Bogota travel/photo advice

I have an opportunity to visit Bogota in early October and would

appreciate any travel and photo tips/advice for the city. I will just

be there for a few days... what are the must see/photographic spots in

the city?

Bogota is one of the least photogenic cities I know. It's a long while since I was there, but I don't imagine it will have improved any. Rule 1 is think of your personal safety. Dress down to blend in with the locals unless you are going to some event in carefully organised transport where you won't be on the street (it may even be worth picking up a cheap outfit in a local store). As much as possible, avoid looking like a foreigner, especially a well heeled one, and carry the minimum with you (preferably nothing) if going on foot. Do not go out unaccompanied, and preferably always have someone local with you. If staying in an hotel, use the hotel safe for any valuables including your passport (keep a photocopy separately). Kidnap and mugging are serious risks, even from young kids on the street.

 

Harsh warnings aside, there is an area of town with the presidential palace, cathedral and government buildings that includes the central bank, where the El Dorado gold is displayed (no flash/tripod allowed):

 

http://www.banrep.gov.co/museo/esp/home.htm

 

Some of the pieces are truly exquisite, and the overall display is awesome (you get ushered in to one room in the dark - then they turn on the lights to dazzle you with the array of gold artifacts). It's not far to the historic Candelaria district. There is an area around the major hotels and CBD that contains some upmarket shopping, though the richest Colombians prefer to shop in NY, Paris and London. Most shopping is in malls for security reasons.

 

Parts of town contain some very impressive private homes, though you'll need an invitation to see anything worthwhile. Gardens have an interesting array of plants - the climate is even throughout the year - many of the flowers you buy in the US (and indeed around the globe) are grown in large commercial greenhouses in areas fairly close to the capital and airfreighted out.

 

Take up to date local advice - but if you want to photograph some "local colour", you may be best doing this on trips outside the city. The Salt Cathedral is one popular trip, but others may give you more of a flavour of the country and the Andes.

<i>Bogota is one of the least photogenic cities I know</i><p>

 

Maybe <a href="http://www.pbase.com/goosekirk/colombia">this guy</a> just got confused about which photos he took there. I doubt it though, he's lived there, so he probably knows. BTW, he also has some interesting comments about safety in <a href="http://www.pology.com/article/05911.html">this article.</a>

Personally I've never seen an ugly city. It's all about what you choose to see.

 

http://www.pbase.com/goosekirk/image/27311161

 

Boom, indeed!

I lived there too, albeit relatively briefly (my parents were there for 4 years). I'm no shrinking violet, having e.g. lived in Ulster during the height of "The Troubles". I visited inter alia Cali, Medellin, (both overland) and Cartagena and the coast toward Santa Marta, as well as several smaller towns and villages within a few hours' drive of Bogota. I did some current research:

 

"At the high point, kidnappings in Colombia exceeded 2,000 per year. In 2005, there were fewer than 300." (from Congressional report on global terrorism). Bear in mind that the data relate to reported incidents only - and are in conflict with the British Embassy's count of over 800 in 2005 (see link below). Definitely an improvement though.

 

From a report in EL Tiempo newspaper, translated by me:

 

"Security and Democracy Foundation says that Colombia is living with the lowest level of violence in 12 years...according to the Foundation's analysis, the last 10 months has seen 6 kidnappings and 37 murders of candidates, political leaders or local authorities..." N.B. while politics and elections inspires additional violence, most incidents are "random".

 

El Tiempo maintains a section of the paper devoted to "Armed Conflict", which is mainly devoted to stories about FARC, AUC and ELN and "narcotraficantes":

 

http://eltiempo.terra.com.co/coar/noticias/index.html

 

Here is the current and comprehensive British Embassy travel advice:

 

http://www.britishembassy.gov.uk/servlet/Front?pagename=OpenMarket/Xcelerate/ShowPage&c=Page&cid=1097485952887

 

US Embassy's travel advice link seems to be broken currently. Advice (similar) from the Bogota tourist site is here:

 

http://english.bogotaturismo.gov.co/city/practical_information/security.php

 

My comment about Bogota as an unphotogenic city relates to the relative paucity of interesting architecture on view to the casual visitor (although as I hinted, behind high walls you can find some stunning homes inspired by many different influences, as diverse as Lutyens, Bauhaus and Frank Lloyd Wright). The site pointed to by Jeff has photos that are almost exclusively taken in or of the areas I mentioned previously in Bogota itself.

 

I met many charming and friendly Colombians both rich and poor and greatly enjoyed travelling through the country (albeit with occasional slightly hairier moments, fortunately none of them turning sour).

Bogota isn?t that photogenic, though the gold museum has some interesting small artefacts.

Good lord !!! i will respect what i am reading but i feel deeply offended by the comments. I

AM A PROUD COLOMBIAN AND LOVE MY COUNTRY AS MUCH AS I LOVE NEW YORK !!!! i live 6

months here, in new york and six months there in bogota !!! and believe me after 7 years i

still have a hard time picking which one is better !!! a subway system and highrises will not

make a city beautiful !!!

ONE LOVE.