After decades of civil conflict, Colombia is now safe to visit and travelers
are discovering what they’ve been missing. The diversity of the country
may astonish you. Modern cities with skyscrapers and discos? Check.
Gorgeous Caribbean beaches? Check. Jungle walks and Amazon safaris?
Check. Colonial cities, archaeological ruins, high-mountain trekking, whale-watching,
coffee plantations, scuba diving, surfing, the list goes on.
No wonder the ‘magic realism’ style of Colombian author Gabriel García
Márquez emerged from here – there is a dreamlike quality to Colombia. Here
at the equator, with the sun forever overhead, the fecund earth beneath your
feet, heart-stopping vistas in every direction and the warmth of the locals
putting you at ease – you may find it difficult to leave.
Although international news reports seldom show it, Colombia is one
of the most well-developed countries in Latin America. Universities here
produce legions of finely educated, ambitious professionals and the country
boasts a reliable legal system with low levels of corruption. World-class health
care and hospitals round out its enviable social infrastructure. Its optimistic
middle class believes hard work will be rewarded – and it is.
Colombian culture, like the country’s weather, varies by altitude. The essence of Colombia resides in the mountains in the alpine cities of Bogotá, Medellín and Cali, and the smaller cities of the Zona Cafetera. This is the industrial heartland of the country. Geographical isolation has kept the accent relatively unaffected by outside influence; Spanish here is precise and easy to understand. The infrastructure in the mountain region is good, the water drinkable, the roads well maintained. In the heat of the Caribbean coast, life is slower, and the culture more laid-back. The accent is the unhurried drawl of the Caribbean basin, and the infrastructure, unfortunately, is still in need of some attention.
Colombia’s role in the drug trade continues to play out in the background.
The improved security situation is due in large part to funding from
Washington. This has made little dent in the cocaine business, however,
which continues to operate in the deep jungle and the remote mountains.
The great richness of Colombia’s tropical soil is both its blessing and its
curse – huge varieties of tropical fruit grow here, and Colombia is a major
agricultural exporter. It is also the world’s largest producer of cocaine, and
this is unlikely to change anytime soon.
‘Plan Colombia’ has successfully driven the violence from the cities and
the main tourist routes, and brought peace to most of Colombia. While
President Álvaro Uribe deserves great credit for this (Colombians call him
their first saint), many are deeply worried by the election of US President
Barack Obama. Without continued US foreign aid, the widespread fear is
that the country will fall back into chaos.
In darker days people used to say, ‘if only it weren’t for the violence and drugs, Colombia would be paradise.’ Well the drugs may still be here but the violence is gone, at least for now, and it is, indeed, paradise. It is an easy country to fall in love with, and many travelers do. It may well become your favorite country in South America.
