Has any SP ers climbed in this country lately? Is it safe to venture? Are any areas safe? Appreciate any beta.

I have. Colombia is one of the most spectacular places in the world. The peaks are just as spectacular as those in Ecuador or Peru, but much less visited. I added a trip report to the Nevado Tolima, which is one of my favorite climbs. Check out my trip report because it contains valuable updates and information. I also added pages on Nevado Purace and Olleta Crater, but these are easy peaks, but are good for acclimatization. There is also a page on Nevado Ruiz. This peak killed 23,000 during an eruption in 1985. The Sierra Santa Marta is spectacular. The highest peaks are around 19,000 feet high, and the ocean beaches are less than 20 miles away!! Imagine sitting on a tropical beach near the equator and looking up at glaciers! The Sierra Nevada de Cocuy is incredibly spectacular and rugged. The ruins in Colombia are also specacular, and some are even larger than Macchu Picchu! There is also great caving and the whole country is laced with waterfalls. Just on one hike to Nevado Tolima we eperienced scenery similar to the Cascades, Yosemite, and Hawaii all laced together in wonderful variety and laced with jungle and waterfalls.

Now the bad news. It can be dangerous here. Especially dangerous is the eastern haf of the country east of the Andes and in the Amazon. There are more dangerous places as well. Don't listen to the state department warnings, but do get and read Lonley Planet's and Footprints book to Colombia. They have lots of good information on what places to avoid. Take precautions. Travel with friends rather than alone.

That said, we found Colombia to be one of the friendliest countries in South America. Because there are few tourist here, we felt like we were having special treatment. Also petty theft of tourist used to be a huge problem, but now it has gone down, partly because there are few tourist. Colombia does have a bad rep, but we felt safer here than in other places such as Nairobi.

As with anywhere in South America, pack your pack inside burlap potato or rice sacks so it looks like rice or something, and also looks the same as the local's luggage. Do this while riding the bus. Don't expect many people to speak English. Take one pair of clothes and buy the rest locally. There are many white and hispanic people in Colombia, so if you buy local clothes, you wont stand out as much. Pack your fancy pack in grain sacks as mentioned. This is true anywhere in South America.

If you want to know the route we took, email me.

Thanks Scott! Have noticed your posts before. Scraped a trip to western nepal last month because of maoists. Now my son has moved to columbia. Where is your next planned venture.

I've been to Colombia but it was years ago. Like Scott sayas, the mountains are awesome. I was in Ecuador this past winter and spoke with a group of students from Colombia that were learning English. They said that they traveled to Ecuador to see English tourist and speak with them there because there were so few English speaking people in Colombia due to the unrest there. The prudent thing to do would be to go to another S.A. country with equally beautiful mountains, but then some of those countries are having their probelms as well. If your son lives in Colombia, it seems you have no choice but take the risk and take advantage of the situation.

dharmadog, it's Colombia, not Columbia (you repeated it 2 times in this thread)

thx diego

Colombia is one of the nicest countries I have visited, back in 1995. At that time, kidnapping of foreigners largely was confined to people working in Colombia, thus I felt pretty safe. Unfortunately, this seems to have changed recently.
Note that INDERENA in Bogota has no idea what is going on in the country. E.g. they told me there was no problem visiting Nevado de Huila. On arrival there it turned out, that the military itself did not dare to go higher than a certain point, and I ran into Guerilla more than once. But they were as hospitable as anybody else.
If I had a relative in this country, I would definitely go there again.
Take care,
Henning

BTW:
Even in Colombia death is much more likely in a traffic accident than by a bullet!

"Even in Colombia death is much more likely in a traffic accident than by a bullet!"

Good point and this is very true. Everyone worries of political unrest because of the media, but in reality even if you visit some of the most dangerous countries in the world by political standards, driving or riding is still more dangerous (there a a few exceptions), especially in places like South America, Africa, and parts of Asia. Africa has by far the highest death rate from vehicles in the world. The media doesn't like to report on traffic accidents halfway across the world because this is not as "interesting". I recall buying a newspaper while in Uganda. Page 1: 45 die in bloody crash. Page 2: 35 die in bloody crash. Page 3...........

"Even in Colombia death is much more likely in a traffic accident than by a bullet!"

Good point and this is very true. Everyone worries of political unrest because of the media, but in reality even if you visit some of the most dangerous countries in the world by political standards, driving or riding is still more dangerous (there only a few exceptions), especially in places like South America, Africa, and parts of Asia. Africa has by far the highest death rate from vehicles in the world. The media doesn't like to report on traffic accidents halfway across the world because this is not as "interesting". I recall buying a newspaper while in Uganda. Page 1: 45 die in bloody crash. Page 2: 35 die in bloody crash. Page 3...........

I am Colombian, I have climbed in Colombia, I have been asaulted in Colombia in the city, in the mountains and in the beach, and I have Colombian climbing friends that really do not climb anymore beacuse if very dangerous. Not only guerilla, which is big time in Colombia, but all sorts of organizad crime, from those that still your wallet to those that put things in your drinks to still your money to those that kidnap you for a few hours while empting your ATM, etc, etc, etc. You do not leave a high camp, you climb in the crags and you do not leave your gear in the bottom, etc, etc.

But what is said in this tread is true, it is awesome, specially b/c the mountains are lonely and there are not thousand tourist climbing there. Pack your things in potato bags and be careful. Lonely Planet is definetely the way to go, they just published a new edition.

However, I would say, better spend the money in Peru and Bolivia, better climbing, better peaks, less shit to put up with.

Finally, I will be there from End of November to January. Want to climb? Send me an email.

jmvalderrama@yahoo.com

We will see what can be done. Otherwise I can hook you up with locals, so it is safer.

Juan

I am Colombian, I have climbed in Colombia, I have been assaulted in Colombia in the city, in the mountains and in the beach, and I have Colombian climbing friends that really do not climb anymore because if very dangerous. Not only guerilla, which is big time in Colombia, but all sorts of organized crime, from those that still your wallet to those that put things in your drinks to still your money to those that kidnap you for a few hours while empting your ATM, etc, etc, etc. You do not leave a high camp, you climb in the crags and you do not leave your gear in the bottom, etc, etc.

But what is said in this tread is true, it is awesome, especially b/c the mountains are lonely and there are not thousand tourists climbing there. Pack your things in potato bags and be careful. Lonely Planet is definitely the way to go; they just published a new edition.

As I understand the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta is closed to climbers. The Arahuaco Indians do not want to see people messing around in the villages, after a group of Japanese climbers went there and destroy a church and behave like maniacs (see the Voices from the Summit -the Banff Film Festival- the essay Adventure of the Spirit, by Wade Davis). I think this has not changed yet, but maybe someone may have been able to climb it recently.

However, I would say, better spend the money in Peru and Bolivia, better climbing, better peaks, less shit to put up with.

Finally, I will be there from End of November to January. Want to climb? Send me an email.

jmvalderrama@yahoo.com

We will see what can be done. Otherwise I can hook you up with locals, so it is safer.

Juan

BTW, Is Columbia in English, Colombia in Spanish, Kolumbien (corrected) in German.....If this is English, so España is Spain and Colombia is Columbia.

Juan

Juan, my Collins Spanish-English (English-Spanish) Dictionary 5th Edition (1,679 pages) says:

<b>Colombia</b> N Colombia f.
<b>Columbia</b> N: <b>(District of) -</b> (US) Distrito de Columbia; V <b>British</b>

That was my source, but the automatic translators of Altavista (Babelfish), Google and Worldlingo says that Columbia in English is Colombia in Spanish. Though they say that Colombia in Spanish is Colombia in English. I'd deduce that both forms, Colombia and Columbia could be accepted for saying Colombia in English

Lonely Planet, the CIA, colombian embassies in the US, all my bird books, my maps, and all other reliable sources (including summitpost!) call this country Colombia (in English).
Babelfish usually is not a good source of information. And Google will bring up all the typos ever made.
BTW:
The German name: Kolumbien

Yes that is right, both forms are accepted, and that is because the name comes from (Spanish) Cristobal Colon (COLOmbia), who is also "Christopher Columbus" in Italian, so in English the word comes from Columbus (COLUMbia) and is the name of the Bristish Columbia, and Columbia University and several towns are called Columbia in the USA.

On the other hand, the official name of the Country is República de Colombia, and therefore the short name is Colombia, but in Germanic languages it is OK to say Columbia as well (or Kolumbien), although you better say that is Colombia so is the official name of the country.

Thanks for the German spelling.

Is this a Byzantine discussion?