Colombia Calling - The English Voice in Colombia

Dutch national Nathalie Rietman, director of Foundation La Vecina, tells us why she founded La Vecina. Basically, this is another good news story out of purely altruistic desires of helping the most needy, in this case the children of Cartagena's La Boquilla area. It is heartwarming and inspiring.

Far from the sophisticated boutiques of the Walled City and further away from the luxury apartments being constructed on the road leaving Caratgena towards Barranquilla, is La Boquilla, one of the city's many impoverished areas.

In episode 154 we talk to Natalie and find out what motivated her to get involved in this area, how it affected her personally and how she now has the most popular school in the region. Tune in to find out how you can help the children of La Boquilla through Natalie's foundation www.lavecina.org

It's always a thrill to be contacted out of the blue by a listener of the show with something worthwhile to promote and imagine my suprise when I start receiving messages all the way from Sydney, Australia from Lorenzo Perafan, a native of Popayan, now living Down Under and who is exporting Kogi Coffee from the Sierra Nevada on Colombia's Caribbean Coast to specialty coffee enthusiasts.

The Kogi people consider themselves to be the guardians of the earth and harvest their wild coffee according to those ancestral beliefs, making it one of the most sustainable and unique in the world.

The Kogi Coffee co imports the beans directly from the Kogi themselves and roast them locally in Sydney to maximise their uniquely earth flavours and aromas.

In Episode 153 we talk to Lorenzo on the line from Sydney about the Kogi and how he came to fall into this business. But, given the important issues to have come into being in Colombia regarding the peace agreement with the FARC guerrillas, we also speak to him as a Colombian citizen a long way from home and how he feels about these landmark declarations.

We've had Briton Dave Procter on Colombia Calling twice before as the Legend of El Dorado cross Colombia mountain bike race was coming into being, this time, we welcome him back on this Ep152 to talk about the phenomenal success of the race. So, it's a real pleasure to get to speak with him in person in Bogotá about the future.

Can you imagine? 60 mountain bikers from all over the world came over and called it a "life-changing race". Others referred to it as the "Everest of Mountain Bike races" truly inspirational if you ask me!

So, this seven-day cross country mountain bike race has been a success beyond their wildest dreams and we are here discussing what was incredible, the peaks, the troughs and what will be in store for the race in 2017.

To find out more about the race you'll have to tune in or check out the website at http://legendofeldorado.com/en

Jorn Ludvigsen and his wife Nohra Peña are on a mission to bring luxury and top-notch service to the Colombia Coffee region, leading by example from their exclusive boutique hotel El Lugar (http://hotellugar.com) just outside the city of Pereira.

We'll chat about the hotel and restaurant business in Colombia, what the Coffee Region has to offer and why Dane Jorn decided to move with his Colombian wife Nohra to this area and set up El Lugar.

Amidst an interview of anecdotes and frank tales of Colombian and international tourists, Jorn provides us with insightful opinions into the business, his 10 year plan and how he sees Colombia developing touristically in the future.

Sometimes it all just falls into place for an individual and this is what we can say for US citizen Christina Kuntz. Having applied successfully for a Peace Corps posting several years ago she was sent to Cartagena, Colombia. And the story does not end here!

In my mind Cartagena is the beautiful UNESCO World Heritage Site with incredible colonial and republican buildings of bright colours and with bouganvilea spilling from wooden balconies! Of course, where the Peace Corps go is very different! It's hard graft.

So, we hear about Christina's experiences as a peace corps volunteer and how she ended up marrying a Colombian from Cartagena and indeed returning to live in the city as well as setting up the Domino Volunteers program (www.dominovolunteers.com).

So if you or someone you know is interested in perhaps volunteering in Colombia, this is the show for you. Tune in and find out what you could be doing to help other less fortunate people in Caratgena.

As an architect, Juan Rincon sees a fair share of interesting buildings and this is how the Feria del Millon came about. Asked to design loft-style flats in an abandoned factory in southwestern Bogotá, he advised his client on something different, a space for artists and their work...and hence the Feria del Millon was born.

Once a year (29-31 Oct 2016) the Feria del Millon is a space for some 50 artists to showcase their work and sell each item for around about the One Million Peso mark, roughly US$350. Each artist must submit an application which is scrutinized by art experts around the world before being accepted.

This Feria has been groundbreaking in that it has started a process of inclusion for this working class barrio of Puente Aranda into the psyche and imagination of the rest of the city and has made quality art accessible to everyone not just collectors and art critics.

Tune in to listen to Juan Rincon talking with a passion for what he is doing by taking the Bogotá art world by the scruff of its neck and shaking things up. Check out the website: http://www.feriadelmillon.com.co

At first you'd be forgiven for thinking that this week's interviewee Ashley Bening lives a charmed life...but it becomes clear that she has worked tooth and nail to reach this place. We caught up with Ashley at the Gitana del Mar (http://gitanadelmar.com.co) ecolodge on the Colombian Caribbean coast at Buritaca to find out how this San Franciscan ended up teaching yoga with unrivalled views over the turquoise Caribbean, palms shifting in balmy winds and basically living the dream.

In episode 148 we learn about health and wellness and how Ashley became an expert in the field and what she does back in East Palo Alto with the long-suffering children of that area. Applying what she learnt on the job she has brought her positivity to Colombia and will be spending time in Buritaca, Cali and even Bogota.

So, if you are interested in yoga and it's healing qualities, something Colombia needs in gallons right now, then tune in to hear a heart-warming story of altruism and positivity.

Having lived in Pereira for three years, being married to a Pereirano and mother to a Pereirano baby, US writer Erin Donaldson (www.openmindedtraveler.com) has identified a gap in the market a need for a real product/ publication about the city which is her home.

So, this week in Episode 147 we get on the line with Donaldson in the city of Pereira, the heart of the coffee axis, and discuss the merits of publishing the first ever city guide to Pereira in English. We discuss the challenges, the trials and her future plans to publish in Spanish and soon to produce a second edition in English.

Of course, you want to know all about Pereira's "Nake Statue Tour" don't you? And if not, why not?

Get your hands on a copy now, available on Amazon.com for only $2.99 until the second edition is released! http://www.pereiracityguide.com

What does the peace agreement with the FARC guerrillas mean for the tourism industry in Colombia? Who and where will benefit from this agreement and cessation of the conflict? This week, Colombia sits down with one of the authors of the Lonely Planet guide book for Colombia, Alex Egerton and discusses the potential ramifications of peace with the world's oldest guerrilla insurgency.

On the line from Managua, Nicaragua, Egerton discusses various regions which will directly benefit in the short term from the peace agreement with the FARC guerrillas, why this is so and where needs to improve. Of course there are issues to discuss and opinions and advice to share.

But, as Egerton so succinctly puts it, the issue of a "long-running conflict" in Colombia has been hindering and hanging over the country for decades now and that the country's largest guerrilla group looks set to sign a final agreement in late July is a propaganda coup for the government and the tourism industry.

Tune in to hear the opinions of a true expert in the field of tourism and how you too can enjoy a trip to Colombia in the future now that more regions are set to open up and be "conflict-free".

Sitting down with us across the pond in Berlin is Colombian architect Roberto Uribe who gives us an insight into his artistic intervention along Bogotá's infamous Calle 22. To give you a further idea about the importance of the Calle 22, the street extends around 2.5km from the foothills of the Andes Mountains known as the Cerros Orientales, down through Colonial Bogotá, crossing through bohemia, 1950's era expansion, through some down at heal barrios and out into the Sabana de Bogotá. In short, the Calle 22 offers what could actually represent a microcosm of Colombia along one street in the capital.

All the while you can follow Calle 22 and the architecture, but it's not just about this, it is also about the people who have come from different areas of the country by choice or forcibly displaced to be here. You'll find traditional Bogotanos or Rolos, people from the Pacific Coast with their restaurants and hair salons, others from the southern plains with restaurants and beyond. Everyone is represented.

So, we get the chance to sit down with Roberto and talk about his project, the reasons behind the art interventions, how he went about doing it, what the experience was and the outcomes. For more info please see his website www.calle22.org and see what the team is up to and thinking of doing next.

On a personal note, I have been studying this area of Bogotá for some time and it is of great interest to me. Hopefully some of my enthusiasm for this kind of interview comes across in our open and fun conversation.