Panaca Sabana

Approximately one hour north of Bogota there is a town nestled in the eastern Andes Mountains. This town is not only home to the Cathedral of Salt but also to a unique haven where kids imaginations can literally run wild. This was our second visit to Zipaquira but our first time to Panaca Sabana. Panaca Sabana is cleaner, nicer smelling, and much fancier than any petting farm or zoo that we have ever visited.

Bienvenido to Panaca Sabana!

Of course, before our adventure can begin the kids need to be introduced. Here sits Santi Tanner and Jacob near the water fountain at the entrance to the park. Those not pictured include Sebastian, Gabriela, Josiah, Gerrit, Henry, Maria, Luciana, and Carlos.

Some other amigos that you might occasionally see in the photos: Tony, Pat, Kevin, Jeff, and Dave.




And of course the amigas include: Connie, Rachel, Adriana, Stephanie, and Tammy.

It was an overcast day and the ride seemed like it took forever from Jacob's perspective. Once again he needed to be horizontal for the van ride but when his feet hit the ground at Panaca there was no stopping him. The first venue was to ride on a llama. Fortunate for Jacob this llama had no drama.

The next opportunity was to feed hay from a feeding trough to a dairy cow.

I have heard many dog owners comment on how their dogs can smile. Well I am here to tell you that this cow had a big grin after Jacob fed him. Can't you see it?

For only 1,000 pesos you could purchase a bottle of milk to feed to the calves. Dave opted not to buy a bottle but to use his finger. Oh what fond memories of the farm this brought back to Dave.

Jacob on the other hand wanted to use a bottle and enjoyed petting the calves on the head.

Once the bottles were gone and Dave's finger was wrinkled from the suckling calf a miniature white goat appeared from who knows where. It caught the attention of Jacob and Carlos and they encouraged it to sample the day lilies. They continued to follow the goat wherever it went but the leader of the pack was quickly carried away by a Panaca employee after it jumped up onto a table.

Then a man swaggered toward us with a very large horned bull in tow. Jacob exhibited some authority and grabbed the bull by the nose. The horns were to high to reach otherwise I think that he would have grabbed the bull by the horns.

We were still in dairy land when we saw that you could milk a cow. Jacob informed me that this was not the first cow that he ever milked but he was willing to do it again. He sat on the left side of the cow and Carlos and his Dad were on the right side.

You really need to concentrate when milking a cow. It isn't as easy as it looks.

The reward for your hard work in milking the cow is either to drink the milk or have a Panaca employee pour it into a bottle to feed it to a calf. We contemplated drinking it but then quickly reconsidered after remembering Dave's two bouts of intestinal distress. Jacob, however sampled the milk that had spilled out of the cup and onto his hand. He was reminded by his mother of all the things that he had touched prior to milking the cow and that licking his hand was not the best idea.

Right outside of the stall where Jacob milked the cow was tethered a massive bull. Earlier in our visit I believe that all of the families that we were at Panaca with sat on the bull and got their picture taken. At that time Jacob was not interested in getting his picture taken on the bull with Dave. I think that deep down inside Dave really wanted to sit on the bull. So as Jacob and I stepped out of the stall I turned to my right and I saw Dave sizing up the bull.

Before I knew it Dave was astride this large creature and waving his arm around as if he had conquered the beast.

Like Father, like son, Jacob was caught up in the adrenaline rush of sitting a top all this beef. When was the last time that you sat on a bull of this size?

We had a ticket for a one o'clock show so we needed to mosey on toward the arena. On our way we passed through the pig town. I can honestly say that I have never in my life seen any pig quite like this. His pen mates didn't look much better either.

Luciana was not quite sure what to think of these squealing, snorting, stinky, slobbering piglets.

Jacob enjoyed trying to feed the crowd.

We made our way into the pig stadium and found a place to sit. Jacob and Carlos were ready for the show to begin.

It was a good show. The two Colombian announcers spoke and sang little jingles in Spanish. The crowd seemed to enjoy the songs as there were many smiles and much laughter. I am not sure if we were the butt of some of the songs but we smiled, nodded, and laughed too.

There were two sets of races and each contestant had a name. These pigs reminded us of the show pigs that we saw at Spartan Store's family picnic.

After the pigs raced, six kids were invited to run the track with the pigs. Jacob, Santi, Gerrit, Josiah, and two other kids eagerly ran down to the track.

We sat in the stands and cheered Jacob on. His biggest fan by far was Luciana.

If you are wondering who won the race, you will have to come over some time to watch the video. One hint it was pink with black spots and wore a purple jersey.

There was one ticket left in our pocket and that was a pass to ride the ponies.

Two amigos riding off........

The day at Panaca Sabana went too quickly. Before we knew it there was a rumbling in our stomachs. There was only one restaurant that could satisfy our hunger. It was Andres Carne de Res.

This restaurant is a favorite for many locals and tourists. It is known for the quality and large portions of meat that they serve, it's night life, and it's uniquely decorated interior and exterior. The cow below is life size and made out of wine bottle corks.

The inside is filled with one man's treasures from around the world. There wasn't a bare spot on the wall!

While we waited for our dinner to be served, Jacob and Santi enjoyed dancing on one of the dance floors in the restaurant. They returned to the table just in time to see a three man band serenade the patrons and throw confetti as they passed by. Dinner was spectacular and soothed the deep rumble from within. Feeling satisfied and feeling the need to move, Jacob and Santi returned to the dance floor as the staff threw more confetti. Soon Gerrit, Josiah, and Carlos caught the salsa fever and were drawn from their table to the dance floor too.

Before we knew it the time had come for us to pile back into the van and head south to Bogota. Thank you Thompsons, Tanners, Kammeraads, and Pat and Connie for a good day out!

As I sit here and reflect on this day, I realized that there was one thing that could have made this day better than it already was....Joel, Marc, Giselle, Gabe, Aana, Caleb, Emma, Mason, Charlie, and Beau. Maybe the next time we are in Colombia you can join us in our adventures! We miss you guys!

Ayudame and Round Two

February 23 was an anticipated day. This was the day that we were supposed to tour Ayudame the orphanage that Luciana spent the first six months of her life at. I in particular was curious to meet those who took care of her and what her environment was like. We were to take the tour with Isabel (our representative) and the Thompson family at 3:30 in the afternoon.

The morning was spent prodding Jacob to do his homework. There were multiple occasions where he needed to be redirected to the task at hand. We tried to convince him to finish his Language Arts workbook today but we must not have presented it to him in a convincing way. (He only has six pages to go to be where his class will be on April 5.)

We were beckoned to the dinning room by Juanita calling "lunch". We ate tasty tilapia, fried plantains with salsa verde (picante), and fresh tossed green salad with a light vinaigrette. After lunch we had one hour or so before the van was to pick us up for our Ayudame tour. No sooner had we gotten to our room and out of nowhere Dave started round two of intestinal distress. (We think that it might have been from eating at Subway the day prior....possibly food poisoning.) There was no way that Dave was going to be able to accompany us on the tour. So Jacob stepped up to the plate. I asked him if he would be able to take pictures because I would have my hands full with Luciana and the backpack. He rose to the challenge.

It was a quick ride in the van to Ayudame. The building was situated off a main street in Bogota with several tiendas around it.

Once inside we were asked to sit down and wait. Apparently ICBF (Instituto Colombiano de Bienestar Familiar...AKA Colombian Family Welfare Institute) was there to perform an audit and Maria Clemencia (the director) was busy gathering the necessary paperwork for the ICBF personnel.

I thought that it would be easier if Luciana was in the baby bjorn versus trying to carry her in my arms. This little girl has put some weight on in the past three weeks! I also strategically covered her head with her pink hat. I was slightly nervous about what they would say about her haircut.



While we waited to tour the building, Jacob posed with Isabel Romero. (He also met a boy around seven years old. I cannot remember his name because it was an unusual name. I will have to ask Isabel the next time I see her.)



The first room that we visited was the kitchen area. Josiah and Jacob were given a treat of cookies to satisfy their cravings.

We first noted that we were being followed when we entered the kitchen area. To the right of the above picture there was a service window from the kitchen to the dining room. There poking his head through the window was that little boy again.

I am not sure what this boy's story is, if he is up for adoption or if he is under protection. Anyway, he sure was a happy boy and was drawn to Jacob.

What a patient kid allowing Jacob to take his picture.

I forgot to mention that this boy had a little friend. The squishy toy with bulging eyes. Every where we went the boy and the toy appeared.

We exited the kitchen to ascend a spiral staircase up to the mother's living quarters. Jacob posed with Elana (I hope that is correct). This room is where the mothers lounge and watch television. There are currently two mothers living here. One was present at the time of our tour. I asked Isabel if she would tell the mother in elegant Spanish words how wonderful she was in choosing life.

There were two bedrooms that had three beds in each room (if I counted correctly).

We descended the spiral steps and walked back toward the entrance. There was another set of spiral stairs. These stairs led to where the children lived. We only saw a small part of the children's living quarters. We were told that currently Ayudame was housing 80 orphans ranging from infants to seven years old. I think that our little shadow was one of the oldest kids that resides at Ayudame.

Several of the caretakers talked to Gabriela and Luciana. Gabriela had smiles for the caretakers but Luciana had no affect. I wonder what she was thinking or if it was because I woke her from a nap prior to leaving the hotel.

We saw several toddlers on this floor. You couldn't help but to have tears in your eyes and an ache in your heart when you saw these little ones.

We ascended to a third floor. This was their designated play area.

As you can see, the room was well lit with natural light from the numerous windows. The floor was covered with fake grass like you would put in front of your camper door. Also, please note that there are three ninos. Yes, that little fellow followed us up to the third floor.

Once again Jacob was communicating with this little guy verbally and with nonverbal gestures.

The tour was basically over at this point. We descended from the third level to the ground floor via the spiral staircase. As we past the second floor, I noticed a little toddler sticking his face in between the railing. I stopped for a brief moment and said "hola" and tickled him under his chin. He smiled and I once again felt tears in my eyes for this little one. My hope and prayer is that this boy will be blessed with a family that will love him unconditionally.

We were back in the van in no time with our tour lasting maybe an hour. I have to admit that I was disappointed with the tour. I guess that I had different expectations of how today would be. Two things that I know for certain...I am grateful for Jacob's assistance today in the absence of Dave (carrying my heavy backpack, taking pictures, and having a great attitude).

And forever grateful that Luciana is a part of our family!