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Background: Colombia was one of the three countries that emerged from the collapse of Gran Colombia in 1830 (the others are Ecuador and Venezuela). A 40-year insurgent campaign to overthrow the Colombian Government escalated during the 1990s, undergirded in part by funds from the drug trade. Although the violence is deadly and large swaths of the countryside are under guerrilla influence, the movement lacks the military strength or popular support necessary to overthrow the government. An anti-insurgent army of paramilitaries has grown to several thousand strong in recent years, challenging the insurgents for control of territory and the drug trade, and also the government's ability to exert its dominion over rural areas. While Bogota steps up efforts to reassert government control throughout the country, neighboring countries worry about the violence spilling over their borders.

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By zerotonine
July 1st 2008

bogota - schlicht eine wunderbare stadt

South America » Colombia » Bogota

plaza

wie immer wenn ich einen neuen eintrag hier vermerke, beginne ich mit der reisequalitaet die mich zu diesem ort gebracht hat.. diesmal was ganz lustiges.. gemaess dem ollen buch l.p. (es verdient es schlichtweg nicht, ausgeschrieben zu werden) muesste der trip von taganga nach bogota etwa 16 stunden einnehmene.. jedoch weit gefehlt.. auf grund kurioser umstaende.. (baustellen) ging es dann halt 26 stunden.. schon erwaehnt das die klima anlage nicht funktioniert hat.. :-) naja, alle waren ein wenig gestresst in diesem bus.. so das der auch voellig durchgezechte busfahrer, hin und wieder verga [View Full Entry]

By Pendo does South America
June 28th 2008

Co-LOCO-mbia

South America » Colombia » Bogota

The red headed Colombian
Getting into the Colombian spirit

Hola from Colombia! Its been a while between updates and its all been happening so here it goes..... After wrapping up our joint adventure in South America with a few days in Quito, Tim and I made the big journey to Ye Olde England to catch up with a whole bunch of family and friends, as well as enjoy a bit of civilisation. Its the small things that are exciting, like visiting a supermarket that has absolutely everything you could ever want in it, putting your toilet paper in the toilet rather than in the bin next to the toilet, and [View Full Entry]

By SquirrelandKittykat
June 26th 2008

playa blanca

South America » Colombia » Bogota

playa blanca

The Carribean sea..blue warm and beautiful...we stayed for one night in an ancient tent, on a beautiful beach. It started to rain about midnight but not enough to drown us. Gavin scampered up a very tall coconut palm and stole a couple for tea when no one was about :> it was very hot there and we both got rather burnt badly, but swimming in the warm turquoise water was joyous. After a slow boat back to Cartagena, (a good sleep, fan brrring wildly, and 10 cold showers) the next day we took a mini bus to a 25 meter high [View Full Entry]

By Andra s play
June 18th 2008

El Embrujo, Tinto Cardemomo, and Ay Mami

South America » Colombia » Bogota

Jose and Alejandra

Greetings! Thank you so much to those of you who have written messages in response to my last entry, they were very funny, and it was great to hear from some of you! Keeping with the style of the first entry, there is a story to go along with each word/phrase in the title of this entry. Thus, we commence. El Embrujo means something along the lines of The Enchantment in English and was the name of a property that my friend and I visited. This story will be quite long, but I think is absolutely wonderful, I hope you enjoy. [View Full Entry]

By Bellini
June 17th 2008

A Layover in Bogota

South America » Colombia » Bogota

Me from Colombia University...

After a washout in Miami (but a stellar tour of the city -- thanks Zac), I left the states Thursday morning and arrived in Bogota at around 10AM. Since my flight for Quito wasn´t scheduled to leave until 4:30, after some research and some courage-building (note: some have complained about this comment, but I don´t think I´m going out on a limb to say that the world´s perception of Colombia is that it is dangerous. Perceptions are often wrong (as they are in this case), but check out this website for stats: http://www.nationmaster.com/red/graph/cri_mur_percap-crime-murders-per-capita&int=-1. [View Full Entry]

By Ruth from Wales
June 13th 2008

A surprisingly gentle introduction to Colombia: Ipiales, Pasto & Bogotá

South America » Colombia » Bogota

Santuario de las Lajas

When we first came to South America back in September of last year Colombia was not even on our list of countries to visit. Why would anyone visit a place known for terrorist guerrillas, kidnappings and drug trafficking? But, the more people we met during our travels the more we heard that Colombia is seriously mis-represented by the rest of the world and that it is actually a country worth getting to know. So, it got added to the list... From Ecuador to Colombia The first decision we had to make was whether to fly into Colombia or to cross by [View Full Entry]

By El Scook Y Natalia
June 13th 2008

Pass the Soap

South America » Colombia » Bogota

International gringo shipping magnate Mr Bean
Si said he overheard someone saying 'ok, we need the gringo now'...and check out that pink tie!

Thursday 12th of June. In the central atrium of the Bogotá country club a luxury pool snakes it´s way under bridges, in and out of the geodesic dome. A young english wife sits anxiously in a deck chair, awaiting the return of her high flying husband, the inscrutable Mr Bean (not that one). Inside the conference facility, Señor Bean is engaged in a lengthy and somewhat heated discussion, pertaining to a large shipment. His business needs this deal, so much is obvious from the sums involved... and yet he appears dispassionate and stoic in his ill fitting suit. He barely nods [View Full Entry]

In the Yumi Yumi sandwich bar with Leah and Iain

By OlaS
June 10th 2008

Bogota

South America » Colombia » Bogota

Plaza de Bolivar

txt later [View Full Entry]

By Raw E
May 20th 2008

Colombia - a Sweet Ending to my Travels

South America » Colombia » Bogota

I decided to spend my first day in Medellin going to Guatape and La Piedra -a high rock (they claim it is a meteorite) that you climb stairs to the top of, which has some good views. It isn't cheap to get there and it takes the whole day, but the pictures from the top that were showed to me convinced me that it's worth it, and I even had who to go with - a couple (alemano y colombiana...) from my hostel. At the morning I had to go and change travel checks, because I was running out of cash, [View Full Entry]

By longshorty
May 18th 2008

Treffen mit Heida

South America » Colombia » Bogota

Flug nach Bogota

Hallo zusammen! Gestern bin ich um 12.30 h in Bogota angekommen. Mit etwas Verspaetung ist auch Heida um 15.15 h in der Hauptstadt Kolumbiens gelandet und wir konnten uns endlich in die Arme nehmen!Der Taxidienst des Hotels klappte wie am Schnuerchen und so konnten wir bald unser kleines Zimmer mit dem ultrakurzen Bett im Herzen der Altstadt von Bogota in Bezug nehmen. Am Abend schlenderten wir durch die lebhafte Altstadt. Anders als in den meisten Staedten Suedamerikas werden hier die Bordsteine bei Einbruch der Dunkelheit nicht hochgezogen und es wimmelt in den Strassen von Leuten jedes Coul [View Full Entry]

Travel Blog » South America » Colombia » Bogota