Sunday in Simon Bolívar Park

Today, Simón Bolivar Park, the city's largest public park, was one of the few crowded places in this mostly-vacated city.

Cyclists pose by the park's lake, with the city and Eastern Hills in the background.

Paddling rented kayaks on the park's lake.

The park's choo-choo train.

By Mike Ceaser, of Bogotá Bike Tours

August is Kite-Flying Month

Kites for sale outside of Simon Bolivar Park.

August, traditionally windy, is Bogotá's traditional kite-flying month. And Simon Bolivar Park is the center of the kite-flying craze.

See them? Kites dot the sky above Simon Bolivar Park.

By Mike Ceaser, of Bogotá Bike Tours

Kite Month Kicks Off in Simon Bolivar Park

Selecting kites by the Simon Bolivar park's entrance. 

August is traditionally Bogoá's kite-flying month. And the center of activity is Simon Bolivar park in the city's northwest. Today, the 7 de agosto holiday, the park filled with young people - and more than a couple of older ones - filling the sky with colorful kites. 

The park was almost too crowded for bicycling. 

Kites against the clouds. 

Kites flying against the hills. 

Kites for sale on a median strip.

Kites like stars.

Not just for kids! A veteran kite flyer concentrates on his craft. 

By Mike Ceaser, of Bogotá Bike Tours

A Farm for Bogotá?

Horses graze in the piece of land between Simon Bolivar Park and Calle 26.

Believe it or not, this idyllic piece of land is near the center of Bogotá, between Parque Simon Bolivar and congested Calle 26. The land is also at the center of a controversy over its fate.

About 31 years ago, this 26-hectare green space was designated to become part of Simon Bolivar Park, according to El Espectador, but the city has never found the money to buy it from its private owner. Now, the city's proposed and polemical Territorial Ordering Plan (POT) would designate much of it for urbanization. Neighbors are protesting.

The green space is located south of
Simon Bolivar Park, between it and
Calle 26.

The idea's promoters argue that the lot is located in the Teusaquillo district, which has already has more green space per resident than most other parts of the city. But that's a very narrow perspective. Bogotá is a very dense city, and Bogotanos come from all over to visit Simon Bolivar Park, which becomes extremely crowded on a sunny weekend. Those crowds will surely increase with the new Calle 26 TransMilenio line, which includes a station near this huge green space.

What's more, this land has to be unique in Bogotá. If it's covered up by - god forbid - a shopping mall or apartment complex, Bogotá will lose an once-in-a-city's-history opportunity.

Rather, Bogotá could use this unique piece of land to do something creative and memorable. And what occurs to me is a working zoo. Sure it sounds weird, but Bogotá's a very urban city increasingly isolated from the countryside which feeds it. An urban zoo would be great for kids to visit, as well as a great educational opportunity for students to learn about ecology, sustainable development, agriculture and much else in an interactive environment.

The area could also serve as a simple zoo, with species native to Colombia and the Andes, which would complement the nearby Botanical Gardens. (Bogotá does have a zoo, but a good ways south of the city center.)

I'm sure that ther are other excellent potential uses for the open space. But burying it under yet another forgettable development certainly isn't one of them.

By Mike Ceaser, of Bogotá Bike Tours

The World's Biggest Nativity Scene, in Simon Bolivar Park

What they're billing as The World's Largest Nativity Scene is on display these days in Simon Bolivar Park. It weighs 700 tons, measures 18,000 square meters and includes 200 real people who act out 35 different Biblical scenes, according to El Tiempo.

We visited Simon Bolivar Park during today's bike tour, but didn't actually visit the nativity scene, which cost 7,500 pesos. With or without the nativity scene, the park is worth visiting. It was quiet today, despite the sunny weather, probably because so many bogotanos have left town for the holidays.

Try some corn on the cob.

By Mike Ceaser, of Bogotá Bike Tours

Hanky Panky in the Park

But what's going on inside?

Bogotá's sprawling Simon Bolivar Park attracts thousands of people every weekend to picnic, listen to music, play football, and, apparently, do naughty things behind vinyl walls.

That has moved the park's authorities, ever-vigilant to defend public morals, to prohibit tents in all of Bogotá's parks.

A crowded Simon Bolivar Park. 

For many foreigners, tents in city parks look strange. But it makes sense: the tents are useful for protecting belongings from thieves, hiding from the sun and rain, and taking an afternoon nap.

But, apparently, some couples were doing more active things behind those vinyl walls. One park security guard estimated to El Tiempo that four out of ten tents were used naughtily. He didn't explain how he'd generated that statistic.

This week, the District's Institute of Sports and Recreation (IDRD) - which evidently frowns on some types of recreation - prohibited tents in all of Bogotá's parks, except for La Florida, and there only with special authorization.

Tents are so popular in the park, and good for so many legit uses, that the blanket prohibition seems unfair. Couples getting naughty inside tents are only a problem when they bother other people - and in those cases they should be easy to identify and slap with a fine and some embarassment. The park authority might even designate a specific area, probably in the woods, for such activities - a sort of park red light district.

By Mike Ceaser, of Bogotá Bike Tours

August is Kite Flying Month!

Generally sunny and windy, August traditionally is kite-flying month in Bogotá. The center of activities is clearly Simon Bolivar Park, thanks to its breezes, views and wide-open areas. But  kite flyers also fill other parks, including Tercer Milenio.

Cyclists pedal past kites for sale. 

Kites for sale. 

Finding a different use for a colorful kite. 

The park was packed. 

Kites fly over the crowd. 

This skeletal dome ended the flights of several kites. 

Tercer Milenio Park, in central Bogotá, provides a more urban setting for kite flying.

These kite flyers stand before a backdrop of the La Candelaria neighborhood. 

A kite flies past Monserrate Hill. 

Three kites race across the sky. 

Let 'er go!

Sillhoueted against the evening sky. 

Crisis! Our kite's in a tree.

Help arrives. 

Happy ending. 

By Mike Ceaser, of Bogotá Bike Tours