Monserrate

A few weeks ago we planned on hiking up to Monserate, a church on top of the mountain. We prepared for the hike, then called a taxi and rode to the entrance. Unfortunately, the hike was closed. So, we had to buy tickets for the tram on the way up and the cable car on the way down. We waited a while in the line for the tram, and finally it came. We were about to go to the front of the tram, but Dad heard that it was a better view in the back, because you could look down. Elena didn't believe him, but we got in the back anyway. The view was quite good, you could look down and see Bogota, and a lot of trees in front of us. We went around a curve and saw a tunnel, with another tram seeming to come right at us. The tracks split though, and it went right past us. Then we were plunged into darkness as we went into the tunnel.We came to the top, and as we got out, we could see down – it was very steep. Up some stairs, along a path, and we were there. We walked around some before going up to the edge and looking down.We could see almost the whole city. There were mountains surrounding it. I knew Bogota was big, but from up high I could see it was much bigger thanI thought.We went intothe big church, but mass was going on, so we went out. Hungry, we walked down to the market.We got distracted on the way down; there were little brown humming birds flying around apatch of flowers, so we spent awhile trying to get a decent picture of one, which took awhile. Finally we continued on to the market. Somehow, Dad found a snack that was really big and gross looking – ants. He decided to get them. First Damon and Dad tried one, then convinced Elena to do it too. Apparently they didn't taste too bad, and kind of salty. Ew. We finished walking through the small market and got the food. It was a long line of little places selling all kinds of things, including intestines, which Mom, Dad, and Damon tried. They didn't like it of course. When we got to the end, we decided to see the view, then come back. The view was amazing (again); this time we could see more mountains covered with trees, and the occasionaltiny house in the distance. We walked back down, petting a friendly horse on the way. We ate at the last little place we had seen; we got chorizo, some kind of other meat, potatoes, and plantain with cheese on it. I liked the potatoes and the plantain best, but the two meats weren't too bad. We walked around a bit, but Dad got a call from work and had to go, so he went to take the tram because it was faster, and the rest of us got in line for the cable car. It was very tippy, packed with people, and high up, but the view was very pretty. When we got to the bottom, we waited and waited for Dad, and finally he came. He ended up taking the cable car anyway, because the tram wasn't open anymore. So much for going faster. After that we went back to the apartment.

- Maddie