Bogota

With apologies to Mexico, but today was perhaps even more personally momentous than our arrival in MC a month ago. Today, for the first time in my life, I set foot on South American soil. It has been a long time coming. I ought to have had opportunities with work in the '80s and '90s but for some reason it never happened. 
South America has always seemed exotic, colourful, distant, different. Unlike any other continent, there's been very little connection with the UK. Aside from Guyana, no colonies and very little English spoken.  
So here I am in Bogota, smack in the middle of Colombia. It feels strangely European - the people, buildings, the slightly chilly air (weird given its proximity to the equator but, at 2,600m, it's higher than Mexico City). The city has a beautiful setting, nestled in a long north-south ribbon below the Monseratte and Guadalupe hills. Oh and it doesn't feel dangerous or even edgy, though I'm not kidding myself. So South America, nice to meet you. Finally.