My wife and I are travelling to Bogota in exactly three weeks. My question for the teeming masses of the enlightened has to do with adjusting to altitude.
We live in southern Manitoba at an altitude of about 800 feet. Bogota is, I understand, at an elevation of about 8,600 feet. I don’t think I’ve ever been so high 
My questions are:
Will we have an adjustment to make? In other words will we find the elevation hard for a period of time?
What effect will the altitude have on our bodies?
How long will it take to adjust?
Is there anything we can do to help with the adjustment (apart from chewing the leaves of the coca plant)?
If I am diligent with my running will it benefit me when I get back home to oxygen-rich Manitoba?
So, what’s the word?
Well, 8,600 feet is fairly high, but probably not high enough to cause serious problems. You will probably feel the lack of oxygen, and will easily get “out of breath” for the first two or three days, so take it easy. You will acclimatise to it by producing more red blood cells, so you should make sure you stay well hydrated, as the extra cells thicken your blood.
You might consider asking your doctor/pharmacist about Diamox (acetazolamide), which eases the symptoms of mountain sickness, but I think that may be overkill at his height. Over 3,600 metres (12,000 feet) is normally where you start getting serious problems if you’re not acclimatised.
How well and how quickly you adjust to altitude depends a lot on your general fitness. I go from my home at about 700 feet to a place in the mountains at 11K several times a year. I have no discomfort from the altitude, but I generally take a day or so to aclimate before doing anything too physical like climbing. I can definitely tell a shortness of breath after running stairs or something, but it’s just something you have to adjust your pace to. On the other hand, I’ve had guests who were completely disabled and had to go back to flatland asap. They were in poor physical condition to begin with, their body was basically red-lined all the time back home and they had no margin to handle the decrease in oxygen.
The place I go in Colorado is very dry, so I find dehydration is a bigger problem than the altitude. Many of the altitude sickness tip sheets I’ve seen recommend hydrating early and often, but that may be specific to Colorado since it’s also dry.
If I stay at altitude for several weeks and really adjust, I do feel a change when I return home. For a short time afterward I have much greater aerobic capability, but I lose it as quickly as I gained it.
I spent 3 weeks in Bogota many years ago. I was a runner at the time. I couldn’t run while I was there, no, not because of the altitude, but the smog. The air is brown. If you go into the mountains, you can’t see the city at all.
One thing I did find that you might want to be aware of and dress accordingly, Yes, 8000+ feet, but its also only a few degrees north of the equator. It gets very cold at night in the winter, then very hot during the day. I never knew what to wear.
By the way, if you’re touristing, there was something I found facinating, but I don’t know if it still exists.
We set out to see Tecendama (sp?)Falls in the mountains. The road crosses the falls, then turns to follow the river. A short distance from the turn we found a huge Gothic castle hanging on the edge of the gorge. It had intact stained glass throughout. Huge carved double front doors, that arched. The tennis court and swimming pool behind it had already been claimed by the gorge, but the house looked indestructible. It was vacant. We talked with the locals, who told us it hadn’t really been lived in since the '20s. The longest anyone had been there was 3 months, when some Americans tried to make it into a hotel. It failed because (according to the locals) it was haunted and no guests would stay a second night.
Let me do a search, to see if I can find which direction out of Bogota it is.
Ok, the correct spelling isTequendama Falls. its on the Bogota River 26km southwest of Bogota. The link is a beautiful picture of the falls.
Anyway, other things to see in Bogota. The Museo del Oro is a must, but its on every travel site, another museum that isn’t as widely advertized is the Colombian Nationa Gallery. Its housed (or at least it was) in an old fortress. Some of the art work will take your breath away. Here is another site that tells about the museums
If you have the opportunity to go to any other cities Cartegena is pretty as is Santa Marta, I wasn’t that impressed with Barranquilla, its on the ocean too, but more industrial.
We visited the island of San Andres which is “The Colombian Hawaii” Let me tell, no, its not! Its a single island with 5 miles of roads. Its beautiful, but I spent a year there one week. There is nothing to do but lie on the beach.
Have a wonderful time
I will tell you what I tell all guests who come visit Colorado. Even though Denver is only at 5280, I’ve had friends be affected by the altitude.
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Don’t drink alcohol for the first day or so. It will affect you a lot more than you’d normally be affected by the same amount at sea level.
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Wear sunscreen. The smog may make that a non-issue, but the atmosphere is a lot thinner at 8600 feet and the UV rays will be stronger.
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Drink lots of water the first couple of days, because (at least here) dehydration can make altitude effects worse. This is also why I recommend not drinking.
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Don’t try to push yourself physically for the first couple of days. You will be surprised how difficult it is to run at altitude if you’re used to sea level. Maybe jog at a slower pace if you decide you want to run when you first get there.
When I had to go to Colorado Springs (a few hundred feet higher than Denver) I asked my client how long it would take for the headache to go away. The advice was three days for the headache, and about a month for full acclamation.
On the other hand, I tolerated the side trip to the top of Pike’s Peak quite well, and I am a smoker.
Went from home in NJ (elevation: about 20 feet) to college in NM (elevation: about 7500 feet) in August.
*The nurse told us all it takes an average of four weeks to completely acclimate. This varies from person to person, and keeping active can help the process along.
*Drink lots of water. It helps you get used to the altitude faster. Also, it’s (I don’t know why) much easier to get dehydrated at high altitudes.
*Less alcohol hits you, faster, at altitude. Be warned.
*Again, it all effects differently people differently. I was in pretty good shape to begin with, so I was fine going up and down stairs, etc, when I first got to school. OTOH, don’t push too hard at first. After I’d been in Santa Fe for three days, I decided to go running. Uphill. On the trails behind campus. I was pretty sure I was going to havea heart attack, at the tender age of 18.
That said: if you get into good cardiovascular shape at a high altitude, for a couple days when you get home, you will kick ass. I got home for winter break on Friday night, went for a run Saturday, nearly hit a mile before I was really out of breath. It will fade, quickly, though, once your body realizes it doesn’t need to act like there’s no oxygen.
How quickly you adjust to 8,600 feet right off of an airplane coming from sea level can have little to do with your fitness. Perfectly fit people can be affected by altitude sickness, which can be serious. Modern travel can put you at a radically different altitude immediately, whereas one used to have to climb gradually, which is still the suggested method for dealing with altitude.
I’d suggest consulting a travel doctor. Note that Diomox makes you urinate frequently and on top of mountain air causing dehydration more quickly already, you need to increase your fluid intake while there.
It’s suggested that if you have the ability to sleep at a lower altitude than the highest point you attained during the day this might be helpful.
Thanks for all the information–keep it coming, but it’s much appreciated.
I am looking forward to Bogota. We will be staying with the family of a girl who stayed with us last year on a student exchange program. She is a sweetheart and we took her into our hearts. While there will be attending her sister’s wedding. Oddly enough both sisters are named Maria (hyphonated names actually, Maria-Jose and Maria-Fernanda).
The wedding is black tie. And I will need to bring a suit for restaurants and cultural events. Colombian culture seems a little more conservative in dress than we are around here.
Maria’s school seems to have rather stricter standards than our schools in Canada. She speaks Italian and English in addition to Spanish. Of course her school is private.
Now if I could only get some advise about learning Spanish in a hurry.
I’ve been to Quito, Ecuador several times. The elevation is a little over 9,000 Ft. It usually took me about 2 days until I felt really good. My major problem was a pounding headache. Keep hydrated, but bottled water only please. And remember that ice cubes in drinks are usually local water. Have a great time. 
You will probably need a few days to adjust to the altitude or else you may suffer from High Altitude Sickness. I live here now for the past 2 years and am quite used to the altitude. It didn’t bother me too much when I first came here because I did a lot of aerobic exercise before coming here and of course I continue to do it here. My wife is Colombian and that is my reason for being here now. You are coming at a good time of the year when the weather is more acceptable. More sunshine and warmth during the day and the nights not as cold. We live in the North of Bogotá in a neighborhood called Bosque Medina. It is up a bit higher than the city and away from the smog. Much more healthy living here. Well, I hope you enjoy your stay here.
Its a strange culture. There is almost no middle class. The population figures aren’t accurate, because there is a huge street culture. (BTW, never give anything to the street children. They will swarm like an ant hill and overwhelm you.) The side walks are at least twice as wide as most American cities’ and they are full day and night.
Traffic is, well, so much beyond horrible it moves to the realm of astonishing.
The streets are not very safe. If your wife carries a purse with a shoulder strap, she should wear it under a sweater or jacket. The thieves will come up behind and cut the strap, and don’t care if the cut you too. If you pay attention, its ok
Since you’ll be with natives, you won’t have any problems.
Speaking of natives, I too was visiting friends there, but we stayed in a hotel. We quickly learned their sense of time passing is very different than ours. Americans count one as on time if arrival is 15 minutes, give or take. If a Colombian arrives the sameday they consider themselves on time. Our host was 3 hours late to pick us up at the airport. He was amazed the we were concerned.
The pace is slower, you have time to enjoy your meal, because to goes on for hours. I actually found myself getting hungry between courses!
If you’ve never been to an emerging country, you may have some culture shock. I did. The poorer part of town was basicly cardboard boxes or anything else that could enclose a space, and these people were not considered homeless. The homless sleep in the park, on the sidewalk, where ever.
As far as needing Spanish, many people do speak English. Try to learn a few key phrases, like “No entendo Espanol” pronounced NO N-TEE-END-O ESS-PAN-YOL , it means I don’t understand Spanish. You can leave off the word Espanol, its understood. “¿Tiene Ingles?” TEE-N-A ING-LACE? Do you speak English? Literially, it means do you have English. Get a Spanish/English dictionary, even though many people speak English, they like it if you at least try. Its a matter of respect. If you get a language tape now you could learn a few phrases before you leave, like please, thank you etc.
I could go on and on, but I have laundry to do. Have a great time.
One interesting thing I’ve learned about Colombia through Maria is that elite or cultured Bogatans apparently have an unique accent. If I understand correctly they speak a fairly pure Castillan Spanish. And, further, it is quite distinct even within Colombia.
For instance the double L sound is pronounced differently. The typical Mexican restaurant pronunciation of tortilla is something like torteeya. The elite Bogotan pronunciation is torteeja, with a j sound.
Not to make the OP panic, but altitude sickness symptoms like a “pounding headache” are possibly leading to a literally life-threatening condition rapidly and should not be taken lightly. Please consult a travel physician before you leave so you’ll know when it’s time to consult medical attention and/or get to a lower elevation ASAP. IANAD but I’m pretty sure that you’re not supposed to just tough out a bad headache for a couple of days. Humans have only recently been able to climb 10,000 ft in a day and sometimes we’re just not built for it. I’ve seen a woman collapse from altitude sickness on a train in the Andes and get put in a vintage 1950s ambulance that needed a push to get started; that’s enough to make anyone recommend taking the condition seriously. Fortunately most medical personnel in high altitude areas make up for in experience dealing with altitude-sick gringos what they lack in equipment.
When I’ve travelled in the mountains, I’ve decided to land near sea level and work my way up via bus, a couple of thousand of feet every couple of days. If you don’t have this option, I’d pay for the Diomox.
On the lighter side of things, it’s somewhat amusing to watch little old ladies and little kids who grew up in the atmosphere blow by when you walk uphill in high altitudes; rather humbling.
Yes! Eggs are werewolves
They sound like their tongues are asleep, or they have been buying only vowels for a long time.
8600’ is roughly the same as the cabin altitude in an airliner. How do you feel on an aeroplane? Most likely you will generally feel no different except you’ll probably get tired quicker and alcohol will have more of an effect. 8600’ is not high enough for most people to suffer from any kind of oxygen problems.
Which isn’t a “pure castillian” pronunciation. That would be something like “tor-teelyah” /tor’tiLa/, not /tortidZa/ (tor-tee-ja) or /tortiZa/ (tor-tee-zha).
According to this web site, the FAA mandates less than 8000 feet.
Yep, which is why I said “roughly”. 600’ is neither here nor there. Non pressurised aircraft are allowed to fly indefinitely at altitudes up to 10,000’.