The Huhman Experience: March 3, 2011 - Day 8 in Bogota, COLOMBIA

Day 8 in Bogota, COLOMBIA
JAIME DUQUE PARK!!!
This place was surreal and very interesting. A pilot during WWII, he served his country well and then returned to create his dream world of various structures and gardens to make up what i would call the Colombian Disneyland. Some of the rides and attractions are hopefully outdated and some even cheesy, but the magnificence of the architecture and the overall vision was simply amazing. There is even a full zoo (which we ran out of time to see). Sorry for the redundancy of photos but i simply couldn't stop taking photos of things from different angles.

http://www.parquejaimeduque.com/

This is the main building that you must go through from the parking lot.

There is the replica of the Taj Mahal from the parking lot.

The gardens next to the parking lot.

Inside the main entrance building. A bust of Jaime himself.

The chandelier and dome above the bust.

Now we're in the park!

The plus of the time we went was that we were virtually the only souls in the park.

The downside was that the fountains were not in operation.

The famous hand holding up the world.

Lots of fountains representing various roman and greek mythological figures.

Even a Russian Orthodox onion dome inspired complex.

This is the number you put on the table for your order in the cafe.

Even dinosaurs! These were hopelessly outdated.

The juxtaposition of all these various things was like a trip with Alice in Wonderland!

This is the giant map of Colombia building with Roberto and Luzelena putting up with my demands for ever more photos!

A huge relief map of the country that you walk around above it. Most impressive view of the country.

Hi, everybody! I'm not in Nebraska any more!

The Taj Mahal is the dominant complex in the park. In the top of the dome is a 360 degree mural that depicts the history of the country and it is, surprisingly, impressive!

Dinosaurland was CHEESY! Done before the substantial amount of scientific knowledge about prehistoric life acquired in the decades since construction, but still triply!

The only place on Earth i believe where you can find a dinosaur with a stairway coming out of its neck next to an anatomically correct male version of the Stature of Liberty!

Yep, you can walk through these dines!

Now we're in the 7 wonders of the world section.

I believe Jaime flew the planes in this park.

We did go in the Taj Mahal, but my camera doesn't do well in low light so i have no still photos. I did take a lot of video though. One of these days i will try to get some of it up. It is MORE amazing inside than out, since the inside is packed full of murals and statues and other things that pertain to Colombian history.

This was the plane Jaime flew during the war.

I forget the details about this vessel but it was interesting!

A weary Luzelena and Roberto at the point we realized the zoo was closing in ten minutes. Just as well since we felt we had our park's worth and i have seen my share of zoos.