Ruta de la Esperanza is a guided tour to the heights of Bogotá’s Ciudad Bolivar, shows the poverty and hardship of the city’s south side, and includes a trip in the new Transmicable cable car.
Barrio Los Alpes spills over the unstable Andes highlands of Ciudad Bolivar in the far south of Bogotá. Life here is precarious.
La Ruta de la Esperanza, or The Route of Hope, as it translates, is a new tourism initiative in the upland badlands of south Bogotá, an area where very few foreign visitors – and few Colombians – visit but an interesting half day out. And even if you’re not 100% convinced by poverty tourism, the views of the city are amazing. And the tour is done by local guides from the community directly benefiting from the tour fee (around US$8 per person).
Gina, one of our four guides. She lives in the Barrio Bellaflor and has worked with visitors since tours started early in 2019.
I’ve lived in Bogotá for many years and been to Ciudad Bolivar several times, including the upper barrios like El Paraiso (see my postRiding Bogotá’s Transmicable). But walking through the barrios with local guides was a whole new experience for the following reasons:
You get great information on the barrio, people’s lives, local politics, food, whatever. Every question is answered.
The guides are local. We visited the house of one guide, Diana, she lives with 5 people in a homemade wooden shack with no running water or electricity. This is the real deal.
Local characters meet and greet. The tour moves along at a steady pace but there is plenty of time to stop and talk and follow up on questions along the way.
As long as you ask permission, you can take photos along the way.
One downside for non-Spanish speakers is the guides are – so far – not speaking much English. For now, best to go with a buddy who can translate…but remember language doesn’t always need to be a barrier. A smile goes a long way…
To sum up, I would recommend this tour to anyone visiting Bogotá – and anyone already living in Colombia who needs a reality check to how many people live, in very hard conditions. But with hope. So, be part of it.
Meanwhile, check out more photos, captions and info below…
The tour starts at the Cable car station in Portal El Tunal, which is also the Transmilenio bus terminal in the south of the city. For details of the cable car and how to get there see my related post Riding Bogotá’s Transmicable.
From the upper cable car station, El Paraiso, the tour takes a gentle stroll through the streets of several barrios that make up the heights of Ciudad Bolivar, on the south side of Bogotá. There is plenty of graffiti and murals by local street artists, usually with social messages.
One social initiative is the coordinated painting of houses to brighten up the barrios, here Manitas. Not everyone agrees to have their house painted, but most do, and the effect can be stunning.
Kids having a kick-around in Barrio Bellaflor. The city is far down the mountain, and this Andean ridge catches the chill wind even when the sun is shining. Many families arrived in recent decades pushed out of other areas by conflict violence. Even here, there are security problems: armed gangs run extortion rackets, there small-scale drug trafficking and petty crime.But there is also strong community spirit and people told us that the area is constantly improving.
‘Ciudad Bolivar is not the story they tell, but how we tell it’, says the T-shirt of Andrés, a former gang member crippled by two gun shots 20 years ago. He now runs a community centre and is the force behind Ruta de La Esperanza.Changing attitudes towards the poor parts of Bogotá is an uphill struggle – many residents from the wealthy north of the city are even less likely to venture here than overseas tourists –but hopefully tours will also become popular with local visitors too.
‘Nugesi 21’ the community centre and HQ for la Ruta de La Esperanza in Barrio Bellaflor, Ciudad Bolivar, Bogotá
Andrés, he’s a busy guy these days: local artists were planning a book on the barrio tour the day we visited.
An old peoples’ day centre in Barrio El Paraiso, run by local volunteers. The old folk get food, some nursing attention, and do handicrafts etc. In my experience its the ‘poorer’ barrios of the city that are often richer in community schemes and people looking out for each other.
‘You looking at me, mate?!’
Basic living in Ciudad Bolivar. The harsh climate – cold wind and rain – make housing precarious.
‘Invasiones’ land invasions in Bellaflor. Houses are thrown up, often from scrap material, then improved over years into proper buildings. Electrical supply is pirated, and many use gas cylinders for cooking and collect water in ‘pinpinas’ from a communal supply. Over time these settlements are given formal recognition, people can get land titles and ownership of their properties. In some unsuitable terrain, though, the settlements are knocked down and people moved to flatter areas.
This guy had problems to communicate but a great smile. Behind him are new ‘illegal’ houses on what recently would have been farmland on the edge of the city. Land invasions are driven by necessity: families too poor to pay rent, often ‘IDP’s – ‘internally displaced people’ from conflict areas of Colombia. Armed gangs that rule rural areas force people to flee to the city, where anonymity give some security. But people also flock here for economic opportunities and services such as schooling and health, which though fragile are present even in informal settlements.
Life on the edge…a large chasm separates Barrio El Paraiso from the rest of Bogotá. Jeni, one of our guides, lives in a shack closest to the drop…
A new football pitch and parks being built in the heart of the barrios. Social programs are advancing, but also the informal settlements…can the authorities keep up?
The barrio is linked by steep steps -good for the legs! Our guide Jeni on the left.
Kidz in the hood.You can find people here from all corners of Colombia.
Old 4x4s take passengers to the higher barrios, here a Nissan Patrol 60 series. Main roads are paved but side roads are muddy.
The Nissan’s reliable 6-cylinder engine.
The Transmicable has transformed lives in Ciudad Bolivar by bringing the poor upper barrios closer to the city and main transport hubs. It has also made La Ruta de la Esperanza tours possible.
Some views from the Transmicable…
Our guides Diana and Gina (with her daughter). Being a guides seems to be transforming their lives, giving them some income but also a pride in their community.
Some more views from the Transmicable…
Our visit to La Ruta de la Esperanza tour was inspired by a podcast by our friend Brendan ‘Wrong Way’ Corrigan who featured one of the founders, Sam Riley, on his weekly interview. Thanks Brendan and Sam. Here’s a link below to the podcast.
