Columbia (Part 2)

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My flight arrives into Bogota arrives during the daytime so I'm allowed a birds eye view of the city. First impressions are of a hilly and green agricultural city; the climate certainly testifies to this where it rains almost every day and the average year round temperature is around 16 degrees celcius. The view of the city (of some 7 million people) is much alike any other city which is confirmed at the ground; densely populated, congested roads, high rise, dereliction, homelessness etc. However, the extent of these problems is no where near as I had imagined them. Any uninformed visitor to the capital of Colombia might have visions of a very dangerous and inhospitable place. However, my experience is to the contrary. Great advances have been made over the past few years to clean up Bogota, particularly improved security and infrastructure projects which have helped bring a new face to the once beleaguered metropolis.

Furthermore, the city is greener than I had anticipated - many of its roadways contain manicured greenery and it has a huge well maintained park dedicated, as always, to Simon Bolivar. Bogota also closes many of its prime roadways on Sundays and public holidays to vehicles, making way for a huge number of cyclists, joggers and skaters. It is a well run operation with numerous stewards (most likely the young from the army doing their service) and kiosks along the way. Its a sight which many European cities will be envious of and would do well to replicate.

It also feels a very safe place - perhaps one of the safest Ive visited so far in South America. There seems a friendly and social undertone to the city, perhaps helped by the huge student populations. One reason for the improved security is police presence; they are everywhere, normally attached to either a sniffer dog or a rottweiler grinning from behind its leather nozzle. It is also a vastly developing city; residential high rises are springing up all over the city further burgeoning its already saturated transport system (I seem to spend half of my time in Bogota stuck in traffic) and shopping malls are also being added to the innumerable amount which already exist (Bogota apparently has the two biggest malls in South America). All this points to an improving economy which is apparently growing at nearly 5%!p(MISSING)er annum. However, as was reported by CNN on the student riots taking place whilst I was in town, the money isn't trickling down to the poorest; Columbia remains the only growing country in South America where it's poorest remain unbenefited from the economic growth.

Perhaps the reasons behind this are a political one at the top level. I read in an English language newspaper that the Mayor is being blamed for a large amount of money which dissapeared from the Transmilenio fund. Whilst obviously aggravated, the locals appear to accept this as just another issue of those at the top creaming off the country's finances. However, the issue goes beyond just finances. I am shocked to discover a presentation in one of Bogota's libraries identifying massacres carried out by the Government's paramilitaries. As the photograph on facebook testifies, there are allegedly 47 municipalities where a massacre (NB a massacre is deemed to be 10 or more deaths) was committed between 1995 and 2005. 10 of those municipalities have suffered between 5 and 9 massacres, 2 have suffered between 10 and 13 massacres and 2 have suffered more than 14 massacres! Unbelievable. I am told that the majority of the country's major political roles are held by those in the army, which many in Colombia attribute to these massacres. It seems incredible how such atrocities are freely publicised in one of Bogota's public libraries but nothing seems to be done about it.

My entire stay in Bogota is spent with Karen and her parents - the former being a friend I had met whilst traveling by boat along the Amazon between Tabatinga and Manaus. They really are incredibly kind, generous and friendly people who have made me feel every part of their family. This also extends to Karen's friends with whom I have shared some memorable experiences. This includes attending a wedding at Bogota's Cathedral plus the post wedding party (despite me never meeting the groom and meeting the bride only once!), free entry through one of Karen's friends to one of Bogotas 'getaways' (being a huge water/zoo/fun/country park), a Halloween party (where I bravely went as a Scotsman and proved that only bare skin lie beneath the kilt!), plus many meals, drinks and other social events including sitting in at university seminars! My time also includes visits to the following places.

Museo del Oro - arguably one of the most important gold museums in the world, containing some 34,000 gold pieces from all the major pre-Hispanic cultures in Colombia. The highlights are those at the end of the museum, particularly a strikingly realistic gold indigenous head.

Donacion Botero - a museum principally containing the works of the Medellin artist Fernando Botero, famous for his inflated figures (e.g. think the cartoon 'pigeon street' for those of my age and English!) His work is quite unique and even dares to caricature the Mona Lisa. The wider collection is just as impressive including works by Picasso, Miro, Dali, Renoir and Monet. It's a must for those visiting Bogota.

Museo Historico Policia - an interesting place containing many relics of Colombia's violent history (read: lots of guns!) Two highlights of the Museo is the view of Bogota from the roof and the basement focusing on the 499 day hunt for the late Pablo Escobar (head of Colombia's most infamous drug cartel).

Quinta de Bolivar - an old country house that was donated to Simon Bolivar for his services. It contains many relics from the era of Bolivar and includes a deceptively large garden in what is now the edge of Bogota's built up area at the foot of Montserrat.

Cerro de Montserrate - this is a mountain which overlooks the city with a church at its peak. It is accessed via a 45 degree pulley train and then descended by cable car. The view of Bogota are really impressive although you need to time your visit well to avoid the Bogota's notorious weather. Failing this, you can also gain a great view of the city from the Colpatria tower; this being Bogota's tallest building for the time being (but with even greater buildings being planned).

Maloka - a science and technology centre which I had read could be the continents best. Our visit coincides with refurbishment works which reduces the scope of the exhibitions but is an interesting place even though it seems to be aimed at children.

Salt Cathedral, Zipaquira - the Cathedral was born from an old salt mine, dug straight into the mountain outside the town. The salt contains no iodine and therefore cannot be consumed. Despite this, I am advised by the guide that the salt has over 16,000 uses, mainly industrial and continues to be mined to this day. The Cathedral is accessed by long tunnels intermittent with various religious carvings creating quite an eerie atmosphere. The Cathedral was opened to the public in 1995 and is 75m long, 18m high and can accommodate 8400 people. As you can imagine, the volume of the space is impressive. However, the guide is not shy in emphasizing that the place is a mine by night and a tourist attraction by day - this is no more evident by the souvenir shops, auditorium and other tourist paraphernalia.

Villa de Leyva - this is an impressive colonial town preserved almost in its entirety with virtually no modern architecture in sight. Its an impressive place but, as always, suffers under the influx of tourists which has brought the usual hotels, souvenir shops, jewelery stores etc. If you can put these distractions to one side, it's definitely worth a visit as part of any trip to Bogota.

Boyaca Bridge - The Battle of Boyaca is often regarded as the point at which independence was truly won (not just Colombia but also Bolivia, Ecuador, Venezuela, Peru and Panama. It was a battle lead by Simon Bolivar (widely regarded as the leader of South America's fight for independance). However, many are unaware how important the British Legion was to Bolivar´s army. After the Battle of Boyaca on August 7, 1819, he credited the British Legion with the victory, saying "those soldier-liberators are the men who deserve these laurels", after he had been offered laurels after the victory. I am therefore pleased to observe a dedication to the British Legion at the Boyaca Bridge which is enveloped by some impressively landscaped areas.

After Bogota, I catch a night bus to Medellin. Medellin was once infamous for the being the centre of Colombia's drug trade; its most notorious citizen being Pablo Escobar. However, what was once a no go area is now a city teeming with life. This is particularly evident around the area of my hostel in Zona Rosa, being quite an upmarket cafe-bar culture society. Whilst Medellin was intended as a stop over between Bogota and Panama, further reading and the advice of Colombian friends leads to visits of three places.

The first is the Museo de Antioquia which features a collection of pre-Hispanic, colonial, independence and modern art collections. It also includes a large and impressive collection of Fernando Botero's work (he originates from Medellin), including numerous large bronze statues in the square which fronts the museum. Given that his work is famed for inflated figures it makes for quite a surreal sight. Next on the agenda was riding the cable car - this is not a normal cable car which you might associate with tourists or ski resorts for example. The cable car system is heavily used by the public as part of the metro system. Medellin sits within valleys and is up one of the densely populated gradients that the cable car ascends gliding over peoples houses, football pitches, childrens play areas etc. This is again another surreal sight but a great achievement as it has allowed reclamation of roads for public amenity space. Just imagine sitting in your back garden and watching cable cars slide over your house at no more than 10 metres in some places! We then head to Parque Explora - this is a wonderful place of interactive science and technology for both children and adults and is a must for those in Medellin. It includes an impressive aquarium and also allows the experience of hurricane wind conditions and the feeling of an earthquake at 6 on the Richter scale. We had planned a visit to the Botanical Gardens the same day but the rains put an end to that. The flood channels in Medellin have topped their concrete sides but has not suffered any of the flooding which the remainder of the country has suffered (the president states that over one million people have been affected). This is in stark contracts to my time in Santa Marta on the Caribbean coast which claimed to have a shortage of water. Lets hope that a more even distribution of rain follows soon.

The rains also led to problems in accessing the north west of Columbia. I had intended to travel by overnight bus to Turbo near the Panama border but the coaches were being diverted further north which required 4 hour stays during the night at a random bus station - no thanks. So, I opt for a flight but even this has its problems as Medellin airport was closed owing to the rains and the Aires website (the only airline that flies to the north west) had crashed. I end up catching a flight as far north west as possible - this being Acandi. When approaching Acandi I had thought we were landing in a field; such is the remoteness of the place. It is basically a village and not a very pleasant one at that. The terminal is nothing more than a concrete room and horse and carts awaits the days cargo to be transported into the village! There are no taxis so I hop on the back of somebody's motorbike who takes me to where the boats depart for Capurgana, further north west along the coast (i.e. there are no roads). True to South America, I wait for 2.5 hours despite being told repeatedly that the boat leaves in 20 minutes. The journey itself only lasts around 20 minutes but I pray for the boat to stop after only 5 minutes. Despite the sea being choppy the driver doesn't hold back and pursues head on into the waves with both engines at full tilt. The boat is a bit of wreck, without any life jackets, and makes for an uncomfortable journey; Ive seen stock car racers treat their vehicles with less brutality! However, I arrive into Capurgana in one one piece - my ass in many more - and note that another boat is leaving immediately for the nearby village of Sapzurro, so I hop in. Sapzurro has been recommended by my Colombian friends as being the place to go and I can see why - it's a safe and pleasant coastal village which is yet to succumb to the brashness of tourism which might threaten this area as safety improves.

The village lies close to the Panama border which allows for walk to the local Panamanian village of La Miel. This is even less developed than Sapzurro and also benefits from a beautiful beach. So, after a brisk walk over the steep hill and being signed in at the army post, I spend a tranquil afternoon relaxing on the beach with only coconuts being available to drink, bliss. Back in Sapzurro a boat captain visits our cabana and says he will be going to Panama in a couple of days so I sign up for the trip; its much cheaper than the charter boats from Cartegena and includes a much shorter boat journey whilst still allowing nights on the San Blas islands. However, I then realise that I haven't had my passport stamped out by the Colombian authorities. So, the following morning I ask around for boats heading to Capurgana (i.e. the location of the Colombian passport officials) but realise that there are none and the passport office closes at midday. So, I am left with my only option and decide to hike the journey through the rainforest. I had not checked whether it was safe to do so and realise after the event that my Oct. 2010 guide advises of the presence of Colombian guerillas, paramilitaries, smugglers and bandits in the wider area. It also advises against the Caribbean crossing between Colombia and Panama altogether. Oh well, the reality on the ground is much different to that identified in my guide and I come across no problems at all. The return journey to Capurgana is much better - being with a well off Colombian family in their private boat! It's a quiet night on my return to the cabana as the boat leaves early the next morning for the San Blas islands in Panama. Read my next blog for more.

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