La Finca

The first weekend we were in Colombia, we drove to La Mesa to Leo's Aunt Adrienna's finca (farm). It was a really neat drive. It's so surprising to me how much the vegetation and ecosystems can change in such a short time. It was an hour and a half drive and we went from the rolling grasslands to desert looking terrain with cactus, to being completely shrouded in fog with bamboo and thick ferns and foliage all around. So crazy. Beautiful too. Here's some of the shops and houses we passed. They sell everything under the sun along the roadside. It's actually prettier houses outside Bogotá then in the city. Because at least then it's not graffiti covered. We stopped for arepas at this roadside restuarant. They do pretty good business. Cycling is extremely popular in Colombia (I'd say we passed over a hundred cyclists on the highway) and they stop and pick up breakfast and lunch, etc. Do you see the big steel thing in the picture on bottom right? That's where they cook their meat. This is at Leo's aunt and uncle's finca. I want a finca like that. The pool area was gorgeous. And they had mango trees with mangos that were easily double the size of the mangos you see here for sale. Also orchids. I love orchids. And mandarins. I love mandarins too. We had a barbeque and most of Leo's family was there. It was fun. I didn't take all these, but apparently someone thought it would be fun to take a picture of everybody with Elena. Isabel was having lots of fun. I had lots of fun too when she took a nap and then I took a nap. (I was still jet-lagged.)Leo's aunt raises Paso Finos and shows them. Leo took a ride, but I declined. I've learned from others not to ride unknown horses when pregnant. And this is a bunch of Leo's family. I'll try to name them all just for posterity. Hee. Hee. Left-to-right: Wilson, Andre, Leo, Kami, Isabel, ?, Orlando, Sergio, Cesar, and Andre's girlfriend. Hey, I did pretty good. Just missed one. Anyway, it was beautiful there and Leo's family was extremely nice. They were all smitten with our two monos (blondes--Isabel and Elena) too.