Colombia: South America's Remarkable Capital Of Culture And Adventure

Our boat, a little lost, advances along the Guaviare River between rocks covered in jungle. We are located in the southeastern part of Colombia.

"It's a bit weird," says our guide José. In fact, it is not his real name, for reasons that will become clear.

“Today our ship is full of New Zealand, but not too long ago this same ship was loaded with cocaine (the source of the cocaine). To be honest, in that direction, the boat was full of bags of US dollars that came to us and were later replaced by bags of coke that went to the other side. "I did it all."

How things are changing, I thought as we walked along the sandy riverbank to meet more locals. Just 10 years ago, Colombia was on the "backward" list for most travelers. Colombia was surrounded by "narcoterrorism" so that travelers who wanted to explore the northern region of South America would go to Venezuela if they dared to visit it. And then, as happens on trips, Venezuela was “outside” and Colombia “inside”.

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Now as I look back on that sweaty, sweaty day in the jungle in March 2020, I realize that period of calm and hope for the future that many Colombians shared with us is over again, and not just because of the devastation. of Covid. . -19, but for now, political unrest is destabilizing the country again.

So while it is harder than ever to travel to Colombia, let me tell you why, the more time passes, the more I appreciate the richness it offers.

We take a boat ride down the Guaviare River to visit a magnificent variety of cave paintings that were found just after the coca trade ended. Known by archaeologists as one of the most important artifacts in the world, reaching these paintings involves an arduous climb through the jungle, but the reward is a panorama of blood-red paintings with geometric and animal patterns. The drawings, which are still being examined by experts, may be up to 12,500 years old.

Our visit included a barbecue lunch soaked in local beer, all part of this small town's efforts to create a future away from the drug trade.

The next day, from our base in San José del Guaviare, we return to the river, this time by speedboat for an increasingly difficult descent, passing bright red ibises and Orinoco geese.

After landing and walking down a barely visible path, we came to a place where a local farmer had set up a small restaurant and backpacker accommodation, another small tourist business. This time, the attraction was not the rock art, but a tight swarm of rare river dolphins from the Amazon basin, perching in the lake near the old woman.

We boarded another boat, put on our life jackets, and dove into the warm, choppy water. Two dolphins approached, one pinched my legs: its skin was smooth as velvet.

Colombia is a large country, the 25th largest in the world, and most of the road network is winding, so domestic flights are sometimes unavoidable. Even places like the San Agustín Archaeological Park require a grueling four-hour drive from the nearest airport.

San Agustín is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and contains the largest collection of religious monuments and megalithic structures in Latin America and possibly the largest necropolis in the world. They were created by the population of the northern Andes between the 1st and 8th centuries AD

Did I hear about it? It is unlikely that anyone has it, so with a local expert. We wander almost alone through the jungle trails of the country.

The statues themselves, which include human figures along with descriptions of a jaguar and crocodile, were apparently carved yesterday. But the most striking sight was the Fuentes de Lavapatas: a series of man-made ponds and small canals carved into a rocky outcrop with numerous images of animals and people. No one is sure of the purpose of this painstaking and ingenious work: the theories involve religious ceremonies and healing rites.

The lack of vehicles and the tranquility of San Agustín may not be a stark contrast to the Colombian capital, Bogotá. By 2020, facing another wave of violence and political turmoil, Bogotá had seriously improved its behavior: in the 1990s, it was considered one of the most dangerous cities in the world.

But at the beginning of 2020, the biggest problem facing a passenger in Bogotá was not crime, but traffic. Bogotá is often given the dubious honor of being the most overcrowded city in the world. It is estimated that the average Bogotá motorist loses about 190 hours of his life each year by staying in traffic.

We tried to beat the traffic by leaving the city for historic Villa del Leyva well before dawn but failed, the only consolation being that it wasn't an everyday occurrence for us. Locals fell asleep on the buses; or sit behind the wheel, drink coffee or put on makeup, sacrificing hours in an irreparable traffic jam.

Finally we arrive at the 16th century Villa del Leyva, one of the best preserved Spanish colonial cities in South America. Its heart is the Plaza Mayor, a large square surrounded by two-storey whitewashed houses with terracotta roofs. We walked through the monasteries, whose walls were a waterfall of bougainvillea, and passed through the wonderful tropical waters of Colombia.

Bogotá, if you can survive the traffic, has the incredible Gold Museum, one of the most important collections of para-colonial gold treasures in the world, and the historic and mostly pedestrian zone of La Candelaria. There was noise from people, flower shops and greengrocers, but it was a bit annoying to find armed policemen in armor near the main square. “I would like to take a picture of myself, but I don't think I will,” said a fellow traveler.

That night, as I walked the few blocks between the restaurant and our hotel, I thought of robot cars and wondered if Columbia was still in trouble. It seemed inappropriate to walk through a city that was synonymous with gun violence with only a dozen sandwiches.

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The best places to visit in Colombia, South America