Colombia a point of view Colombia has a bad P. R. , though to be truthful, most American and EU towns have their own Problems, but we don't stop visiting them. I reckon clever travel folks are wising up to the plain fact Colombia is a large pretty country with dazzling natural resources. I have been looking into some background Colombia is in north west South America and is the 4th biggest South American country and is the only one with both a Pacific and Caribbean shore. Colombia also has 1 or 2 island territorial possessions in both the Caribbean and Pacific. Colombia has borders with 5 South American states : Panama, Venezuela, Brazil, Peru and Ecuador. President Uribe of Colombia, elected with a landslide in 2006 seems to have made major inroads into the states's Problems, though latest major moves to handle FARC rebels responsible for much of the difficulty with substances for example. Has led on to issues between Colombia and one of 2 of its neighbors. In Nov 2007 the Colombian military captured a bunch of FARC rebels carrying with them details of a number of hostages, some international and some held for over 10 years. A disagreement arose between President Uribe of Colombia and President Chavez of Venezuela over the reaction to the rebels demands which led to tension between the nations, though some hostages were freed giving kudos to Chavez. Later in March 2008 Colombian forces crossed the border into Ecuador and killed the FARC leader and 23 rebels, but Venezuela and Ecuador broke off diplomatic relations ( later joined by Nicaragua ) thanks to the border misdemeanour ( though they revealed this did not mean they supported the rebels, one can not help wondering ). The argument between the neighbor states was resolved reasonably quickly and further hostages were released in 2008 and in Feb 2009. All this activity appears to have had a positive and beneficial effect on Colombian development and chances for tourism to this beautiful country. Why not travel to Columbia? Here is superb website to look for
Hotels Columbia Colombia is near the equator and yet the altitude in most of the country moderates the heat. The Colombian terrain consists of a couple of different areas with 3 parallel cordilleras of the Andes mountain range dominating the country. The regions consist of : the large Andean area with the Occidental, Central and Oriental Cordilleras with a north-south alignment ; a Caribbean coastal plain ; the Pacific lowlands between the eastern Cordillera and the Pacific, and the Amazon area extending to the east and south from the Andes in the shape of the Llanos ( fields ) and the Amazon jungle. The Cordillera Oriental is composed of short non-continuous ridges, with many of them running in parallel, particularly so from Bogota northward. It rises well above the snowline, and has several high basins, 3 of which look like intermont plateaus, and the capital of Bogota is seated in one of these basins sloping 8000-9000ft high giving the basin a cool climate notwithstanding being so close to the equator. The Cordillera Central is the highest and most impressive on the Colombian Andean ranges, with a considerable number of active volcanoes. Though the range has 1 or 2 populated valleys, on the whole this area is sparsely populated. The Cordillera Occidental is lower and narrower and descends into the Caribbean coastal plain, and like the Central, has only tiny valleys where most of the people lives. The river valley of the Cauca has two of Colombia's largest settlements Medellin and Cali. The lowlands along the Caribbean coast in the north, around the mouth of the brook Magdalena, are one of the most populated areas in Colombia, and have the beach resorts and coastal cities of Cartagena, Barranquilla and Santa Marta. The in depth lowlands to the east covering almost two thirds of the country consist of two drainage basins the Orinoco to the north with the Llanos and Amazon to the south with the Selvas, the Amazon jungle and rainforest. Most of the populatrion live only along the riversides. The rivers, navigable up to the base of the Andes provide pretty much all the access to these lowlands. Colombian tourism is yet in its infancy but there are major resources for the visitor the beaches of the Caribbean coast, Colonial Bogota, the phoenix of Medellin, and the fledgling eco-tourism of bird watching tours ( forgive the joke ) and possibilities for whale watching.