A Bridge Over Urban Waters

An unpleasant situation  - and a juryrigged solution.

Here come the pedestrians.

When it rained hard yesterday afternoon, these homeless guys found a way to profit by providing a public service the city couldn't: They bridge the raging river we sually call Caracas Avenue.

Lots of people used the service, altho only a small proportion appeared to leave tips. A few athletic souls leapt the current, perhaps to avoid any feeling of obligation to tip.

The bridge men didn't appear to mind. They were happy enough with the product of their labors - a bottle of cheap whiskey, .

It's just one example of opportunistic  incelment weather entrepeneurism here. When the drops start falling, vendors miraculously appear hawking umbrellas.

A helping hand - and hope for a handout.

Maybe this guy didn't want to tip.

Rush hour.

By Mike Ceaser, of Bogotá Bike Tours

Not Ready for the Rain

Amphibious vehicles? A taxi and a motorcycle make their way
thru the deep waters of the Santa Fe neighborhood.

Bicyclists do better in the water,
thanks to their taller, skinnier wheels.

You'd think that's the city the engineers who designed Bogotá's streets had in mind when they included these huge depressions at major intersections, creating lakes during every heavy rain.

Except that it does rain in Bogotá, and I don't suppose that anybody wanted streets to turn into lagoons. Instead, one suspects that an unethical contractor ripped off the city and citizens by using inadquate fill under the roads.

Who's gonna sue those contractors? The same city which approved their lousy work?

Not likely.

By Mike Ceaser, of Bogotá Bike Tours

When it Rains, it Hails

Manuel holds a handful of hail during an involuntary pause during a bike tour.

Patches of hail outside the
Museo de Oro TransMilenio Station.

Bogotá has experienced an unseasonal amount of precipitation in recent days, some of it frozen. Despite the altitude, it never snows in Bogotá, but it does hail, suddenly, violently and even painfully for those of us who have experienced its impacts directly.

Poor tree wasn't born to be hailed on.

A TransMilenio bus rolls thru the weather.

The hail melts away quickly, washed out by the often torrential rains. But those rains inundate the city, many of whose streets appear to have been designed by people who didn't believe it rained in Bogotá. Intersections turn into pools, and streets into streams.

Water-cycling across Carrera Septima.

On Carrera Septima, a recently-built bike lane floods.

Amphibious bicycling in Santa Fe.

By Mike Ceaser, of Bogotá Bike Tours

Photo of the Day: The Aquatic Car

During recent days, Bogotá has experienced some intense rains (altho they usually don't last long).

Even tho Bogotá should be used to rain, the city obviously isn't prepared for it, as this scene proves. Water pools up in low places, producing urban lakes.

This taxi, however, didn't seem to mind too much, and continued on its wet way.

By Mike Ceaser, of Bogotá Bike Tours

It's Raining Again!

Rainwater turns a kiosk step into a waterfall in the Parque Nacional. 

The rainy season came late this year. But when it started last week it came with a fury. Most afternoons, the sky lets loose with a torrential downpour. Usually, the worst of it only lasts a half hour or so, leaving the city soaked, but cleaner.

These cyclists didn't appear to mind the downpour...too much. 

Cyclists and pedestrians take refuge under one of the park's bridges. 

And a few make a break for it. 

Sodden scouts build their character. 

The normally placid Rio del Arzobispo is ready for surfers today. 

Water cascades down a hillside. 

Tourists take refuge under a tarp. 

A day for dogs. 

By Mike Ceaser, of Bogotá Bike Tours

When a Shield is a Shelter

Finding shelter in the Cathedral's doorway.

An afternoon downpour caught these riot control police exposed on Plaza Bolivar. City policy seems to be to call out the cops whenever there's even a hint of protesters - even when, like today, they're peaceful. But the poor young police generally have to stand around all day, anyway.

Since they don't have umbrellas, these guys turned their plexiglass shields, which are supposed to protect them from rocks, smoke bombs and paint balls, upward against the sky instead.

Bogotá's Cathedral was well-defended from the rain.

The Casa del Florero provided a meager shelter.

Across the street, pedestrians were better prepared.

By Mike Ceaser, of Bogotá Bike Tours

Skateboardin' in the Rain

The rains fell torrentially this afternoon. But that didn't stop this group of young guys from skating home thru Teusaquillo after spending the morning in the National Park.

Perhaps they've found a more positive meaning for the term 'waterboarding'.

By Mike Ceaser, of Bogotá Bike Tours

Hail the Central Cemetery!

Taking refuge.

Bogotá's rainy season has arrived. But today we had not only rain but the heaviest hailstorm I've seen during my six years here. During a bike tour, it trapped us in the Central Cemetery, which fortunately has a roofed entranceway, albeit a small one.

The hail quickly painted the cemetery white, as tho dusted by a snow which never falls here. Then the precipitation turned to rain and washed it all away. 

The rain, and then hail, come down. 

The cemetery is painted white. 

La Llorona - the statue at the cemetery's entrance, sometimes called 'the weeping one.' She sure appears to be crying today. 

La Llorona.

White-dusted sculptures on a tomb.

A cemetery passageway in white. 

The rains came, and washed the hail away.

Hail remains on the sidewalk. 

A security guard cleans up. 

By Mike Ceaser, of Bogotá Bike Tours