The craft beer industry is booming in Europe and the US. During our trip around South America, we were pleased to find its popularity on the rise there too. So, during our 7 months in South America, as well as supping on the national drinks of each country, we also spent some time seeking out the local craft beers. Here our our favourite beers, microbreweries and places to drink.1) Bogota Beer Company (BBC), Colombia. We found the BBC bar in…
Like everywhere else in South America, vegetarianism isn’t particular popular in Colombia and most traditional fare involves some kind of meat or fish. However, with a little shopping around, you can find vegetarian friendly Colombian food. And of course, in the bigger cities of Bogotá, Medellín and Cartagena there are also a range of international options. Here’s what we ate: Colombian food1. Arepas: An ubiquitous lunchtime snack or side dish in Colombia, arepas are a type flatbread, made with a pre-cooked cornflour….
Bogotá: We’d advise booking ahead for hostels in Bogotá. We booked through hostelworld 4 days in advance and really struggled to find vacancies in those places we’d been recommended or which had the best online reviews. We ended up in the Explora Hostel in the Candelaria area of the city, where we didn’t have the best of stays. When we arrived they’d lost our booking and the woman on reception really struggled to know what to do to resolve the…
1. Its Colombia NOT Columbia! Fed up with everyone from international media sources to Paris Hilton and even US presidents* misspelling their country’s name, a social media campaign was launched last year to shame offenders into correcting their error. The campaign is also designed to encourage people to take a second look at a country that most people immediately associate with drug-lords and kidnappings. So remember! Colombia is a country, while DC stands for the District of Columbia. Columbia is also a…
The sprawl of Bogota from Monserrate While we would have liked to have explored Brazil much more, when we flew to Colombia we were very pleased to arrive back in a Spanish speaking country, where we could properly communicate again. I don’t think I’ve ever had such a good conversation with a taxi driver than the one I had from Bogota airport to our hostel! We arrived early evening so just had time to check in and go for dinner before…
A paddle in the Pacific 1. Lima: Our first South American sunset was in Peru’s capital Lima, where on day one of our 6 month trip, I enjoyed my first ever paddle in the Pacific Ocean as the sun went down. We then walked up the path from the beach to Barranco – the arty area of town we were staying – to enjoy a cold one as the sun disappeared below the horizon on our first day away. The Peruvian…