Terracotta Casa and El Fossil – Villa de Leyva

Terracotta Casa & El Fossil – Villa de Leyva

We grabbed ourselves a taxi from Villa de Leyva and off we go to Terracotta Casa.
I have been waiting to see this house for years! Apparently – Colombian architect Octavio Mendoza Morales had a dream and the house was seen in his vision whilst sleeping. He woke up and designed it and it is the biggest piece of pottery in the world, Casa Terracotta.
We are the first people here at the Colombia iconic Terracotta Casa. As our taxi pulls in under a shady tree, a guy rushes out of seemingly nowhere to charge us. But, because there are no tickets, I presume he invented the price or is not really a worker here, but who knows.

Terracotta Casa

The Terracotta Casa it is worth paying to visit for regardless! There are metal sculptures and great design all through it. These fire tools are an alligator, the top is a dragon. Hands hold the torches, and on it goes.

I love the metal work on the windows and doors – and there are a lot of them.

Interior

I love the kitchen. I am not sure if someone lives here now – I doubt it because it has some great idiosyncrasies!

Inside the lights are pottery too hanging in groups in grape-like fashion and the dining area is a dragon chair.

There are fun beds, great windows and just so much to explore.

Chimineas And The Rooftop

I feel like an American tourist with our white socks. But as I have a sore foot after twisting my ankle about a week ago tripping down a curb in Guatavita, so the sneakers and socks might not look elegant, but they do the trick.

You can go up on the roof. Chimineas are all around the place. I can imagine having a party here.

All around the roof is cacti planted in various forms at Terracotta Casa.

Terracotta Casa

©Exploramum and Explorason – cactus grow in the walls of the Terracotta Casa very nicely

Photograph Your Taxi

Terracotta Casa

©Exploramum and Explorason – our taxi

All the taxis look the same in Colombia, so here is our tip for you. Take a pic of your taxi driver with the car number on the side. We often do this as in Colombia, the license plate is on the side doors of the cars. If you have left some personal items in the taxi whilst you are on your adventure, then you have the photo for the police to track him. Mind you – we only left food and jackets.

El Fossil

Next, we head to El Fossil after our wonderful time at Terracotta Casa. Kronosaurus and other fossils are here so this is a wonderful ‘school’ lesson and forms part of our world-schooling. We had researched about this the last two days. This had been part of a few ‘schooling’ subjects Explorason is keen to know more about.

dinosaur

©Exploramum and Explorason – learning about dinosaurs

We were detained here by a bloody nose with my son – something he struggles with a fair bit.

Fossils

fossils

©Exploramum and Explorason – fossils in the walls

We love the way they use the fossils in walls and floors to make patterns and to preserve history in a useful way.

We even managed to buy a couple of real fossils. I will save them for Explorason’s birthday gifts in a couple of weeks. He will be eight-years-old – where did time fly?

Seems as though we had just had his farewell party and late birthday when we departed Adelaide. So we discover we have been on the road for six months. There can be some tense times, but the learning is incredible. He misses his dog Coco who is being cared for but looks forward to cuddling her again on our return to Australia.
So proud of my son, and how flexible he is with his travel life.

Dinner on the Town Square

Terracotta Casa

©Exploramum and Explorason – Empanadas

We end up with our favorite food for dinner as we huddle around the town square with the locals. We order Empanadas – cheese, mushroom, vegetarian, chicken – there are so many to choose from. They are $700 – $800 COP each – this is about 40 cents. As we order, all the lights in the square go out which is, therefore, a is a bit freaky and very black and dark. We always have a flashlight with us so we sit and wait in the square.

Food, Glorious Food

We look in the cut-out order window of the Empanadas kitchen, and she has gas! Therefore, thankfully no delay in getting our dinner. My son loves these empanadas – it is great that his food tastes are expanding. Though we talk about Chicken Schnitzels from our favorite local pub in Adelaide as he is really missing these. Proud of him too because we never go to MacDonald’s or Burger King – as international foods are so much better!

Questions and Comments

  • Have you toured Columbia before?
  • Did you get to visit Terracotta Casa or El fossil Villa?
  • What amazed you most?
  • Do share your comments with us below.

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