator, many of the animals are in close to their natural habitat. We found this a little disturbing when we met up with a six foot lizard ´wandering´ the Zoo grounds all on his own! Not a problem apparently, he has the run of the place.



The butterfly (Mariposa) farm was the standout attraction, and mummy tasted so nice that a couple of butterflies took a liking to her and had to be encouraged to disembark! Charlotte slept through most of the trip, although during a one on one with the monkeys they seemed to take a liking to her. Anyway, we have it all on video for her to watch later on.

Charlotte and mummy meet the Python (Charlotte looks for a quick exit!)


On Sunday we welcomed a new Australian family to the hotel, Albert and Rosanna, who are here to adopt two young children from Chiquitines. They already know David and Melanie and it was great for us all to once again share our experiences now they are here. We all took a trip out into the country in the afternoon to visit again with the foster parents of David and Melanie´s children.





They have a horse ranch called ´San Miguel´ and were wonderful hosts to all of us for the day. We got to meet their family and have a delicious, traditional Colombian lunch with them. Sebastian, David and Melanie´s son, got to learn how to ride one of the beautiful horses. We got to admire the fantasic scenery, and enjoy their old colonial style ranch complete with terracota floors, wonderful open plan dining room and antique furniture and decoration. It had a real last century feel about it, and we all felt like we had stepped back in time. Many of the trees in the grounds are hundreds of years old, and make for a stunning backdrop. What a memorable afternoon!



Sadly, we had to say goodbye to David, Melanie, Sebastian and Valentina today. Their time here is done and they are returning home to Australia via Bogota and Santiago, Chile. It was truly a pleasure spending time with them, and our trip here really wouldn´t have been the same, or half as much fun, if we hadn´t met them. Thank you, good luck and safe home to the Bradley-Kyps !!



Charlotte continues to thrive, and amaze us. Some of you will be sad to here that Charlotte is sleeping happily through the night, and averages around six to seven hours continuous, glorious and uninterrupted sleep each and every night!! Long may this continue, although she certainly has her moments between 5 and 8pm when a screaming demon takes hold of her and nothing seems to make a difference!! And today, for the first time she managed to roll all the way over onto her tummy by herself. Quite an achievement at 14 weeks, and she was rightfully proud. Only problem is now she can´t roll back the other way and so procedes to scream in frustration each and every time!! Oh well, you can´t have it all straight away. We love her to pieces and she has a wonderful smile for us, however some of the time she does wear a very serious face (example attached). We think somebody told her what the temparature is in Montreal !



We are off to the beach at Santa Marta tomorrow for five days, so this will be our last blog for a little while. We take a short flight to Bogota, and then a quick hop to Santa Marta which is on the Northern Colombian coast, in the Caribbean. We will be back in Cali next Saturday, when hopefully our adoption judgement will be a little bit closer.



We will update you on our travels then, and will be sure to have some great new photos to share. Hopefully you like the new look blog also, we updated the format and put a little more detail in our profile. Until then, take care and keep the comments coming. Estamos fuera aquí de mis amigos!

P.S. Dad - Good luck in the Engadin ski marathon this week, don´t push yourself too hard!!