It’s easy to be dissuaded by Colombia’s reputation as a violent and dangerous country, but you will miss out on one of the most beautiful and undiscovered places in the world. This South American gem gets overlooked by all but the most intrepid travellers, but that need not be the case. Colombia is blessed with a magnificent diversity of landscape, from clean tropical beaches and lush rainforests to snow-capped Andean mountain peaks and fertile coffee plantations. Then there’s the timeless World Heritage city of Cartagena and the vibrant capital Bogota.
Most visitors arrive by plane to Bogota, the busy capital of Colombia. This fascinating colonial city is well worth some exploration of its own. It has almost all of the country’s cultural institutions, some interesting nightlife and shopping and many of the finest restaurants. But no trip to Colombia is complete without a visit to Cartagena, the wonderful walled port city on the Caribbean. The quaint pastel-coloured buildings, imposing forts, cathedrals and Spanish colonial architecture create an atmosphere which is unequalled anywhere in Latin America. As if that weren’t enough, Cartagena has some of the loveliest beaches in the country and a gorgeous deep-water bay.
Although Spanish is the main language in Colombia, English is spoken by many people engaged in the tourism industry such as hotel clerks, travel agents and tour guides. However, if you are out in the more remote parts of the country, you will have to rely on your Spanish skills.
Accommodation options in Colombia range from expensive first-class hotels in Bogota and Cartagena to cheap family-run hotels. Colombia has a burgeoning tourist industry, which has been steadily growing and improving over the recent years as the government has made excellent progress on the issue of safety. This is a perfect time to visit Colombia. Things are as safe as they’ve been in decades and most of the amazing attractions are still relatively un-crowded. In fact, one of the great things about travelling in Colombia is that you won’t see many tourists.
Although not as cheap as Peru or Bolivia, your money will go a long way in Colombia. The food is very cheap, even for a nice meal in a Bogota restaurant. Lodging prices are reasonable and public transportation costs are practically nothing. Colombians really do go out of their way to make visitors feel welcome, so you should have no trouble getting around and having a wonderful experience while you explore this amazingly diverse and untapped country.
Colombia’s location along the equator means that it doesn’t experience any real seasonal change. Although it is often perceived as a hot and humid tropical environment, its climate actually changes a great deal depending on the altitude. Along the Caribbean coast, to the north of the country, the yearly temperatures average a balmy 28°C, but head south to Bogota perched up in the Andes and you’ll find a chilly and overcast average of 12°C.
Despite its lack of obvious seasonal change, there are distinct weather patterns that emerge at certain times of the year. Rainfall is rarely a problem in Colombia as a whole, but during the winter months of October to November and April to June most of the rainfall and cooler temperatures occur. The dry summer season runs from December to March in the mountainous regions and from mid-December to April and July to September in the lower coastal areas.
Altitude is the biggest factor in temperature variation throughout Colombia. The highlands can be warm in the day but very cold at night. Down in the lowlands, the temperatures stay fairly hot at all times. There’s really no bad time to visit Colombia, it just depends on where you plan to go.
Pre-Colombian cultures have lived in this region for thousands of years and achieved high levels of civilisation. Alonso de Ojeda was the first European to land on the Guajira Peninsula in 1499. The wealth of the local Indians sparked the legend of El Dorado, bringing wave upon wave of fortune seekers to the area. Early Indian tolerance quickly disintegrated as the Spanish enslaved them and took their lands. By 1533, when Cartagena was founded, the Spanish controlled most of modern-day Colombia.
Along with slavery, the Spanish economic and cultural oppression eventually led to rebellion by the locals in the late 18th century. The first stirrings of nationalism appeared, but it wasn’t until the Venezuelan liberator Simon Bolivar arrived in 1819 that independence was achieved. The new nation divided into two competing political camps: the centralist Conservatives and the federalist Liberals. During the 19th century, Colombia endured over 50 insurrections and eight civil wars, culminating in the devastating War of a Thousand Days in 1899.
A period of peace followed but was broken again in 1948 as the two political groups engaged in La Violencia, the most violent of all of its civil wars. Despite the Conservative victory, a new threat soon arose as paramilitary death squads brutally put down any group who attempted to reign in the powerful drug cartels of Cali and Medellin. By 1990, the violence was so bad that the country was virtually brought to a standstill.
The recent political evolution has seen the moderate independent Alvaro Uribe put into the presidency by a massive majority of the voters. As a determined adversary of all guerrilla groups, he had survived 15 assassination attempts before he even took office. But his efforts have been fruitful, as both left wing guerrillas and right wing paramilitaries have begun to show an interest in peaceful politics. Columbia’s crime rates have fallen dramatically in recent years, helping to open up this beautiful country to much-needed tourism revenue.
