Colombia

Bogotá

For me this is a special trip. I’ve heard the name Bogotá since I was a little kid, because my father was born there in 1940. I remember it always sounded magical. Bogotá. And certainly a place so far away and exotic that surely I would never visit it. But I’m here.

When you get older many things that seemed magical turn out not be like that at all. This can definitely be said about Colombia. And that is what we, in the rest of the world, mostly hear about this place.
There are two big problems in Colombia: politics, more specifically the war with FARC, and cocaine. These two massive problems have been tearing this breathtaking country apart for decades now with an unbelievable death toll as a sad result.
Lately, it seems, things have been improving somewhat. The government has cracked down hard on FARC and is trying to immobilize the paramilitary groups that were all around. Also the so called “War on Drugs”, massively backed by the US, seems to lead to some progress. But there is still a long way to go.

In Bogotá you don’t really notice that much of all this. Apart from a rather high military presence in the streets it feels like quite a relaxed town, wedged between mountains and with a comfortable climate and lovely people. I’ve made many friends in Colombia.

I also tried to find the house where my father was born, 71 years ago. Without a specific address but with a list of somewhat vague memories from a now 95 year old neighbor I started looking for it. It took me two days and the help of a Dutch expat but I found it! A touching moment to be in the same place where he drew his first breaths. So somehow I feel connected to this volatile, but beautiful country.