Welcome to a ride-along to Colombia South America.  Read the updated “About us” if you haven’t already.  Why Colombia?  It came down to ease of getting here, the cost to visit, and the climate.  Yes, it has a nasty reputation for drug trafficking and violent rebels, but that is mostly in their past.  The State Department suggests some caution when visiting, but that truly only applies to some of the fringe areas of the country where the law hasn’t made inroads, and leftover violence and trafficking still occurs on a much smaller scale.   Those places aren’t on our to-visit list.  We’ve been in the big city 2 days now, wandering amongst some big crowds, and dark streets and haven’t felt any apprehension.  But we are taking safety precautions one would take in any large city. 

We’re using our usual planning method – figure it out as you go.  We’ll fly in and out of Bogota, and we’ve booked our first 10 days lodging  (Airbnb) – 5 days each in two different Bogota locations.  Bogota is a big city. With a pop. over 8 million, it lies just above the equator at an altitude of 8660′.  (That explains my headaches! Laura) Two different lodging locations will let us do more exploring.  We don’t plan to rent a car, and especially not in the city.  More on city drivers later!