Richard McColl's Blog, page 10
May 25, 2017
Reclaiming Bogotá’s Sabana Train Station
Exciting times for Bogotá’s Sabana Train Station, potentially, should plans be approved for an inclusive, cultural, educational and recreational space in what was the Puerto Seco of the Colombian capital. If you are not familiar with the columns of the neoclassical facade of the Sabana Train Station (built in 1917 by the Englishman William Lidstone), Read more about Reclaiming Bogotá’s Sabana Train Station[…]
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May 19, 2017
The Importance of personal cultural heritage
It’s a strange thing, but as a traveler through Latin America, upon visiting a place for the first time, I would often head out to a nearby cemetery to take a look at the old tombstones, and reflect a little on my own cultural heritage as I read out the names recorded there. Maybe Read more about The Importance of personal cultural heritage[…]
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April 13, 2017
Coffee and Politics with the FARC: A Journey to Las Colinas, Guaviare
I had been forewarned that our driver might utter some anti FARC commentary along the two-hour journey from San Jose del Guaviare to the temporary zone of concentration at Las Colinas. Bouncing along the rutted trail, passing tiny farming settlements and long rolling vistas of grazing land for cattle, there was an apprehension present in Read more about Coffee and Politics with the FARC: A Journey to Las Colinas, Guaviare[…]
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March 31, 2017
Top Experiences in Bogotá: Experimenting with Tear Gas
Should you spend any substantial amount of time in Bogotá, you’ll doubtless be stuck in a traffic jam at one point or another either near to the Carrera Septima downtown, alongside the Calle 72 close to the Universidad Pedagogica or along the NQS 30 by the Universidad Nacional…in which case, get ready to enjoy some Read more about Top Experiences in Bogotá: Experimenting with Tear Gas[…]
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March 20, 2017
Discovering Bogotá: The Barrio 20 de Julio
Perhaps I have been slack of late as my forays into as yet unknown sectors of Bogotá have dropped off a little, but I am happy to say that we took full advantage of the long-weekend here to explore a little of the Barrio 20 de Julio. Named after Colombia’s cry for independence, the Barrio […]
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February 25, 2017
Ten Years in Colombia
It’s more or less ten years to the day from when I stepped off the plane having decided to move my life to Colombia. It had been a rollercoaster ride up until this point, near death experiences, the life of a freelance vagabond and journeyman journalist and plenty of tall tales to share over a […]
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February 19, 2017
The Power Vacuum in a Post Farc Colombia
On Saturday, the local and international press reported that the final group of FARC guerrillas, numbering around 300 combatants, from Frentes 3, 14 and 15 arrived at Agua Bonita, Caquetá, bringing to an end the massive mobilization of men and women from their clandestine camps deep in the Colombia jungles and voluntarily arriving at the […]
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February 12, 2017
Colombia’s Carousel of Corruption
I wanted to call this Colombia’s merry-go-round of corruption, but I found it to be too well-meaning and therefore taking away from the seriousness of the issue. Colombia is currently in the grips of startling revelations of illegal pay-outs, under the table payments, obscure campaign contributions and all linking to some of the most “respectable” […]
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February 2, 2017
Hotel Complaints…people are strange!
It’s no secret to anyone who has followed this blog for a short while that we are the proprietors of the Casa Amarilla Hotel in Mompos and of course we are in it for the thick and thin of it, complaints, warts and all. So, when I was recently shown a list of the most […]
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January 12, 2017
2017, Colombia’s Year of the Morrongo
I know, I know, I have been circulating this word for a few weeks now – Morrongo, but it’s the best, if not the only way, to spew out a gristly morsel of what lays ahead of us here in Colombia in 2017. This is Colombia’s Year of the Morrongo, or can I say…we are […]
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