I traveled solo to Colombia’s Caribbean. Here is the story of my four days in San Andres “Buenos días, where is the bus stop? I want to take the bus to get to San Luis” I ask an old man sitting on a plastic chair outside the airport. The bus stops close to the almond…
Category: Colombia
What to do in Cali. The world’s capital of Salsa.
Cali is the world capital of Salsa – that was mostly what I knew when I arrived in cali (Valle del Cauca). Originally, Cali wasn’t on my travel list. I ended up there for a series of coincidences. Just like when I travelled to the Eje Cafetero and I met splendid people from (or who…
I hated my first salsa class. But my second one…
Originally, today’s post was going to be about something different. I wanted to share with you three personal stories. But then I went to salsa class and I decided to tell you this story instead. Remember in another post I told you that in 2017, during the first semester of my Masters’ in the Netherlands…
Into the Amazon: San José del Guaviare
When I opened my eyes at 7am, we had already crossed the border with Meta Department. We were getting closer and closer to José del Guaviare. I was exhausted after a long, sleepless night on a mini van from Bogota. Yet, I was ready for my adventure into the Amazon, in San José del Guaviare….
A weekend in San Gil, Santander.
Where I learnt to let go When I travel, I normally pick some cultural destinations. Better if somewhere sunny and warm, to flee Bogota’s moody and cold weather. This time, however, I decided to embark on a different journey. One involving adrenaline, and nature. I wanted to feel small, ppwerless, and to let go. That’s…
My adventures by voice
2016 is the year my life changed. However, I never could have guessed it. 2016 per se didn’t start well for me. I was coming out of a 2 year relationship quite heartbroken, and felt lost about my academic career. I wanted to quit everything. And so I did. I graduated earlier, while working two…
Dentro la comunità indigena Kogi
Tiro fuori i 10,000 pesos e glieli porgo. Francisca li mette in un borsellino di tela. “Bienvenidas”, ci dice. Sua figlia di due anni corre scalza nella polvere, rincorsa da due bimbi dai capelli neri corvini. Mi trovo all’ingresso del villaggio della comunità Kogi, una delle 4 comunità indigene (le altre si chiamano arhuacos, wiwas,…
Inside Bogota’s Botanical Garden
A photographic journey In 2016, I visited Rio de Janeiro’s Botanical Garden – I took hundreds of pictures and then lost them all, but that’s another story. Ever since that day in 2016, I felt reluctant about exploring botanical gardens in other cities of the world. None of them would be as wild, rich in…
Book of the month: La melancolía de los feos (May 2021)
La melancolía de los feos, by Mario Mendoza “La melancolía de los feos” (the Melancholy of the ugly) was the book I picked during my second month in Bogota, as my second Colombian reading. Written in 20216 by the Bogotan author Mario Mendoza, its story is moving, exciting, inspiring. Here is why. The protagonist of…
Il vaso di Pandora delle proteste in Colombia
Le proteste in Colombia viste da vicino “In Colombia, nel giorno della festa della mamma, non ci sono figli con cui celebrare” recita una vignetta di Patancartoon pubblicata da uno dei maggiori quotidiani del Paese andino, El Espectador. Quasi tutte le 47 vittime delle attuali proteste in Colombia avevano infatti tra i 17 e i…