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On Foot in Colombia - Lucky to be There

Colombia – it’s a name that scares some, invigorates others. Walks Worldwide expert Nathan Whittaker first set foot in the region in his late teens as what his mother referred to at the time – “a naive young man in search of trouble”.Here he shares his memories.

Looking back I might have been naive – 18 years old and alone in South America, I probably took more risks than I ought to. Yet, if I was naive, it wasn’t because I went to Colombia.

What I found there has me enchanted and I long await my return. After two months walking around the Amazon; in Colombia I found perspective, the ability to see again. Unique in South America – it’s where the spine of a continent, the longest mountain range in the world, splits in three and trickles into the forest.

I remember reading Bill Bryson and etching a quote into my diary "Stand in a desert or prairie and you know you are in a big space. Stand in the woods and you only sense it." Colombia is the antithesis of this, the precipitous serrated mountains standing within, yet towering over the ranging forests which break only for the rocks and green grassland. It is bursting with life. The truth is, there’s nothing more to fear about Colombia than anywhere else, I was lucky to be there.