"Bogota" a Bogotá Travel Page by morgr

There are so many things that can be said about Bogota that I don't really know where to start. From the historic centre of La Candelaria to the modern bustling Bogota along septima (carrera 7) to the rich northern districts and the shantytowns in the south, Bogota is a city of many faces. It is at once the political, financial and cultural capital of Colombia, as well as, at a little under 8 million inhabitants, by far the largest city in the country. It is situated in the geographical centre of the country, making it a great place from where to start exploring the rest of the country. Its huge, but well organized, bus terminal servicing buses to all parts of the country.

Bogota is host to a plethora of activities to keep you entertained, so many infact that at the end of my three months stay in the city, there were still things that I wanted to do and see that I didn't get a chance to. (Granted I was in school studying during the daytime, when most atractions were open.)

There are museums gallore, some of the more noteworthy ones being the Gold Museum, said to be the best of its kind in the world, the Donacion Botero, which contains many of Colombias most known artist, Fernando Boteros works, as well as many other big local and international names. Also noteworthy are the National Museum and the Quinta de Bolivar, a house used by 'El Libertador' on occasions.

Besides the many museums, you can go up Cero Monserrate for a great view over the city, wander La Candelaria enjoying the colonial architecture, or go catch a play at one of the many theatres, amongst seemingly endless other posibilities.

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Me in front of Catedral Primada.

Safety

When most people think of Bogota, and Colombia as a whole, they tend to think of guerillas, drugs, Pablo Escobar and kidnappings. However, Bogota and Colombia are today safer than ever due to an integrated and participatory security policy first implemented in the mid 1990's.

In the 1990's Bogota was considered to be one of the most dangerous cities in Latin America. According to this, Bogota had an annual homicide rate of 80 per 100,000 people. In 2005 that had dropped by 71% to 23 per 100,000. Making it today a safer city than Washington DC! And they are projecting that it will get even safer within the next few years.

Despite all this, there is ofcourse always the possibility of petty thievery or muggings, however this is a reality anywhere you may go in the world. One must only use a little common sense to reduce this, in my opinion, rather minor risk. (The best tip in Bogota, is to not wear shorts, locals NEVER wear shorts. Whenever you see someone in shorts, you know (s)he is a foreigner.) During my months in Bogota, I never once had any problems nor did I hear of anyone having any. I did however hear several horror stories about Cartagena...but I never went there. I guess where the tourists congregate, so then do the 'bad guys'.

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'El Libertador'

Climate

At an average altitude of 2600m above sea level, Bogota is the third highest capital city in South America, after La Paz and Quito. Due to the altitude, the temperature never really gets very hot. The hottest I experienced during my stay was probably 20C-22C. The 'average year round temperature' in the city is 14C, and the coldest ever recorded was -8C, so it can get cold, particularily at night time. Most of the time however, and as the Bogotanos like to say, Bogota will experience several seasons within the course of one day. It may be sunny, then it will become clowdy and rain then sunny again within the course of a few hours.

The dry period is Dec-Mar, rainiest is Apr-May & Sept-Nov. Jun-Aug are 'intermediate' dry seasons, which will often see rain to.