November 7, 2023 • 24 mins
Colombians Carlos Boggio and Ana Maria Matallana guide us to the pleasures of this stunning South American country, set on three coasts -- a fusion of Spanish, African, and indigenous influences Learn of natural wonders like the Cano Cristales riverbed and the Tayrona National Park. We cover Colombian cities, filled with culture and history, including Bogota, Cartagena, Barranquilla, Cali and Medellin.
We discuss colorful festivals, carnivals, day trips to mountain plantations and beach resorts, and Colombian food and drink -- from arepas to ants! Shopping tips cover famous Colombian coffee, clothing and emeralds. As always, we end with memories: Carlos remembers the Salt Cathedral of Zipaquirá, with a tale of a small bronze angel, a reminder of his father's friendship with the artist.
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Carlos Boggio and Ana Maria Matallana live part of the year in Colombia.
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Podcast host Lea Lane blogs at forbes.com, has traveled to over 100 countries, and has written nine books, including the award-winning Places I Remember (Kirkus Reviews star rating, and 'one of the top 100 Indie books' of the year). She has contributed to many guidebooks and has written thousands of travel articles.
Contact Lea- she loves hearing from you! @lealane on Twitter; PlacesIRememberLeaLane on Insta; Places I Remember with Lea Lane on Facebook; Website: placesirememberlealane.com.
New episodes drop every other Tuesday, wherever you listen. Please consider sharing, following, rating and reviewing this award-winning travel podcast.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Lea Lane (00:00):
Colombia is called the gateway to South America
because it's in the northwesternpart of the continent, where
South America connects withCentral and North America.
It's the fifth largest countryin Latin America and home to the
world's second largestpopulation of Spanish-speaking
people.
It's the only country in SouthAmerica that has coastlines on
the Pacific Ocean and theCaribbean Sea and the Atlantic
(00:21):
Ocean.
Colombia was originallyinhabited by indigenous tribes.
In 1499, the Spanish arrivedand colonized the area, calling
it New Granada.
The official name of Colombiais derived from the last name of
explorer Christopher Columbus.
Colombia is on the equator,which means the sun rises and
sets at the same time all yearround, and the season stays the
(00:42):
same, unlike almost any othercountry in the world.
There are just the dry seasonsfrom December to January and
July to August, and the rainyseasons from April to May and
October to November.
Our guests, Carlos Boggio andAna Maria Matallana are married,
Mr and Mrs Carlos Boggio, andthey are Colombians and spend
part of their year in thecountry that they love.
(01:04):
Welcome, Carlos and Ana Maria,to places I emember.
Carlos Boggio (01:08):
Thank you, Lea, great to be here.
Ana Maria Matallana (01:10):
Lea.
Lea Lane (01:10):
Welcome, thank you.
Well, one of the first thingsyou notice when you arrive in
Colombia is the vitality thatpulses throughout the country.
Music is in the streets,there's energy.
Why do you think this is so?
Carlos Boggio (01:23):
Colombia has been a mixture of so many cultures
-- Spanish, the African culture,the indigenous culture and
we've all been mixed together ina tropical environment.
If you just travel around, youcan see our nature.
It's also vibrant --thevegetation, the animals, the
(01:44):
birds, everything is colorful,everything excites and it kind
of goes well with the music andthe vitality of our people.
Ana Maria Matallana (01:53):
Music festivals and we, in our culture
, like to dance.
We like to, since we are little.
We are immersing all this musicand carnivals which bring us
happiness.
Lea Lane (02:05):
You certainly are immersed in.
I know I've been there a coupleof times and have enjoyed the
carnivals and the festivals verymuch.
I think age seems to be valuedin Colombia too.
I noticed that elders seem tobe deeply respected throughout
the country, which I reallyappreciate i.
You mentioned the biodiversity.
I think that Colombia has thehighest rate of species by area,
as well as the largest numberof species that are found
(02:27):
naturally anywhere else.
I looked it up.
When you go, you can't help butnotice the gorgeous birds, the
animals, the gorgeous lushjungles.
What do you think are some ofthe most beautiful natural areas
that you visited?
Carlos Boggio (02:38):
Well, as you say, Colombia has everything from
the snow-covered peaks up in theAlps to the jungles of the
Amazon, to the jungles on thePacific Ocean, to the beautiful
beaches of the Caribbean andbasically everything in between.
The nicest things to enjoy inColombia is the outdoors, is
(03:00):
traveling from city to city ortown to town even, especially by
car, where you get to enjoythis changing geography, which
is incredible.
Lea Lane (03:10):
Have you seen Cano Cristales, the river?
I read about that.
Have you seen it?
We have.
Carlos Boggio (03:14):
We went to Cano Cristales about 10 years ago.
It was still kind of untapped.
It's absolutely beautiful.
When we went, we had to flythere because it's in a very
remote part of Colombia.
Yes, it's amazing.
Lea Lane (03:28):
I think the Instagrammers are going to love
it, because the river bedchanges color between yellow,
green, blue, black and red.
That's something that you can'tfind many places.
That's one of the speciallittle secrets that we're
discovering as I was researching.
I haven't seen it yet.
I have been to Tayona NationalPark in northern Colombia, which
is a beautiful palm-shaded,lagoon-filled rain forest, very
(03:50):
rich in biodiversity.
Carlos Boggio (03:52):
One of my favorites is close to Santa
Marta.
My mother is from town.
The highest peak in Colombia isthe Sierra Nevada of Santa
Marta, which is right off theCaribbean.
It's kind of the wholeColombian miniature because you
have all these altitudes.
There you can go from thebeaches.
Different expeditions.
(04:13):
The most comfortable you can doin a helicopter, which will
take you to the abandoned sitesof the pre-Columbian cultures.
You can also do it walking.
It's, I think, a three-day hikefrom the bottom.
Or you can stay at the beaches,which are absolutely fabulous.
The ocean is usually has bigwaves, so you have to be a very
(04:35):
good swimmer (or a surfer).
Or a surfer.
Yeah, I haven't seen many ofthose, but it's big, big waves
It's a little bit dangerous.
Ana Maria Matallana (04:43):
So there's three cards.
So they don't suggest to dothat?
Lea Lane (04:46):
Yeah, well, when you talk about this, it reminds me
of the beautiful animationEncanto, which was based in
Colombia, which shows you thebeauty.
If anyone has seen that, itjust gives you a feeling for the
great beauty of Colombia.
Let's talk about some of themajor Colombian cities.
Let's start with Bogota.
What's not to miss there?
It's the capital, it's ninemillion people or more, very
(05:09):
vibrant.
So tell me a little bit.
Ana Maria Matallana (05:11):
I like about Bogotá from Bogota, and
Carlos is from Bogota too.
I really love the museums.
We do have the museum in Museode Oro, which is the gold museum
, which we find a lot of piecesmade of gold of our cultures, of
the Incas, of our indigenouspeople, and it's amazing how
(05:33):
many pieces you can find there,forms and the shapes which I
haven't seen anywhere in othermuseums.
You can see the differentcultures in South America.
There are also a little bitabout the Incas and also a
little bit about otherindigenous cultures.
I also like the Museo, theBotero Museum, which is small,
(05:54):
but it was his privatecollection.
Lea Lane (05:56):
Yes, Botero, of course , is the famous artist who loved
to sculpt and paint very largefolks, which is very fun to
watch.
He's very popular.
I think he passed away recently.
Ana Maria Matallana (06:10):
So you find pieces for other artists around
the world.
It's small, it's a small museumand you enjoy it a lot.
Cacandelario, which is like theneighborhood in the center of
Bogotá, I think it's beautiful.
The colorful streets andrestaurants and little places
there are nice.
Plaza de Bolivar, the centersquare of the downtown with the
(06:34):
sculpture of Bolivar, is.
I like it a lot.
Lea Lane (06:37):
I should add that Bogotá is very high.
It's above 8,000 feet, so you'dbe aware of it.
It's extremely beautiful,surrounded by mountains.
Well worth a visit.
The second most well known cityin Colombia, I would say, is
Cartagena de Indias.
It's the port city on theshores of the Caribbean in the
northwest.
It's stunning.
It's one of the most beautiful,well-preserved cities in the
(06:58):
Americas.
During the Spanish colonialperiod it had a key role in the
expansion of the Spanish Empire.
It was declared a UNESCO WorldHeritage Site.
It's so much fun.
Tell us a little bit about it.
Carlos Boggio (07:13):
For me it's out of pirate stories and fairy
tales.
It's still very intact the oldwalls.
Overlooking the ocean there's ahumongous port called San
Felipe, which was made by theSpanish precisely to protect
Cartagena.
It was the place where theSpanish would concentrate the
(07:34):
riches they would find in theAmericas.
From there they would ship backto the old continent.
It was basically a huge safe.
It was constantly attacked bypirates and other people wanting
to grab at the riches.
Most of that is still there.
You have the vibes in the oldstreets.
You're always in between walls,these huge walls overlooking
(07:56):
the ocean.
There's fantastic boutiquehotels where you can stay in the
old city.
That's my favorite places.
There's bigger resorts on theoutside and on the beaches.
Really, if you want to get thefeeling of Cartagena, try to get
inside the old city.
It's fantastic to walk duringthe day.
During the night it's full ofcafes and great restaurants.
(08:19):
It's really something.
When you get bored of all that,you can take a boat and go out
to the islands.
There's a lot to do there interms of scuba diving, swimming,
beautiful beaches.
There's a lot to do.
The only thing.
The actual beaches in Cartagenaare nice, but they're not
spectacular.
If you want to go tospectacular beaches, you have to
(08:41):
take a one-hour boat ride outto the islands.
Lea Lane (08:43):
Well, that doesn't sound so bad, sounds kind of
perfect, actually.
I know the Rosario Islands arenear there.
That's one of the 46 nationalparks of Colombia.
Cartagena right now is hot, aswe say.
Everybody wants to go there.
You can see why from yourdescription.
I loved it.
I thought it was fantastic.
Down the coast is Barranquilla,which is Colombia's second
(09:06):
largest city.
It's a bustling seaport on theAtlantic.
It has an enormous carnival,the second largest in the world
after Rio.
I was lucky enough to attend itone year.
Wow, there were four days offestivities.
There was music all day long,all night long.
There were parades and parties.
It was just fabulous.
(09:27):
Have you been yet?
Carlos Boggio (09:29):
Yes, we have been several times, but for me it is
the marathon of parties.
You have to pace yourself tosurvive them.
They're four days long andthey're very well planned out.
They're very well organized.
You can choose if you want tobe part of the parade, and it
can be arranged that you dressup and dance down the streets,
(09:53):
or you can decide to be anobserver on the sidestands, and
there's fantastic places whereyou can watch, where you have a
great service.
You get food, you get drinkswhile you watch it all go by.
As I say, every day has itsspecial event, every night has
its special party.
You have to pace yourself oryou're not going to make it for
(10:16):
the four days.
Ana Maria Matallana (10:16):
You think it's going to be a little messy,
it's going to be a lot of crazypeople at Ash week.
No, I was impressed and happyto see how organized it is, how
people really dance and how, ifyou don't dance as an spectator,
you can find a place that yousit and to watch all the dances
(10:38):
and also in the parties.
Lea Lane (10:40):
I remember I was sprayed by a water pistol, which
was a lot of fun.
That was the worst thing thathappened to me and I got a
little flower on me.
People were throwing flowers,not flowers, flowers.
I got a little bit.
It was fun.
We all loved it.
The flower battle is one of thebig parades.
That's with the beautifulflowers and also King Momo.
He's the mascot.
(11:00):
How would you describe him?
Carlos Boggio (11:02):
There's deep traditions, there's characters
like King Momo Kimono Kuk.
They all have their historicimportance.
In the carnival, king of thecarnival, he resurrects every
year and in the Tuesday whichfor us is Mardi Gras, he dies.
An anecdote when I startedworking in Barranquilla, I
(11:24):
worked in Barranquilla severalyears it was a Tuesday, which is
actually a working day, but notfor the people in Barranquilla.
When I showed up to work,everybody told me they were in
the funeral and I was like whodied?
And everyone said, oh, this isthe funeral of José Lito
Carnaval and it's the death ofthe carnival and the last day of
(11:45):
those four days.
It's a make-believe, hugefuneral where they're burying
José Lito Carnaval.
Ana Maria Matallana (11:52):
If you have seen such Shakira dance, you
can understand how the carnivalis.
Because the way she moves, theway she moves, all her music has
inside, like the music of thecarnival in Barranquilla.
Since you are little, since youare three, four years old, they
teach you how to dance.
They do dances, group danceswith kids so.
Lea Lane (12:16):
Shakira is.
You can see a lot ofBarranquilla in Shakira.
Yeah, Shakira moves her hips toCumbia I know that's the famous
music there and think aboutBarranquilla.
Ana Maria Matallana (12:26):
It has a culture from around the world.
Lea Lane (12:31):
Well, I want to take you over to the Pacific side, to
Cali, which is another big city.
And since we're talking aboutmusic, that's known for its
salsa music and its rumba music.
And I think it's just good tomention that there's a big city
on the other side of the countryas well, and there you're very
close to the Pacific, so you cango there for the beaches, and
(12:52):
there's a wonderful zoo that isdedicated to the environment.
And have you been to to Cali?
much Sure.
Ana Maria Matallana (13:00):
I've been to Cali i.
Cali has an amazing landscape.
It's beautiful all themountains, the flowers, the food
is great.
Carlos Boggio (13:13):
Around Cali is all the sugarcane plantations.
From the sugarcane they makeone of the most known beverages
in Colombia, which isAguacaliente, which is distilled
from sugarcane calledAguacaliente, which produces to
fire water.
It's a very strong drink whichaccompanies a lot of our dancing
and our festivities very well.
Lea Lane (13:34):
Aha, now I know the secret.
There it is kay.
Well, one of my favoriteColombian cities is Medellin,
and this is the city of EternalSpring.
It's called that because it'sgot wonderful temperature all
the year.
It was once infamous fordangerous gangs, but it has been
transformed and today it's avery, very popular place to go,
(13:57):
not only for its beauty and Iknow it has Botero there,
because I walked around a parkwhere there are about 20 Boteros
outside and there was a museum,so there's art and all but
there are also fantasticexamples of urban renewal.
There's a famous metro cablethat goes up.
You take an escalator and thenyou go up the mountain.
(14:17):
It's a wonderful view of thecity and it's really changed
many of those barrios and helpedthe neighborhoods in the area.
It's a wonderful rehabilitationof the city.
But the thing I love aboutMedellin the most are the
festivals.
I went in December for theFestival of Light, for the
beautiful Christmas lights.
They're well known throughoutthe world.
(14:38):
It was exceptionally beautiful.
There were all kinds offestivities around that
beautiful time to go.
The other time I would go, Iwould suggest, is in August for
the floral parade.
Tell me about that.
Ana Maria Matallana (14:52):
Well, the flower festival is in Augus t.
As you said, Colombia is a verysaid in the beginning,
colorful f country.
You have a lot of flowers, sothere we expose all types of
flowers around Colombia.
Remember that Medellin isinside all the La Zona Cafetera,
the coffee area, so they'reinside of all those coffee
(15:14):
mountains and there's a lot offlowers.
So it's very nice.
Lea Lane (15:20):
It's beautiful and I think when you go to the florist
the feria de las flores as theycall it there's also something
called the chiva carnival there.
The chivas are traditionalopen-sided buses and people
paint them up and when I wasthere, there were about 80 of
them in a row with all differentcolors and names, and it was so
much fun.
There were many things aroundthe flowers, not just the
flowers.
(15:40):
I know all year people work toset this beautiful festival up,
so I really recommend it veryhighly.
And also, as you mentioned, theday trips outside of B are
gorgeous because you can go upto a coffee plantation and you
can go to beautiful lakes.
Ana Maria Matallana (15:58):
It's a beautiful lake, absolutely, you
can go and there's a lot ofbeautiful boutique hotels, h.
You can kayak, you can waterski in the lake.
Carlos Boggio (16:10):
For me, one of the things not to miss in that
area, and even in Amenia andPereta, is the coffee area.
It's called the Zona Cafetera.
The coffee farms are absolutelybeautiful.
They remind me very differentbut kind of what vineyards look
like, how they're farming allthis coffee underneath the shade
(16:32):
of these beautiful trees, thesehills lined up with coffee
plants are absolutely fabulous.
There you can try to find afarm or somewhere where you can
stay.
It's absolutely gorgeous and ifyou like coffee and you like
trying it, the differentvarieties, it's worth it.
Ana Maria Matallana (16:52):
You go through all the plantations in
horses and it's beautiful.
Lea Lane (16:55):
How do you drink your t coffee?
I know Tinto is the popular way.
What does that mean?
It's not espresso.
Ana Maria Matallana (17:00):
So it's just like an American coffee.
Carlos Boggio (17:02):
It's a black American coffee, a very strong
coffee.
Lea Lane (17:06):
In a very little cup.
It's because it's strong.
It's a delicious coffee.
There's also a drink calledLulada, a mix of lime juice and
fruit and sugar, and it wasdelicious.
How about the food?
I know I've had empanadas.
Ana Maria Matallana (17:19):
We have arepas which, for example, in
Medellin we have la arepa paisa,which is like a tortilla with a
grated cheese on top.
Then if you go to Bogota, youhave a different type of arepa,
which is like filled with cheese, more thick and with butter.
Then you go to the coast, toBarraquilla, you get the fried
(17:40):
arepa huevo, which you put egginside, like fried.
I love arepas.
Lea Lane (17:46):
I love the classic arepa, the cornmeal cake with
the cheese.
It's just delicious.
You can find it in many placesin Miami, where I live.
I had lechona, which is porkroast, which is delicious.
Carlos Boggio (17:57):
Our meats are fantastic.
Our steaks are great.
You went over and close toBogota there's a very, very
famous restaurant called AndrésCartanero, and their specialty
is steak.
It's a restaurant which wasstarted by this gentleman named
Andrés and it's kind of his workof art.
So he started very small and hekept on adding things and
(18:20):
adding things and it's grown toa restaurant which fits over, I
think, 5000 people, and it'sjust.
The food is wonderful.
You can try all types of foodfrom Colombia.
You can stay all night if youwant and have breakfast there
too.
It's really one of the topexperiences in Colombia.
Now, the original one isoutside of Bogota, in a town
(18:41):
called Chia.
Now there's one in Bogota andthey're making them.
There's one in Cartagena aswell.
It's kind of spreading around,but if you can, it's worth going
to the original Andres in Chia.
In terms of food, one verydifferent food you can have is
from Ana Maria's area.
It's ants.
(What it's ants?
(19:02):
) Yeah, they make they.
At a certain time of year,these very big ants come out and
they grab them and they takethe bottom of the ant out.
They're called the Budsi ants,amigas pulonas, and they
stir-fry them and they'reactually pretty good.
You should try them.
Next, time.
Lea Lane (19:19):
Next time Definitely, Because Colombia is the third
largest exporter of coffee.
Lots of people buy coffee, buteven better, you have more
emeralds than any other country,and that's my favorite of all
gems.
Tell us about emeralds inColombia.
Where would you shop to get areally?
You know you want to get a realone.
Ana Maria Matallana (19:39):
Bogota.
here's a mall shopping mall inAndino where you can find
jewelry stores that you can buyit, and I think those are the
more fair places to go toshopping mall.
Lea Lane (19:53):
I want to be careful.
Yes, I know I went there.
Carlos Boggio (19:55):
I think if you know your gems and you can tell
a real from a fake, you canmaybe get the deals on the
street.
So let's put it that way.
But, you might be able to endup with a piece of glass.
Lea Lane (20:06):
I would say be careful , I'd like to emphasize.
You don't have to get a big one, you can get a teeny little one
.
Ana Maria Matallana (20:12):
But it's from Colombia, it's real, it's
beautiful we have a lot ofdesigners, like clothes
designers, young clothesdesigners, environmentalists,
men, women, Bogota.
It's just beautiful, theclothes that you find there,
everything it's beautiful.
So I also suggest the shoppingpart in all those three cities,
(20:32):
the boutiques, they are amazing.
Lea Lane (20:35):
Absolutely.
What a country.
Okay, well, the name of thepodcast is Places I Remember.
So would you either share onememory or give me two memories,
a personal memory of yourbeautiful country Once I was
with my father going up in themule.
Ana Maria Matallana (20:53):
You go to one of the places you can go.
You can go up in mules.
(Where did you go?
?
) To a Arecife which is like asmall beach, but you have to go
either by boat or walking or bymule, and it's inside the Parque
Tayrona.
And we were goin m up withmules and my father got kicked m
(21:15):
by a mule.
Lea Lane (21:17):
By your mule, by your mule.
Ana Maria Matallana (21:19):
Yes, so I remember that as something funny
, but it was a little different.
Lea Lane (21:27):
A little different.
How about you, Carlos?
Carlos Boggio (21:30):
Well, one of my favorite places on the outsides
of Bogota is Sipakira.
It's about an hour to two hours, depending on traffic, from
Bogota, and in Sipakira theyhave wonderful.
It was an original place wherethey mined salt underground, so
there very r very very largetunnels mined underground and
(21:52):
they built what is called theSalt Cathedral underground.
So you walk down these tunnels.
First they're small and then itopens up to this huge cathedral
under the earth and it'sabsolutely spectacular.
In this cathedral there are someangels and a major which is
(22:15):
sculpted by an Italian artistwhich was a good friend of my
father when my father firstimmigrated to Colombia.
His roommate o he shared anapartment with this artist which
had been contracted by theColombian government to do an
important monument in Bogota,and so he left these sculptures
(22:35):
in the Salt Cathedral, which areabsolutely beautiful.
This gentleman also is veryfamous because he sculpted the
Holy Door of the Vatican in RomeWhile he was my father's
roommate.
e made a small bronze angelwhich is similar to the angels
(22:55):
in the cathedral I keep at homeand it's very special to me.
Lea Lane (22:59):
Beautiful.
Well, thank you, Anna MariaMatallana and Carlos Boggio, who
are married and who share thedelights with us of their
beautiful country, Colombia.
It is worth a visit, as you cantell.
Thank you so much for sharing.
Bye.
Carlos Boggio (23:16):
Bye.
Colombia is called the gateway to South America
because it's in the northwesternpart of the continent, where
South America connects withCentral and North America.
It's the fifth largest countryin Latin America and home to the
world's second largestpopulation of Spanish-speaking
people.
It's the only country in SouthAmerica that has coastlines on
the Pacific Ocean and theCaribbean Sea and the Atlantic
(00:21):
Ocean.
Colombia was originallyinhabited by indigenous tribes.
In 1499, the Spanish arrivedand colonized the area, calling
it New Granada.
The official name of Colombiais derived from the last name of
explorer Christopher Columbus.
Colombia is on the equator,which means the sun rises and
sets at the same time all yearround, and the season stays the
(00:42):
same, unlike almost any othercountry in the world.
There are just the dry seasonsfrom December to January and
July to August, and the rainyseasons from April to May and
October to November.
Our guests, Carlos Boggio andAna Maria Matallana are married,
Mr and Mrs Carlos Boggio, andthey are Colombians and spend
part of their year in thecountry that they love.
(01:04):
Welcome, Carlos and Ana Maria,to places I emember.
Carlos Boggio (01:08):
Thank you, Lea, great to be here.
Ana Maria Matallana (01:10):
Lea.
Lea Lane (01:10):
Welcome, thank you.
Well, one of the first thingsyou notice when you arrive in
Colombia is the vitality thatpulses throughout the country.
Music is in the streets,there's energy.
Why do you think this is so?
Carlos Boggio (01:23):
Colombia has been a mixture of so many cultures
-- Spanish, the African culture,the indigenous culture and
we've all been mixed together ina tropical environment.
If you just travel around, youcan see our nature.
It's also vibrant --thevegetation, the animals, the
(01:44):
birds, everything is colorful,everything excites and it kind
of goes well with the music andthe vitality of our people.
Ana Maria Matallana (01:53):
Music festivals and we, in our culture
, like to dance.
We like to, since we are little.
We are immersing all this musicand carnivals which bring us
happiness.
Lea Lane (02:05):
You certainly are immersed in.
I know I've been there a coupleof times and have enjoyed the
carnivals and the festivals verymuch.
I think age seems to be valuedin Colombia too.
I noticed that elders seem tobe deeply respected throughout
the country, which I reallyappreciate i.
You mentioned the biodiversity.
I think that Colombia has thehighest rate of species by area,
as well as the largest numberof species that are found
(02:27):
naturally anywhere else.
I looked it up.
When you go, you can't help butnotice the gorgeous birds, the
animals, the gorgeous lushjungles.
What do you think are some ofthe most beautiful natural areas
that you visited?
Carlos Boggio (02:38):
Well, as you say, Colombia has everything from
the snow-covered peaks up in theAlps to the jungles of the
Amazon, to the jungles on thePacific Ocean, to the beautiful
beaches of the Caribbean andbasically everything in between.
The nicest things to enjoy inColombia is the outdoors, is
(03:00):
traveling from city to city ortown to town even, especially by
car, where you get to enjoythis changing geography, which
is incredible.
Lea Lane (03:10):
Have you seen Cano Cristales, the river?
I read about that.
Have you seen it?
We have.
Carlos Boggio (03:14):
We went to Cano Cristales about 10 years ago.
It was still kind of untapped.
It's absolutely beautiful.
When we went, we had to flythere because it's in a very
remote part of Colombia.
Yes, it's amazing.
Lea Lane (03:28):
I think the Instagrammers are going to love
it, because the river bedchanges color between yellow,
green, blue, black and red.
That's something that you can'tfind many places.
That's one of the speciallittle secrets that we're
discovering as I was researching.
I haven't seen it yet.
I have been to Tayona NationalPark in northern Colombia, which
is a beautiful palm-shaded,lagoon-filled rain forest, very
(03:50):
rich in biodiversity.
Carlos Boggio (03:52):
One of my favorites is close to Santa
Marta.
My mother is from town.
The highest peak in Colombia isthe Sierra Nevada of Santa
Marta, which is right off theCaribbean.
It's kind of the wholeColombian miniature because you
have all these altitudes.
There you can go from thebeaches.
Different expeditions.
(04:13):
The most comfortable you can doin a helicopter, which will
take you to the abandoned sitesof the pre-Columbian cultures.
You can also do it walking.
It's, I think, a three-day hikefrom the bottom.
Or you can stay at the beaches,which are absolutely fabulous.
The ocean is usually has bigwaves, so you have to be a very
(04:35):
good swimmer (or a surfer).
Or a surfer.
Yeah, I haven't seen many ofthose, but it's big, big waves
It's a little bit dangerous.
Ana Maria Matallana (04:43):
So there's three cards.
So they don't suggest to dothat?
Lea Lane (04:46):
Yeah, well, when you talk about this, it reminds me
of the beautiful animationEncanto, which was based in
Colombia, which shows you thebeauty.
If anyone has seen that, itjust gives you a feeling for the
great beauty of Colombia.
Let's talk about some of themajor Colombian cities.
Let's start with Bogota.
What's not to miss there?
It's the capital, it's ninemillion people or more, very
(05:09):
vibrant.
So tell me a little bit.
Ana Maria Matallana (05:11):
I like about Bogotá from Bogota, and
Carlos is from Bogota too.
I really love the museums.
We do have the museum in Museode Oro, which is the gold museum
, which we find a lot of piecesmade of gold of our cultures, of
the Incas, of our indigenouspeople, and it's amazing how
(05:33):
many pieces you can find there,forms and the shapes which I
haven't seen anywhere in othermuseums.
You can see the differentcultures in South America.
There are also a little bitabout the Incas and also a
little bit about otherindigenous cultures.
I also like the Museo, theBotero Museum, which is small,
(05:54):
but it was his privatecollection.
Lea Lane (05:56):
Yes, Botero, of course , is the famous artist who loved
to sculpt and paint very largefolks, which is very fun to
watch.
He's very popular.
I think he passed away recently.
Ana Maria Matallana (06:10):
So you find pieces for other artists around
the world.
It's small, it's a small museumand you enjoy it a lot.
Cacandelario, which is like theneighborhood in the center of
Bogotá, I think it's beautiful.
The colorful streets andrestaurants and little places
there are nice.
Plaza de Bolivar, the centersquare of the downtown with the
(06:34):
sculpture of Bolivar, is.
I like it a lot.
Lea Lane (06:37):
I should add that Bogotá is very high.
It's above 8,000 feet, so you'dbe aware of it.
It's extremely beautiful,surrounded by mountains.
Well worth a visit.
The second most well known cityin Colombia, I would say, is
Cartagena de Indias.
It's the port city on theshores of the Caribbean in the
northwest.
It's stunning.
It's one of the most beautiful,well-preserved cities in the
(06:58):
Americas.
During the Spanish colonialperiod it had a key role in the
expansion of the Spanish Empire.
It was declared a UNESCO WorldHeritage Site.
It's so much fun.
Tell us a little bit about it.
Carlos Boggio (07:13):
For me it's out of pirate stories and fairy
tales.
It's still very intact the oldwalls.
Overlooking the ocean there's ahumongous port called San
Felipe, which was made by theSpanish precisely to protect
Cartagena.
It was the place where theSpanish would concentrate the
(07:34):
riches they would find in theAmericas.
From there they would ship backto the old continent.
It was basically a huge safe.
It was constantly attacked bypirates and other people wanting
to grab at the riches.
Most of that is still there.
You have the vibes in the oldstreets.
You're always in between walls,these huge walls overlooking
(07:56):
the ocean.
There's fantastic boutiquehotels where you can stay in the
old city.
That's my favorite places.
There's bigger resorts on theoutside and on the beaches.
Really, if you want to get thefeeling of Cartagena, try to get
inside the old city.
It's fantastic to walk duringthe day.
During the night it's full ofcafes and great restaurants.
(08:19):
It's really something.
When you get bored of all that,you can take a boat and go out
to the islands.
There's a lot to do there interms of scuba diving, swimming,
beautiful beaches.
There's a lot to do.
The only thing.
The actual beaches in Cartagenaare nice, but they're not
spectacular.
If you want to go tospectacular beaches, you have to
(08:41):
take a one-hour boat ride outto the islands.
Lea Lane (08:43):
Well, that doesn't sound so bad, sounds kind of
perfect, actually.
I know the Rosario Islands arenear there.
That's one of the 46 nationalparks of Colombia.
Cartagena right now is hot, aswe say.
Everybody wants to go there.
You can see why from yourdescription.
I loved it.
I thought it was fantastic.
Down the coast is Barranquilla,which is Colombia's second
(09:06):
largest city.
It's a bustling seaport on theAtlantic.
It has an enormous carnival,the second largest in the world
after Rio.
I was lucky enough to attend itone year.
Wow, there were four days offestivities.
There was music all day long,all night long.
There were parades and parties.
It was just fabulous.
(09:27):
Have you been yet?
Carlos Boggio (09:29):
Yes, we have been several times, but for me it is
the marathon of parties.
You have to pace yourself tosurvive them.
They're four days long andthey're very well planned out.
They're very well organized.
You can choose if you want tobe part of the parade, and it
can be arranged that you dressup and dance down the streets,
(09:53):
or you can decide to be anobserver on the sidestands, and
there's fantastic places whereyou can watch, where you have a
great service.
You get food, you get drinkswhile you watch it all go by.
As I say, every day has itsspecial event, every night has
its special party.
You have to pace yourself oryou're not going to make it for
(10:16):
the four days.
Ana Maria Matallana (10:16):
You think it's going to be a little messy,
it's going to be a lot of crazypeople at Ash week.
No, I was impressed and happyto see how organized it is, how
people really dance and how, ifyou don't dance as an spectator,
you can find a place that yousit and to watch all the dances
(10:38):
and also in the parties.
Lea Lane (10:40):
I remember I was sprayed by a water pistol, which
was a lot of fun.
That was the worst thing thathappened to me and I got a
little flower on me.
People were throwing flowers,not flowers, flowers.
I got a little bit.
It was fun.
We all loved it.
The flower battle is one of thebig parades.
That's with the beautifulflowers and also King Momo.
He's the mascot.
(11:00):
How would you describe him?
Carlos Boggio (11:02):
There's deep traditions, there's characters
like King Momo Kimono Kuk.
They all have their historicimportance.
In the carnival, king of thecarnival, he resurrects every
year and in the Tuesday whichfor us is Mardi Gras, he dies.
An anecdote when I startedworking in Barranquilla, I
(11:24):
worked in Barranquilla severalyears it was a Tuesday, which is
actually a working day, but notfor the people in Barranquilla.
When I showed up to work,everybody told me they were in
the funeral and I was like whodied?
And everyone said, oh, this isthe funeral of José Lito
Carnaval and it's the death ofthe carnival and the last day of
(11:45):
those four days.
It's a make-believe, hugefuneral where they're burying
José Lito Carnaval.
Ana Maria Matallana (11:52):
If you have seen such Shakira dance, you
can understand how the carnivalis.
Because the way she moves, theway she moves, all her music has
inside, like the music of thecarnival in Barranquilla.
Since you are little, since youare three, four years old, they
teach you how to dance.
They do dances, group danceswith kids so.
Lea Lane (12:16):
Shakira is.
You can see a lot ofBarranquilla in Shakira.
Yeah, Shakira moves her hips toCumbia I know that's the famous
music there and think aboutBarranquilla.
Ana Maria Matallana (12:26):
It has a culture from around the world.
Lea Lane (12:31):
Well, I want to take you over to the Pacific side, to
Cali, which is another big city.
And since we're talking aboutmusic, that's known for its
salsa music and its rumba music.
And I think it's just good tomention that there's a big city
on the other side of the countryas well, and there you're very
close to the Pacific, so you cango there for the beaches, and
(12:52):
there's a wonderful zoo that isdedicated to the environment.
And have you been to to Cali?
much Sure.
Ana Maria Matallana (13:00):
I've been to Cali i.
Cali has an amazing landscape.
It's beautiful all themountains, the flowers, the food
is great.
Carlos Boggio (13:13):
Around Cali is all the sugarcane plantations.
From the sugarcane they makeone of the most known beverages
in Colombia, which isAguacaliente, which is distilled
from sugarcane calledAguacaliente, which produces to
fire water.
It's a very strong drink whichaccompanies a lot of our dancing
and our festivities very well.
Lea Lane (13:34):
Aha, now I know the secret.
There it is kay.
Well, one of my favoriteColombian cities is Medellin,
and this is the city of EternalSpring.
It's called that because it'sgot wonderful temperature all
the year.
It was once infamous fordangerous gangs, but it has been
transformed and today it's avery, very popular place to go,
(13:57):
not only for its beauty and Iknow it has Botero there,
because I walked around a parkwhere there are about 20 Boteros
outside and there was a museum,so there's art and all but
there are also fantasticexamples of urban renewal.
There's a famous metro cablethat goes up.
You take an escalator and thenyou go up the mountain.
(14:17):
It's a wonderful view of thecity and it's really changed
many of those barrios and helpedthe neighborhoods in the area.
It's a wonderful rehabilitationof the city.
But the thing I love aboutMedellin the most are the
festivals.
I went in December for theFestival of Light, for the
beautiful Christmas lights.
They're well known throughoutthe world.
(14:38):
It was exceptionally beautiful.
There were all kinds offestivities around that
beautiful time to go.
The other time I would go, Iwould suggest, is in August for
the floral parade.
Tell me about that.
Ana Maria Matallana (14:52):
Well, the flower festival is in Augus t.
As you said, Colombia is a verysaid in the beginning,
colorful f country.
You have a lot of flowers, sothere we expose all types of
flowers around Colombia.
Remember that Medellin isinside all the La Zona Cafetera,
the coffee area, so they'reinside of all those coffee
(15:14):
mountains and there's a lot offlowers.
So it's very nice.
Lea Lane (15:20):
It's beautiful and I think when you go to the florist
the feria de las flores as theycall it there's also something
called the chiva carnival there.
The chivas are traditionalopen-sided buses and people
paint them up and when I wasthere, there were about 80 of
them in a row with all differentcolors and names, and it was so
much fun.
There were many things aroundthe flowers, not just the
flowers.
(15:40):
I know all year people work toset this beautiful festival up,
so I really recommend it veryhighly.
And also, as you mentioned, theday trips outside of B are
gorgeous because you can go upto a coffee plantation and you
can go to beautiful lakes.
Ana Maria Matallana (15:58):
It's a beautiful lake, absolutely, you
can go and there's a lot ofbeautiful boutique hotels, h.
You can kayak, you can waterski in the lake.
Carlos Boggio (16:10):
For me, one of the things not to miss in that
area, and even in Amenia andPereta, is the coffee area.
It's called the Zona Cafetera.
The coffee farms are absolutelybeautiful.
They remind me very differentbut kind of what vineyards look
like, how they're farming allthis coffee underneath the shade
(16:32):
of these beautiful trees, thesehills lined up with coffee
plants are absolutely fabulous.
There you can try to find afarm or somewhere where you can
stay.
It's absolutely gorgeous and ifyou like coffee and you like
trying it, the differentvarieties, it's worth it.
Ana Maria Matallana (16:52):
You go through all the plantations in
horses and it's beautiful.
Lea Lane (16:55):
How do you drink your t coffee?
I know Tinto is the popular way.
What does that mean?
It's not espresso.
Ana Maria Matallana (17:00):
So it's just like an American coffee.
Carlos Boggio (17:02):
It's a black American coffee, a very strong
coffee.
Lea Lane (17:06):
In a very little cup.
It's because it's strong.
It's a delicious coffee.
There's also a drink calledLulada, a mix of lime juice and
fruit and sugar, and it wasdelicious.
How about the food?
I know I've had empanadas.
Ana Maria Matallana (17:19):
We have arepas which, for example, in
Medellin we have la arepa paisa,which is like a tortilla with a
grated cheese on top.
Then if you go to Bogota, youhave a different type of arepa,
which is like filled with cheese, more thick and with butter.
Then you go to the coast, toBarraquilla, you get the fried
(17:40):
arepa huevo, which you put egginside, like fried.
I love arepas.
Lea Lane (17:46):
I love the classic arepa, the cornmeal cake with
the cheese.
It's just delicious.
You can find it in many placesin Miami, where I live.
I had lechona, which is porkroast, which is delicious.
Carlos Boggio (17:57):
Our meats are fantastic.
Our steaks are great.
You went over and close toBogota there's a very, very
famous restaurant called AndrésCartanero, and their specialty
is steak.
It's a restaurant which wasstarted by this gentleman named
Andrés and it's kind of his workof art.
So he started very small and hekept on adding things and
(18:20):
adding things and it's grown toa restaurant which fits over, I
think, 5000 people, and it'sjust.
The food is wonderful.
You can try all types of foodfrom Colombia.
You can stay all night if youwant and have breakfast there
too.
It's really one of the topexperiences in Colombia.
Now, the original one isoutside of Bogota, in a town
(18:41):
called Chia.
Now there's one in Bogota andthey're making them.
There's one in Cartagena aswell.
It's kind of spreading around,but if you can, it's worth going
to the original Andres in Chia.
In terms of food, one verydifferent food you can have is
from Ana Maria's area.
It's ants.
(What it's ants?
(19:02):
) Yeah, they make they.
At a certain time of year,these very big ants come out and
they grab them and they takethe bottom of the ant out.
They're called the Budsi ants,amigas pulonas, and they
stir-fry them and they'reactually pretty good.
You should try them.
Next, time.
Lea Lane (19:19):
Next time Definitely, Because Colombia is the third
largest exporter of coffee.
Lots of people buy coffee, buteven better, you have more
emeralds than any other country,and that's my favorite of all
gems.
Tell us about emeralds inColombia.
Where would you shop to get areally?
You know you want to get a realone.
Ana Maria Matallana (19:39):
Bogota.
here's a mall shopping mall inAndino where you can find
jewelry stores that you can buyit, and I think those are the
more fair places to go toshopping mall.
Lea Lane (19:53):
I want to be careful.
Yes, I know I went there.
Carlos Boggio (19:55):
I think if you know your gems and you can tell
a real from a fake, you canmaybe get the deals on the
street.
So let's put it that way.
But, you might be able to endup with a piece of glass.
Lea Lane (20:06):
I would say be careful , I'd like to emphasize.
You don't have to get a big one, you can get a teeny little one
.
Ana Maria Matallana (20:12):
But it's from Colombia, it's real, it's
beautiful we have a lot ofdesigners, like clothes
designers, young clothesdesigners, environmentalists,
men, women, Bogota.
It's just beautiful, theclothes that you find there,
everything it's beautiful.
So I also suggest the shoppingpart in all those three cities,
(20:32):
the boutiques, they are amazing.
Lea Lane (20:35):
Absolutely.
What a country.
Okay, well, the name of thepodcast is Places I Remember.
So would you either share onememory or give me two memories,
a personal memory of yourbeautiful country Once I was
with my father going up in themule.
Ana Maria Matallana (20:53):
You go to one of the places you can go.
You can go up in mules.
(Where did you go?
?
) To a Arecife which is like asmall beach, but you have to go
either by boat or walking or bymule, and it's inside the Parque
Tayrona.
And we were goin m up withmules and my father got kicked m
(21:15):
by a mule.
Lea Lane (21:17):
By your mule, by your mule.
Ana Maria Matallana (21:19):
Yes, so I remember that as something funny
, but it was a little different.
Lea Lane (21:27):
A little different.
How about you, Carlos?
Carlos Boggio (21:30):
Well, one of my favorite places on the outsides
of Bogota is Sipakira.
It's about an hour to two hours, depending on traffic, from
Bogota, and in Sipakira theyhave wonderful.
It was an original place wherethey mined salt underground, so
there very r very very largetunnels mined underground and
(21:52):
they built what is called theSalt Cathedral underground.
So you walk down these tunnels.
First they're small and then itopens up to this huge cathedral
under the earth and it'sabsolutely spectacular.
In this cathedral there are someangels and a major which is
(22:15):
sculpted by an Italian artistwhich was a good friend of my
father when my father firstimmigrated to Colombia.
His roommate o he shared anapartment with this artist which
had been contracted by theColombian government to do an
important monument in Bogota,and so he left these sculptures
(22:35):
in the Salt Cathedral, which areabsolutely beautiful.
This gentleman also is veryfamous because he sculpted the
Holy Door of the Vatican in RomeWhile he was my father's
roommate.
e made a small bronze angelwhich is similar to the angels
(22:55):
in the cathedral I keep at homeand it's very special to me.
Lea Lane (22:59):
Beautiful.
Well, thank you, Anna MariaMatallana and Carlos Boggio, who
are married and who share thedelights with us of their
beautiful country, Colombia.
It is worth a visit, as you cantell.
Thank you so much for sharing.
Bye.
Carlos Boggio (23:16):
Bye.
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