¡Saludos de Colombia! / Greetings from Colombia!



As you have all figured out by now, I am useless at this blogging business. I am not the kind of person who can just type and type, posting entries on a daily business. After following my blog you might find this statement surprising. It actually takes me a long time to write these posts, but they do end up being rather long and, perhaps, verbose. We all have busy lives and often prefer "bite sized" morsels of information these days. Although, not exactly compelling reading, I hope you have enjoyed some of my posts and the photos. I know that I still have half of my time in Patagonia left to chronicle. I´ll try to add these posts in somehow.

But for now, on with Colombia!

Considering its size and wonderful diversity of flora, fauna and landscapes, Colombia is probably one of the least visited countries in South America. However, it has always been on my itinerary. Ligia, who looked after me in New York from when I was a few months old to 13 years (when I moved to the UK) has been living in Bogotá since the late 1990's. She is very much part of the family and has been keen that I visit for some time. So, I have finally made it.

Colombia does get a great deal of bad press. I am sure that the precarious security situation discourages almost all, but the most intrepid of travelers. Unfortunately, when a one thinks of Colombia one usually thinks of rebel guerrilla groups, paramilitary militias, kidnappings and drug trafficking. The large drug cartels that came to prominence in the 1980's, with their ostentatious lifestyles (the Cali Cartels and infamous Pablo Escobar come to mind), are thing of the past. That is not to say that cocaine business has been shut down. This vacuum has been filled by the terrorists groups to fund their campaigns. I hope to discover the beautiful landscapes, rich and diverse cultures and friendly people that I have heard and read about. However, the issue of security is, of course, always near the top of my thoughts.

It is hard to believe that I have been here two weeks, arriving from Buenos Aires on 7 December. I have not had the chance to explore Bogotá as extensively as I would like. Ligia is very cautious and generally does not like me going far unescorted. She lives on the north side of the city, an area which was farm land less than 100 years ago. North Bogotá feels very new, organised and ordered. Many international companies have their headquarters in this part of town. I can see Citibank's building from my window. Most embassies are also located here. The French embassy is less than a 10 minute walk, the British only 15 minutes or so. It is also where the middle and upper class Bogotanos reside.


I had done some reading up on Colombia before arriving, but I did not take not of Bogotá's altitude - about 2600m (over 8500 ft) a.s.l. A mountain range rises steeply to the west, which acts as the western limit of the city. I have never spent more than a few hours at this altitude (near Mendoza and Villarica, Chile). I think I have acclimatized, but it feel some effects of the altitude soon after touching down - mostly exhaustion and lack of energy. Something else that struck me immediately was how green Bogotá is, at least North Bogotá. There are many attractive public spaces, tree lined streets and flowers planted on the medians of the divided avenues.

After doing the little exploring that I could around the neighborhood, I was surprised by the number of people who cycle. I have seen cycle lanes in almost all part of the city and Bogotanos make good use of them. The majority of cyclists actually wear helmets as well! The city closes several of the major avenues on Sundays (8am to 2pm I think) to allow the populous to get out and have a ride. The city closed these same avenues last Thursday evening as a special once a year event. Over 4 million cyclists reportedly took advantage of this.

I have many more observations to add about Bogotá and Colombia, including my quick trip south to San Agustín earlier this weeks to explore its mysterious archaeological treasures. So do check in soon!