Let's Play CLUE...

You know this game, you have to figure out “whodunnit.” But I’m going to give you the answer ahead of time… it was the granny in the airport using the family silver. 

Now you really must be wondering what this is all about… When I went to Colombia for the first time several years ago, there were a number of things I didn’t want to risk leaving in a storage unit anywhere. Maybe you’ve seen the weekly TV show “Storage Wars” where people fail to pay their storage bill and everything gets auctioned off. I didn’t want that to happen to silver knives, forks and spoons that were a gift to me from my father when I married back in the 60’s. Some of the other things I valued were an antique mirror with two drawers, a cedar chest, and my PC and bike.

The fellow I went to Colombia with felt he had enough to fill a container, with a little room left over. He was actually mad at me when we were packing it because the little bit of space I was taking was preventing him from taking more things. That darn container weighed over 10 tons!! (You can read about that past adventure here.)

Anyhow, when we decided to go our separate ways, he still had a a huge storage bin in Washington, PLUS all the stuff from the container in Colombia. I took my things and found a house in Colombia to live in, and surprise, I had a lot more than I realized.

In this past year I have been downsizing, and shipped a rather hefty collection of things back to the U.S. including those mentioned above - except the family silver because the shipper would not take responsibility for anything of ‘great value.’

Crew from PORTAN, S.A., packing up my
things. Great job! Nothing damaged!

So I decided I would take it back when I flew home. I was tired when I was packing and not paying close attention to what was going in which bag, and ended up putting six place settings of silver, including of course the forks and knives. GUESS WHAT? They were in my carry-on because they are valuable. GUESS WHO doesn’t like knives in carry-ons? The Colombian version of TSA pulled me aside, opened my carry-on and took out those items preparing to confiscate them.

I am in pretty good health, but I could see a cardiac arrest in my future watching that guy (who probably could have fenced the handles on the knives for a healthy income) walk away with all of it. Fortunately an English-speaking Colombian came to my aid and explained to the agent that they were my old family heirlooms (which are very important to Colombians in general) and they agreed to hold onto them until I could get with the JetBlue agent to help me find a solution.

First of all I centered myself and got calm as I walked off to try and locate someone from JetBlue. But when I got to my gate, there were no JetBlue agents and another flight was boarding for the U.S. Now I was getting frantic. My silver dinnerware is sitting in full view of everyone on top of the scanner, waiting for me to re-claim it, and the gate where my flight was scheduled to depart did not exist.

Finally I was able to flag down a JetBlue employee who had a walkie-talkie and he called his supervisor, who then showed up and called someone else to go back to the scanning area with me. As this all took about an hour, my flight was now at another gate and would soon be boarding and I am wondering what kind of solution will evolve.

People… in the worst - or what seems like the worst of situations - when you get calm and do your intention “there is a solution for this for the highest and best good of all concerned,” it does manifest!

Pretty soon a nice JetBlue female employee walked me back to the scanning area, the silver was still there, the Colombian agent had us do the paperwork to sign off on these weapons of mass destruction, I was informed I could put them back in the carry-on but it would be checked at the gate and I would be escorted to make sure that was going to happen.

Just as we were returning to the gate, one of the other passengers on my flight threw her left-over coffee cup, half-filled with cream, toward the trash can, but missed it and hit me instead! She was horrified, I was amused, and when she said she was sorry, I replied, “It could have been worse; it could have been higher and hit me in the head instead of my shoes.” She laughed nervously and admitted, “Yes, it could have been worse.” and I was thinking to myself, “You have NO idea… I have just rescued my heirlooms from a confiscation bin.”

So what is the CLUE here? Traveling, and preparing to travel, makes one tired. Or at least it does that to me now. But even if you are tired, go over the items in your carry-on AGAIN and check them off against the MOST CURRENT Not Allowed list, and particularly do not think that just because you used the knife and fork for breakfast that the people who are protecting the skies see them as harmless instruments of gustatory delight.

Looking south from the mirador in Barichara.

I want to publicly thank the customs employees at El Dorado Airport for their willingness to listen, to discuss alternatives and to be patient with me while finding one. I also want to thank JetBlue's staff for their unparalleled customer service, showing concern and compassion in a competitive atmosphere. At any point along this journey of my stupidity, someone could have been insensitive or uncaring and I might have had a very different ending on this day.

The New El Dorado Airport in Bogotá

The new addition is on the left; the old 1950's tower is on the right.

Arrivals and departures out of Bogotá will be both easier and more enjoyable now that the all-new El Dorado airport has opened. There was not a hint of this wonderful outcome when I returned in September, although I have known there was work going on on this project since my first arrival several years ago at the outdated 1950's terminal. It is now managed by Operadora Aeroportuaria Internacional (OPAIN), a consortium composed of Colombian construction and engineering firms and the Swiss Flughafen Zürich AG, and the light and airy design is a winner in my book.

 Imagine my surprise and delight when the taxi from the bus terminal pulled up the ramp to the totally modern glass and steel structure to let me out. (By the way, the Wikipedia information is no longer totally correct as they have no new photos of the new facilities.)

The all modern, 'green' banjos will
try to minimize usage of paper.

Moving walkways are a great addition!

And there has been barely a hesitation as the staff adjusts to their new surroundings and bags are quickly processed while people are hustling off to their new gates to await boarding. The high ceilings and glass windows make it seem like each gate is really an open invitation to the mountains beyond, making it even harder to leave this wonderful and interesting country.

My trip from Barichara to Bogotá was smooth (as the busses go) and I even slept a little this time. We arrived at the bus terminal in record time and because there was no festival ending or starting, the crowds were light, so I was able to get a taxi right away. As I was leaving my art class earlier the day before, my teacher just had to tell me a sad story of a woman he knew having a travel problem, but I put that out of my head and continued to intend my story was going to be different - and it was.

The shift in size is as big as the new facility; I'd be guessing, but it feels as
if the airport has quadrupled in size overall. Much needed, and as a traveler,
much appreciated! This is in one of the gate areas.

But one aspect of the airport will not get my praise. The restaurant Crepes and Waffles, usually offering great service and quality food, really disappointed me. At 5:30 a.m. there were not a lot of customers, but I still had to wait 20 minutes to even get my order placed. Then my fresh juice arrived, but nothing else... not hot tea, not sugar, place settings only. The men and couples around me who had arrived after me were served first as I waited and waited. Finally I called the manager over and explained what was NOT happening and immediately it was corrected. But the egg, while hot, was not cooked as I requested, and the croissant was not made that day. The wait staff did not come over to see if I wanted anything during my meal, and in fact only showed up to clear the table and then after 25 minutes of waiting for her to return with my check, I finally got annoyed and tried to find the manager again. No luck, but seeing me get up caused a reaction and the check was delivered. I have concerns about the ability of this restaurant to meet the needs of an international traveling public wanting to make their flights on time, not to mention keeping up their former reputation of being a great place to eat.

The full view of El Dorado Nueva from the runway.

JetBlue, American, Delta all have service counters here (as well as Avianca, Copa, LAN and Spirit airlines to name a few), but JetBlue still gets the nod from me for being the best airline to travel back and forth on. They have streamlined the ticketing and baggage handling process so that I didn't have to wait long in line, and their bi-lingual staff make any travel problems easily solved. They continue to provide affordable daily service to and from Orlando, not to mention LEGROOM on their aircraft!

Travelers waiting for their flights will appreciate the free and fast WiFi services, the many highly visible modern arrival and departure information kiosks, and soon (I hope!) more trash receptacles.

Preparing to take off from the runway at El Dorado.

It was clear that there is still a lot of work to be done in these early days of the new airport, and some glitches (I wonder what word is equivalent to that in Spanish...?) still have to be worked out - like having signs after clearing Customs that direct you to the gates - but the moving walkways, the new shops, and the duty-free options for buying, were all very operational. I think if you are just arriving in Bogotá, this new airport is going to give you a great first impression of the country and its people.

UPDATE: Read about the cease-fire between FARC and the Colombian government which will benefit everyone, but particularly it will be good for tourism because visitors will want to come and see this remarkable country if they can be assured of their safety.

Much of Colombia was under heavy clouds as we took off for the U.S.

Obama win is good for Colombia

Approaching Barichara, you can see one of the cordillas of the Andes stretching out ahead under the clouds.

I am not taking sides when I say that Obama's win is good for Colombia, but the last four years of working to strengthen the ties between the two countries will benefit from a continuation of the existing policy. While I do not want Colombia to become 'Americanized' in any way, inevitably that is going to occur with people all over the country watching the TODAY show, learning English, and having more tourists coming from the U.S.

Clearly my blog has been read by a huge number of Americans, possibly those looking for a nice retirement option. And Colombia is supportive of retirees (although you have to prove you can support yourself to get a visa) and welcomes Americans as visitors. Santos has been working hard to bring the FARC to the peace table and since Obama supports this, there are plenty of hopeful signs that an end to the conflict could occur. This would only benefit Colombia as a tourist destination country because it has so very much to offer.

Cathedral in Barichara - early morning shot

Although the U.S. State Department does issue travel advisories about Colombia, anyone visiting here and taking reasonable precautions for their personal safety should not be any more concerned about touring here than touring in the U.S. Don't bother wearing your expensive jewelry in any of the large cities. (If you are going someplace where you want to show it off, carry it in a pocket or something until you reach the inside of your destination, then you can put it on and remove it when leaving. That's what Bogotonians do.) Probably that's good advice in the U.S these days as well.

Anyhow, all you folks reading this, come on over and see Colombia for yourselves... the El Dorado airport in Bogota is being upgraded, you don't need a visa for a two-month visit, and it's well worth the trip!
NOTE: One village in northern Colombia is totally pro-Obama... read this!