Introducing Colombia
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Colombia’s back. 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 nightclubs? Check. Gorgeous Caribbean beaches? Check. Jungle walks and Amazon safaris? Check. Colonial cities, archaeological ruins, high-mountain trekking, whalewatching, 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.
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.
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 could well become your favorite country in South America.
Ready to go?
These tours & activities make it easy:
- Trek from Cartagena to Quito
- Discover the best of Colombia in 9 days
Last updated: Mar 23, 2012
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Colombia
Things to do
- All things to do (724)
- Activities (74)
- Entertainment (180)
- Restaurants (192)
- Shopping (53)
- Sights (218)
- Tours (7)
Make it happen
Our Top Picks For Colombia
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1 Bogotá
Cosmopolitan metropolis with splendid museums, bustling markets and scintillating nightlife
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2 Villa de Leyva
Laid-back colonial-era town preserved in its entirety, plus good hiking and biking opportunities in the surrounding hills
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3 Ciudad Perdida
Straight out of an Indiana Jones film, a three-day hike to the pre-Columbian ‘Lost City’ is Colombia’s ultimate adventure trek
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4 Providencia
Lush, volcanic island offering tranquil waters, deserted beaches, and excellent dive sites
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5 Parque Nacional Tayrona
A beautiful stretch of Colombian Caribbean coast, graced with deep bays and white sand beaches
Fast Facts about Colombia
- Number of 'u's in country's name
none
- Population
46 million
- Head of state
President Juan Manuel Santos
- He said it
All human beings have three lives: public, private, and secret - Gabriel García Márquez
- Famous for
Gabriel García Márquez, Shakira, salsa, cumbia, Betty La Fea (the original Ugly Betty), FARC, Fernando Botero, coffee, a certain white powder, three kinds of passionfruit...
- A bit of Colombian slang...
guayabo - hangover, chulo - cool, hacer la tarea - to have sex (literally, to do homework), hacerse el gringo - to feign ignorance (literally, to act like an American), tombo - police officer
Our favourite Colombia Blogs (beta)
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Mud, glorious mud – Volcán El Totumo, near Cartagena, Colombia
Blog: Viva Latin America! - 1 May 2012
As I lower myself gingerly into the molten ooze, a pair of hands pushes me down further. But rather than sink into the mud never to return, I pop straight back up again like a cork. It’s not every day you get to slop about in a mud-filled volcano, but Volcán El Totumo, a mud [...]
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Update from the Field: Group Loans, Barriers to Microfinance + How to Visit a Borrower
Blog: Kiva Stories from the Field - 9 April 2012
Compiled by Chris Paci | KF16 & KF17 | Ukraine As regular readers of Kiva Stories from the Field will know, it’s not always easy to extend microfinance services to the people who need them most. Aside from the usual barriers - poor infrastructure that makes it difficult to connect borrowers with an MFI, the difficulty [...]
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Photo of the Week: Giant Wax Palms in Salento, Colombia
Blog: Never Ending Voyage - 25 March 2012
One of our favourite destinations in Colombia was the quiet mountain village of Salento in the coffee region. We trekked for hours along muddy paths up steep trails and on our way back were rewarded with an up close look of the giant wax palms in the Valle de Cocora. It was a cloudy, rainy [...]
