Colombia is Passion - A Country on the Move!

In the past couple of years, Colombia has made an incredible progress in different aspects such as economy and security and accordingly improved the quality of life of its citizens. It was about time for this amazing nation to develop its very own country brand. "Every day we are able to highlight business, artistic, sports and personal achievements among 44 million Colombians. We find ourselves in what we call the 'moment of truth', an opportunity to show these changes to the world. If we pass it up, we will keep missing valuable opportunities for our country", explains a Colombia is Passion Campaign representative. Equipped with a whole range of merchandise and promotional videos, Colombia is moving towards becoming a prime example of modern-day Latin America.

There are two notable videos circulating on the Internet regarding the Colombia is Passion movement. The first one is a bit more aggressive, but it illustrates very well the contrast between the Colombia we know from the newspapers and hearsay and the real Colombia, which is how I got to know it. The second video is just very cute and colorful. Go, see it for yourselves!

Would You Take The Risk To Travel To Colombia?



Colombia Is Passion!



What You Can Do

Colombia is the third most important supplier of bananas. In order to make sure that Colombia's poor farmers aren't exploited, buy organic and fair trade produce! Keep in mind that your consumer behavior is your most influential vote!

Unfortunately, Colombia is also the No. 1 producer of cocaine. The troubles that the country has because of that are grave. The problem is that as long as there is demand for it, the situation won't improve. It's the poor people who work on these plantations, because it's the only way for them to keep their children from starving to death, but it's the rich western world who can't get enough of it. Who's to blame here? Destroying the plantations by fumigating them with hazardous chemicals and treating all Colombians like dangerous criminals isn't going to stop people from taking drugs. So, if you want to help, keep your hands off this vicious stuff!

Some Holiday Nostalgia

This year I'm going to spend one month in Colombia; we're leaving right after my parents' 25th wedding anniversary celebration in October! I'm already so excited! :) To share my excitement with you, I published some of my favorite snapshots from last year's Colombia visit below:

Here you can see our family home in Villa de Leyva, a small historical town located about 40km west of Tunja. It has around 4000 inhabitants and more than 50 years ago it was declared a national monument in order to preserve its beautiful architecture.

The little puppy is one of the family's dogs. Isn't he adorable??!!!! :)

This is our condominium in Bucaramanga, the fifth biggest city of Colombia. The other picture shows the majestic Canyon of Chicamocha at Chicamocha National Park. It's one of the most amazing things I've ever seen. Its beauty is so stunning that you feel like you're looking at a gigantic painting.

This is still Chicamocha National Park in Santander. I'm the one with the umbrella! ;)

Here you can see Bucaramanga at night and a snapshot of our bowling night with some friends.

By the way, if you're interested in Colombian real estate, check out mimansion.com!

This is Daniel and me in front of the Hilton hotel and the clock tower in Cartagena.

This is in the inner city of Cartagena.

Here you can see a statue of the famous Colombian artist Botero and an indigenous dance group. I wished I had a video of them, they were really awesome!

It was pretty amazing to see those animals in their natural environment. We also saw a dolphin, cat sharks and flamingos!

Here we were visiting the islands of Rosario. I have quite an affinity with palm trees and clean white beaches, so you can imagine it felt like paradise to me! :)

This was our last night in Colombia which we spent watching a local soccer match and dancing. Here you can also see Diego Bocanegra, our talented friend who is the singer of Batracios, a Punk/Ska/Latin band from Bogota.