USA TODAY International Edition
COSMOPOLITAN COLOMBIA
Country emerges from years of war, displaying a new confidence
When Daniel Cely started conducting free walking tours of the historic center of this South American capital two years ago, a typical day would involve three clients.
Now, his tours, run by the company Beyond Colombia, attract up to 30 people at a time.
“I was raised believing the historic center of Bogota was a dangerous place to be,” the 27- year- old says. “Now, it’s my favorite place to be. I feel confident walking around.”
Not long ago, the city was considered one of the most unsavory places in Latin America. A 52year- old civil war between guerrilla forces, primarily the FARC ( Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia), left Bogota looking like a war zone at times, and bombings killed politicians and civilians.
Famed Colombian writer Gabriel García Márquez chronicled the kidnapping and eventual death of journalist and former first daughter Diana Turbay in his book News of a Kidnapping. Such happenings made Colombia a place most foreign visitors wouldn’t think of visiting. But two months ago, President Juan Manuel Santos, the winner of the 2016 Nobel Peace Prize, signed a deal with the FARC to end the war.
“Areas that used to be on constant fire have finally spent their first happy and peaceful holiday season in a really long while,” Cely says.
Bogota is a cosmopolitan city with a vibrant dining, fashion and entertainment scene. Even luxu- ry hotel chains — such as the W, which opened at the end of 2014, and not one but two Four Seasons properties — have opened within the past couple of years. Numerous publications have named Colombia a hot destination for 2017. It landed the No. 2 spot on Lonely Planet’s top destinations for the year.
“The country wants to move forward,” says Jonathan Schmidt, the concierge at the W Bogota, who moved to the city five years ago from Belgium. The W has a popular weekend brunch that attracts a young crowd.
The State Department, in a warning updated last April, noted that security in Colombia has improved “significantly” in recent years in cities such as Bogota, Cartagena and Medellín. But it pointed out that violence linked to the drug trade continues in some rural and urban areas. The department says that tens of thousands of U. S. citizens safely visit Colombia each year but that due diligence is still warranted.
I certainly am diligent on my visit. My last trip here had been six years ago. Back then, I never hailed a cab on the street for fear of being kidnapped. Instead, I would call a reputable company and ask it to send me a confirmation number that I would have the taxi driver read to me before I got in.
On this visit, I have no qualms about hailing a cab in the historic center. The cab driver is a sweet, older gentleman who wants to discuss the U. S. presidential campaign and delivers me safely to the Four Seasons Bogota, which opened last year.
“Now we have a country transitioning to peace. Colombia is opening to the world,” says Felipe Jaramillo, president of ProColombia, which is tasked with promoting foreign investment into the country as well as tourism.
Jaramillo says the country is investing in its infrastructure, spending millions to improve airports and provide tax incentives so major hotel companies will see Colombia as a lucrative option.
Chains such as Starwood Hotels and Resorts, Marriott International and the Four Seasons have taken advantage.
“We have a W in Bogota,” says Maria Olga Corredor, a spokeswoman for the hotel whose family left Colombia for the USA in the 1980s because of the security situation.
She returned to Bogota seven years ago.
“That means we’re cool. We’re a cosmopolitan city,” she says.
Funky places such as Peluqueria Beauty Bar have opened. It’s a hair salon with a bar and a clothing shop. A hairdresser will give free or cheap cuts as long as you let her or him do what she or he wants.
“A photographer friend told me this is the gem of Latin America,” photographer Lauren Lindley says as she watches her friend Anne Campbell get a haircut.
The city has other gems: the Museum of Gold, the Fernando Botero Museum showcasing the renowned sculptor’s works.
But some of the best art in the city is graffiti.
“The whole city is covered,” says my guide on a graffiti tour, Jeffer Carillo Toscano. “It’s a big and still growing phenomenon.”
We start our tour at the Park of Journalists and walk around the historic center learning about the different types of graffiti: tagging, murals, stencils.
There’s a reason Bogota has so much graffiti. The country has been through so much turmoil, and street art has become a way to convey that.
“Tagging is about making a statement,” Toscano says. “Hello, you don’t know me, I’m here. I have something to say, and this is my city, too.”
Colombians in more traditional pursuits also make their mark. Silvia Tcherassi, who was born in Barranquilla, has shown her work at Fashion Week in Paris and Milan. She designed two hotels in Cartagena.
I visit her store in the Zona Rosa, one of the most exclusive neighborhoods in Bogota. Her clothing and accessories are elegant and incorporate the fringes and fabrics known in the Andean region.
The city’s revival has made her work “more dynamic and colorful,” she says. “When I opened my first boutique in Bogota 15 years ago, all the windows displayed dark garments and, sometimes, only black pieces.”
“Now we have a country transitioning to peace. Colombia is opening to the world.” Felipe Jaramillo, ProColombia