Recipe: Oatmeal Banana energy bars

There's a natural park just 30 minutes outside of Bogotá where you can enjoy one of Colombia's most beautiful ecosystems. It's called Chicaque and it was founded in 1990 thanks to private conservation efforts. The most suprising (and saddest) fact is that only 4% of Colombia's "Andean Cloud Forest", like this one, still exists. Over the years people have destroyed it to clear land for grazing and growing potatoes.

The good news is the locals are generally quite friendly, especially after a few hours of drinking rum and Aguardiente.

It's 4 o'clock in the afternoon in Cali, and if you're lucky the famous afternoon brisa caleña (Caleñan breeze) is helping you cool off from the heat of the day. What time is it, then? It´s fritanga time.

It was a work trip and we were off to see some properties in the state of Meta, located in the centre of Colombia. It would be 2 days of working, followed by 2 days of holiday at a farm/ holiday home (in Spanish called a ‘finca’) close to the town of Villavicencio.

Meta is a region of the plains. Long, straight, seemly unending roads with long grasses and a few trees - a very familiar landscape for me from inland road trips back home in Australia. As you drive further away from the main roads the scenery changes into an unusual hilly landscape. The climate of the Meta region was for me, perfect! It was quite warm, around 35 degrees but without the humidity that makes warmer climates so uncomfortable. The land is used for cattle, but rarely crops, although this area is becoming more developed especially with the discovery of petroleum reservoirs throughout the area. The small town of Puerto Gaitan, which serves as a gateway to the petroleum reservoirs, is expanding as more and more petroleum companies use the town as a base for accommodation and other requirements.