::All about Colombia::

Some of you asked us about what's in Colombia?

We thought it'd be fun to share some intriguing tidbits about Colombia; our curiosity got us navigating through several websites about Colombia and discovered some awesome tidbits. Possibly we'll tempt you into traveling there someday? Anyways, we knew that coffee and futbol's popular there; what really surprised us was that Colombia (Bogota, specifically) has the most extensive network of cycle routes out of every city in Latin America and almost the world... considering the fact that we live here in Austin and there are a lot of bike routes around here. Lance Armstrong is from Austin, but Bogota topped it all! 

We have been to New Orleans' Mardi Gras (we lived in Louisiana for a year plus) events including their parades... but seems like Mardi Gras is nothing compared to Colombia's festivities since Colombia is the home to the world's second largest parade and carnival. Wow. We'll need to check out when the festivities are. It would be fun to catch one while we travel there. Who holds the world's largest carnival? Rio de Janiero (Brazil).

Our Austin is the home to many watering holes, but Colombia is the home to the world's most colorful river! Caño Cristales aka "The River of Seven Colors" or "The Liquid Rainbow" is located in Serranía de la Macarena, a small pueblo with less than 4,000 inhabitants. The "National Geographic-worthy" photos of the Caño Cristales river is beautiful! An explosion of natural colors are really from the river weeds in case you were wondering. Yes, they really do exist. Let's hope we'll be able to see this river when we go down to meet our forever child.. whenever that happens!

We were told that Bogota is a mix of New York City and California in one place including the skyscrapers and seaside mountains. Very true based on the photos. We didn't really realize that Bogota is one of the most "up and coming" countries in South America. The pictures say it all. Looks quite busy and crowded, yeah?

We are foodies. Well, kind of. Perhaps, we should ask Anthony Bourdain about his go-to eateries in Colombia. We'd be more than willing to taste a variety of Colombian food while we are down there. We Googled and narrowed down the most popular Colombian food: arepas are cornmeal cakes and commonly stuffed with fillings ranging from cheese and beans to pork or shrimp. Sounds a lot like a stuffed biscuit. We'll confirm once we taste them in Colombia!

Colombian empanadas sound really appealing... "In Colombia, empanadas are also sold outside of the churches. They are usually small and just have potato filling. Some make them with yellow corn meal, others with white corn meal, some make them with beef, others with chicken, with guiso (seasoned sauce), without guiso, with potato, without potato. But, they're all very tasty." Ok, it's on our "to-taste list"!

Ajiaco is a Colombian potato soup. "Ajiaco consists of a thick soup made from meat of different types (beef, pork, chicken) and tubers: potato, cassava, yams, green bananas, pumpkin, corn and of course chili." We are adding this on our list as well.

 

Okay, enough with the food. The photos are making us hungry. 

How big is Colombia? To be specific, the total area of Colombia is around 440,831 square miles, which is equivalent to the areas of Portugal, France, and Spain put together. Meaning Colombia is bigger than the state of Texas by 172,251 square miles. The bottom line is, Colombia is a decent size country.

One last thing... wanna know which animal represents Colombia? The terrifying, we mean.. majestic Andean Condor. Andean Condors are huge... one of the largest birds of prey in the world. Great. Their average wingspan is 10.5 feet. To really think about the size, their amazing length is longer than a famous former NBA player, Shaquille O'Neal's height. Yikes. So, here's a beautiful (well, maybe not so much..) up-close photo of the Andean Condor...

 We checked airbnb.com for housing in Bogota to get a better picture of the cost for us to stay when we travel to pick up our child. The hotels are ridiculously expensive?! There are some hotels designated for adoptive families, but the prices are crazy as well. We figured that it may be budget-wise for us to rent a place during our stay there. We are required to stay approximately 6-8 weeks in Bogota to finalize our adoption process. So, we are thinking far ahead to gather information to get our expenses ready. Although, it would be really nice and preferable if we stay with a host family. We shall see when time's much closer. We truly cannot wait to travel to Colombia someday!

Colombia 101 is complete. You may be dismissed. :)