Colombia a Tourist Destination

Colombia is known for their two major exports, drugs and coffee, and their one major import, political prisoners through kidnappings. However, I have come to find Colombia much safer than what the media or movies might suggest. Yes, the FARC is still alive and active in Colombia but they tend to target specific high profile and political people for kidnappings. The average tourist is not at risk unless he directly enters into known FARC territory. In fact, I have found Colombia much safer to travel in than all the other Central and South American countries I have visited mostly because the people are so friendly and because of the high police presence.

The police are always visible. Medellin has seen an 80% decline in crime over the last 5 years due to the increase in police presence in the city. The police are incredibly helpful as well. At one point in Medellin, a police man personally escorted me for 15 min over bridges until he felt that I was in a place where I could easily make my way to the museum without making a wrong turn. Since I didn't feel that I had entered into a bad neighborhood,Ｉquestioned him about the safety of Medellin. He told me that some places are not safe and the locals agree. (I learned later that the street with the transvestite prostitutes really isn't a street I should visit again. I could probably have figured that out on my own.) The police set up stop points along the road to prevent hijackings as well and so taking night buses is once again safe. I have even run into the police at the local botanical garden doing their own sight seeing and they warmly greeted me and quizzed me. The police are often surprised to find an American woman traveling alone given the bad press Colombia has received in the states. But compared to other countries I have seen, and given current US relations with many countries, I think Colombia is one of the safest countries to visit these days in Latin America.

Colombia is becoming a tourist destination as my friend Dave told Colombian President Uribe at a luncheon in NYC last week. He used me as the example! It is true. Although, I do not encounter many Americans traveling here, there are plenty of Australians, Israelis and Europeans I have met along the way. And every tourist I have met has absolutely loved Colombia and Colombians. I do recommend visiting before tourism really strikes and steals some of the beauty and authenticity away as it always inevitably does with every country.