The Aire up There.

A couple months ago, the three major Colombia airlines (in order of size and prestige: Avianca, Aero Republica, and Aires) had a big ol' fare war and we, being dutiful citizens, fired a couple shots ourselves, securing a couple trips BAQ to Bogota in October and BAQ to Bogota to Leticia (the Amazon) in January. Well, it´s January, and after a couple hitches (well, one hitch, the price for changing our dates went from A. free to B. eleven dollars to C. three hundred dollars, in the span of about forty minutes) we finally embarked on journey number two. Journey number one having involved an extra two hours added to our wait in BAQ on the way down.

Anyway, on an oddly foggy January fourth morning we went to the airport to fly to Bogota, the capital of Colombia. Because of the fog, the plane we were waiting for went to Cartagena instead of BAQ. Goddamnit. So, finally, the fog clears, the plane shows up, and our pal Becky gets off of it. She isn´t happy, and wants to go home. We get on the plane.

Have I mentioned that we're meeting friends in the Bogota airport to get some apartment keys so we have some digs for the next two days?

It doesn't matter though, cause the dude with the keys is waiting for our jet, and, because it went to Cartagena, it's about two hours late, again.

So we land in Bogota, everyone is a little irritated with Aires because of the delay, but it's a sunny day and the birds are singing. Then the jackasses at Aires can't figure out how to get that damned gate thing to line up with the door of the plane. We backed up. They tried it again. We went forward again. No dice. Shit! We sat in our little itty bitty seats (Row 2 by the way, the closest I have ever been to being the first SOB off the plane, I was stoked!) for forty minutes. Until finally someone opens the back door and pulls up some stairs and buses us (buses us, seriously, about fifty yards. No shit) to a door. Did I mention that for the first time in my 100 plus flights I was in one of the first two rows and was almost guaranteed to be one of the first ten assholes off the plane? So, Aires fucked that up for me, which is ok, I still have my dreams. To make a sad story short, we arrived in Bogota, unharmed, but still have three flights to go, Bogota to Leticia, Leticia to Bogota, Bogota to Barranquilla, all on Aires. I am expecting to make it home just before Easter.

Kisses from the Colombia Capital,

FppInternational