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22
SOUTH america: cOLOmBia
M
y first visit in 2003 coincides
with a nationwide march
for peace. It brings mothers,
grandfathers, children and
students on the streets,
all united by hope. Poignantly, I didn’t
imagine the rally would herald a brand new
chapter in Colombia’s complex history. But
it did. Today, a new era is unfolding after
more than 40 years of conflict. Tourism is
up; discord is down. Optimism is running
high, with hopes to match.
Colombia is a land where rugged
topography on a near-Equator location
has created an extraordinary diversity
of climates, vegetation, soils, and crops,
spanning an area double the size of France
and four and a half times bigger than the
UK. As the only South American nation
with Pacific and Caribbean coastlines,
Colombia boasts a wealth of shoreline
character, from the boggy horseshoe bays,
inlets and jutting marshland peninsulas of
the Pacific shoreline to the saline lagoons
of the Caribbean’s sandy beaches and
pretty outlying islands.
Like most international tourists, I
fly into Bogota and spend the few hours
struggling with the altitude in South
America’s third-highest capital city (after
La Paz and Quito) at 2,630 metres. A much-
transformed capital city, Bogota is blessed
by over 4,500 leafy public parks and Latin
America’s largest cycle path network,
amidst a rather pleasing and eclectic
mishmash of architectural styles.
MY
C
OL
OM
BI
AN
M
us
ts
t at
the
Exp
erie
nce
Col
om
bia
’s cu
ltur
e p
as
Bog
ota
Go
ld M
use
um
, wh
ile C
arta
gen
a’s
C
y
hig
h-p
rofi
le L
iter
ary
Fes
tiva
l ce
leb
rate
s lo
cal
a
l
p
s
o
cre
ativ
e ta
len
ts a
nd
inte
rna
tion
al a
rtis
ts.
Vis
it th
e V
olca
n d
e Lo
do
El t
otu
mo
to
bat
he
in w
arm
, cu
rati
ve m
ud.
It i
s op
en
daw
n ’t
il du
sk w
ith
a ne
igh
bou
ring
lag
oon
per
fec
t fo
r a
pos
t-di
p cl
ean
-up
. Do
n’t
be
sur
pris
ed
if lo
cal
villa
ger
s tu
rn u
p – a
ma
ssa
ge
is p
art
of t
he
dea
l.
try
the
gu
t-bu
rsti
ng
ban
dej
a pa
isa
rhythms
– Co
lom
bia
’s n
atio
nal
dis
h – a
me
ga-
me
al
of p
ork
rin
d, c
hor
izo,
gro
und
be
ef,
ste
ak,
rice
, re
d b
ean
s, p
lan
tain
, ar
epa
, av
oca
do
and
frie
d e
gg
was
hed
dow
n w
ith
agu
ard
ien
te
(Co
lom
bia
’s p
ote
nt a
nise
ed
liqu
or).
Few countries boast a history as compelling as Colombia: a
Dis
cov
er t
he
Car
ibb
ean
coa
st’s
bro
ad
dramatic story with a gripping plot full of sudden twists. Perhaps
mu
sica
l he
rita
ge,
fro
m C
arta
gen
a’s
cha
mp
eta
str
eet
son
gs t
o
cum
bia
ban
ds a
nd
that’s what has kept Bradt guide book writer Sarah Woods the ci
ty’s
fin
e o
rch
est
ras
and
qu
inte
ts.
returning; each visit a new instalment in her love affair with one
ng
folk
and
eat
to m
eet
cha
rmi
ng
fish
i
sit
La B
oqu
illa,
of the world’s most picturesque destinations
exq
uisi
te f
res
h se
afo
od,
vi
7km
no
rth
of C
arta
gen
a.
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