And so it begins. One overcast morning in Fusagasuga, Colombia, four team members received their first challenge papers as the Green Team. After tearful goodbyes to the residents of the New Tribes base, we donned our heavy backpacks and started the long walk to the "mercado", or the market.
Along the way, discussing our battle strategy for the day, a truck rumbled past. After hopefully sticking out our thumbs and hoping for the best, the driver stopped and loaded these heavily-burdened, crazy travelers onto the back of his truck. It was a blessing, really, since he drove us up one of the steepest hills in Fusagasuga.
After a refreshing walk to the bus stop, asking for directions along the way, the Green Team boarded the bus to Bogotá. Climbing onto the bus, who do we see? Our nemeses, the Pink Team. We further discussed our strategy in hushed whispers, while I couldn't help relating this experience to the ones I've seen on The Amazing Race.
The bus ride... It's beyond description. All the whiplash-inducing hairpin turns made it all worth it as we swooped past misty mountains and tangled treetops. After a two-hour stop-and-go ride, we disembarked in order to continue our journey. Unfortunately, due to the congested traffic, we missed our first checkpoint at the guesthouse. We got lost and walked a great distance to the checkpoint. However, this did not stop the Lean Mean Green Team! We managed to drop off our bags two hours late and continued on our quest.
We then walked with a spring in our step to our first assignment: Parque Simon Bolívar. Along the way, we managed to complete another task - we met a local "Persona Mayor". The friendly man and woman then performed a "cancion typica", which we greatly enjoyed. At the park, we completed most of our food challenges - we delved into a delicious "lunch" of "chocolate con queso", "tinto", "tamal" and "almajababas". Our Green Team voted: we love Colombian food!
While still in the park, we had to complete another assignment: to paddle across the "largo", or lake, in the park. Upon arrival at the boats, the owner, Willy, was just about to store all the boats. Kasia pleaded our case, stating that we were from South Africa and that we were part of a challenge. Miracle by all miracles, he let Kasia paddle across! Another checkpoint to tick off.
We then races across the park in the rain to get to the library - we had to do research on the history of Simon Bolívar, collecting random facts about the park. The irony? Nobody at the library had any information about the park! After fifteen minutes of sifting through various books and asking questions in broken Spanish, we managed to gather enough data in order to progress.
With $5000, we had to get approximately ten kilometers across town in order to get to the tallest building in Bogotá. We decided to walk there, since we had to save money in order to take a bus back home. Walking in Bogotá? No problem. Walking ten kilometers when you are exhausted beyond belief? That's a bit tougher.
However, with Jesus strengthening us all the way, we walked for two hours. We got there just as the lights switched on upon the sides of the building, filling us with awe and amazement. Unfortunately, we could not fulfill the task of taking a photo from the top of the building, since it was under repairs.
After taking a lot of photos, we reveled in the fact that we had an hour to get back to the house. We entered the TransMilenio bus station and prayed for the best - we knew we would not have enough money.
Indeed, we didn't. We had to pay $6800 and we only had $5000. Repeating "no dinero" and explaining that we had no more money, we made quite a sight - people were stopping to ask what was happening. The strict-looking woman behind the counter had compassion on us and let us go through for $1250 each, which gave us a $450 discount! Praise God!
Riding on the bus, we were elated and ecstatic - we were going home! We missed our stop, however, and had to ask for help in order to get a ride to Modelia.
We walked back to the guesthouse with a supernatural spurt of energy, arriving at the house in second place. Once again, we were faced with the Pink Team, who had arrived in first place. We waited with nervous flutterings for the Purple Team to arrive, who came in about ten minutes late. We then spent a good half hour swapping stories of unbelievable provision. God is faithful and provides even for four stinky tourists galavanting around a foreign city. We learnt to trust in Him for everything and had fun, despite strenuous circumstances.
This is Global Challenge!!