Colombia safety and security stories and advice. Good advice can make your visit more enjoyable.

Learn to drive in Colombia

Most foreign nationals living in Colombia for more than six few months will need a Colombian driving licence. And, if you’ve never driven before, Colombia is a great place to learn to drive with a range of challenges: roadworks, potholes, gridlocks (the city regularly tops the ‘most congested’ lists), missing road signage, broken lights, street vendors and weaving motorbikes. Not to mention floods, protests, steep hills, mountains, mad buses, escaped animals and the occasional presidential motorcade. Every excursion is a

Bogotá water cuts: all you need to know

Bogotá is facing water cuts following a dry start to 2024. Here’s some info.

Bogotá: Cost of Living

How much does it cost to live in Bogotá? It’s a key question for anyone shifting to Colombian capital, whether a digital nomads seeking a new hangout, a retiree wanting to stretch out the pensions, or anyone looking for a new start in life in South America. Here I’ve compiled data from March, 2024. And looking back over 10 years, yes there’s been changes, but the overall picture remains the same: Bogotá is an affordable and stable city to put down roots.

Homicides in Colombia: 2024 update

My round-up of homicide data and trends for Colombia, based on recent official data (2023) and news reports and analysis. I’ll be posting a parallel blog Is Bogotá Safe? 2024 and you can also see my2023 post on safety and security trends in Bogotá here. Posted March 2024. Contact me on colombiacorners@gmail.com Other related posts on security on Colombia Corners are: Colombia’s Cocaine Conflicts – report of recent travel to coca growing villages in Nariño.Is Colombia Safe? – some security

Is Bogotá safe? 2023

“I’m visiting Latin America. Is Bogotá safe?”: the question pops up regularly on social media. Colombia’s capital is a mega-city of nine million people and spread over 1,600 kilometres squared (600 square miles) with extremes of poor and rich. Parts of the city are very dangerous, others much less. According to recent data, Bogotá is safer than most other cities in Colombia (including Medellín) – but is still a large gritty city with plenty of crime. Your safety also depends

Burundanga – it’s bad and it’s back

In Colombia you’ll hear about scopolamine, AKA burundanga , “Devil’s Breath” or “borrachero”. And perhaps you think these druggings only happen to sex tourists. But anyone can fall victim, including local people, seasoned travellers and expats settled in Colombia. You can be ‘scoped’ in a park, in a café, in the street, or on a bus, or even during a Spanish lesson. On the other had around 5 million tourists and visitors come to Colombia every year, and only a

Colombia’s Check-Mig: the on-line form for international air travellers

The free on-line migration form Check-Mig continues post-Covid-19 – as do the scammers trying to make you pay. Here’s an update for 2023 and links to some ‘How To’ videos (and which to avoid).

In the shadow of Los Pachencas of Santa Marta

In a land where big cats prowl, Los Pachencas also make their deadly presence known. Extortion and murder in the Sierra Nevada.

Is Colombia Safe? Some tips for travellers.

The first question on every visitor’s mind: Is Colombia Safe? Here we try and answer it.

April 2019

On the road in Colombia

Colombia is a big country where major cities are one to two day’s drive apart, there are three mountain chains and a lot of jungle to deal with, and plenty of other natural (and man-made) obstacles along the way. The country has justification to blame its poor transport development on its unforgiving geography. The severe La Niña floods that ravaged the country in 2011, for example, took out hundreds of bridges and long sections of main roads. In recent years Colombia has

1 2 »