COLOMBIA Chapter #1

COLUMBIA - THE GOOD THE BAD AND THE UGLY/BEAUTIFUL

CHAPTER #1

As most of you know, Bob and I were scheduled to go to Colombia (So.America) on Dec. 27th to meet my daughter-in-law and son and their 1-yr. old daughter in Baranquilla, where Claudia is from, for eight days.  We were staying with her parents there. This chapter is the story of our trip TO Colombia and doesn't include alot about my cancer condition.  If that is your main purpose in reading these blogs I suggest you skip ahead to Chapter #2 or #3.

In order to get to Baranquilla you have to fly from Harrisburg to Dulles AP in DC, then to Miami and finally on to Colombia.  Sounds not too complicated, doesn't it?  The only trouble is you have to leave here (Harrisburg) about 4:00 a.m.(which means getting up about 3:30 am) and then wait for your connection in DC. HOWEVER, our plane in DC had the infamous "mechanical" problems which caused us to miss our connecting flight in Miami. And there began our first totally frustrating experience with AVIANCA (the Colombian Airline), which turned out to be an eye-opener in how the Colombians operate -- SLOW, IN FACT MORE THAN SLOW, MORE LIKE AT A SNAIL'S PACE.  We were trying to re-book for the same flight the next day but I have to tell you that it took at least 3 hrs. to get that done and then only with Claudia's help by phone directly to Avianca from Colombia. The next day it was another mess and although we finally got on the flight we apparently had been booked in someone else's seats and we were more than lucky they didn't toss us off right then and there. The gentleman whose seat I had taken graciously moved back near the bano (bathroom) and ended up offering us any help that we might need (he spoke English) and couldn't have been more accommodating. All in all, I found Colombians to be extremely friendly and helpful.

So our trip TO Baranquilla became a two-day odyssey frought with little sleep, frustration and exhaustion.  And I should add, our luggage which contained my medicines and clothes, all flew happily on to our destination and was there waiting for us when we finally arrived.  We had ended up scrounging a room at the Miami airport hotel, even though we were told they had only singles available.  I pulled out my tears and cancer story and we were able to snag a conference room with a Murphy bed for the night. (My motto: use it when you need it!)

The next day we had a leisurely breakfast in the hotel dining room, which did help to calm us down a bit. And then we waited, and waited, until our 2:00 pm flight.  So that is our story of our trip to Colombia, from there it got a lot better so watch for Chapter #2.

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Avianca representative trying very hard to get our reservation figured out

 


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Columbian musicians greeting us 

 


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Preview of our arrival in Barranquilla