Travel guide Colombia

Colombia is home to the greatest biodiversity in the world after Brazil, eight times larger. More than 10% of the world's fauna and flora in only 0.77% of the planet's surface. It is by far the first country in the world in number of species of birds, butterflies and orchids. A paradise for naturalists and biologists!

Colombia is famous for its coffee, a characteristically sweet Arabica grown in the verdant mountains between 1,200 and 1,800 m above sea level. The best beans are exported, but in recent years it has become possible to drink good coffee in Colombia, thanks to the emergence of specialized establishments with talented baristas.

A typical old bus, built from a bus chassis with a wooden frame, painted in bright colors (often in the colors of the national flag). A rural means of transportation, where men, chickens, pigs or coffee bags are piled up. In the city, the chivas that we see are usually real mobile discotheques!

Sadly, cocaine is a word that comes up all too often when Colombia is mentioned. It's hard to ignore the fact that the country is the world's leading producer, and that the white powder is at the heart of the Colombian conflict, financing criminal gangs, paramilitaries and guerrillas, not to mention the campaigns of certain political parties.

Cumbia is Colombia's most representative musical genre and dance. Born in the Caribbean region, it symbolizes crossbreeding and is the result of a delicious blend of drum rhythms inherited from African slaves, the sounds of indigenous flutes and the instruments and melodies brought by Spanish colonists. Hit the dance floor!

The title of an album by the great salsero Joe Arroyo, but above all what characterizes the vast majority of Colombians: an enterprising and combative state of mind, one that forges ahead in any circumstance, that hangs on despite the difficulties of everyday life - in short, optimism and enthusiasm in every sense of the word.

The myth ofEl Dorado, the City of Gold, is said to have originated in Spanish chronicles recounting Muisca ceremonies, in which offerings of gold and precious stones were thrown from a raft into the waters of the Guatavita lagoon, to satisfy the gods. Bogotá's Gold Museum presents the Balsa Muisca, a gold reproduction of these events.

Colombia is the world's leading emerald producer. The Chibchas mined emeralds long before the arrival of the Spanish. Today, they are used to make superb jewelry. Colombian green", with its dark, intense tones, is the benchmark. The value of the stone depends on its color, clarity, shape and weight.

Colombia is the country of fruit juices, which are served from breakfast to dinner. The enormous variety of fruits with strange names is a surprise for the eyes as well as for the taste buds. Lulo, guanabana, uchuva, feijoa, or tomato de arból, untraceable in our country, rub shoulders with maracuya, mango, guava... To consume without moderation!

This neo-tropical biotope found in the Andean highlands, at more than 3,200 meters above sea level, has the particularity of presenting a strong endemism and storing a large part of the water resources that feed the rivers of the country. Colombia has the largest and richest páramos in the world. To discover!

The Colombian population has been yearning for peace for decades, especially since the 2016 agreements. In 2022, Pietro's election as head of a left-wing coalition changed all that: he is in favor of total peace and wants new negotiations with the National Liberation Army, the most active guerrilla group on the continent.

This American war jeep, capable of withstanding the most difficult climatic and topographical conditions, arrived in Colombia in the 1950s-60s, to transport sacks of coffee and farmers. Unbreakable and repainted in bright colors, it has stood the test of time and is an integral part of the landscape and coffee culture.