Bradt Colombia

This new, fourth edition of Bradt’s Colombia has been thoroughly updated to include the most recent developments in this emerging South American destination and to bring to the fore the country’s fast-developing ecotourism offering. After decades of trouble, Colombia now offers one of South America’s most exciting new travel experiences: following the 2016 peace accord, tourism is rapidly reviving as a key economic driver. Moreover, with direct flights from the US to several Colombian cities, including the Caribbean hotspot of Cartagena, accessibility is straightforward.

Ranked the world’s third most beautiful country by Forbes Magazine, the country has nature at its heart. By some estimates, Colombia houses a staggering 10% of the planet’s animal and plant species: pink river dolphins swim in the Amazon near Leticia, ocelots slip between the trees in vine-tangled rainforest and birdwatchers marvel at avian riches in the vast savannah of Los Llanos and various mountain ranges.

In historic Bogotá, the capital, you can gaze in awe at the shimmering pre-Columbian treasures in the Museo de Oro that eluded the gold-greedy conquistadors, enjoy fine dining at one of the Americas’ best restaurants, and tour the city’s street art. Elsewhere, discover Mompós, a colonial backwater undergoing a renaissance with its traditional silver jewellery shops and international jazz festival, and explore the UNESCO Seaflower Biosphere Reserve in the San Andrés Archipelago, plus Providencia, the least developed and visited island in the entire Caribbean.

Alternatively, why not go stargazing amid lunar landscapes in the Tatacoa Desert, cruise the Magdalena River from Cartagena to Barranquilla, watch humpback whales along the Pacific Coast, learn to wrangle cattle during the Coleo festival in Villavicencio, visit ancient rock paintings in unexplored Guaviare, try the traditional fermented tipple of the original Muisca people, admire the rainbow river of Caño Cristales or explore the untouched jungles of Chiribiquete National Park.

New elements of this edition - updated by Latin American specialists who have worked on dozens of guidebooks - include coverage of Yopal, San José del Guaviare, Caqueta, Vichada, Guainia and Palomino. Whatever floats your boat, Bradt’s Colombia has you covered.

Sarah Woods is a member of the Royal Geographical Society, the Society of Authors and British Guild of Travel Writers. She has spent extended periods in Central and South America and writes regularly for newspapers, magazines and online publications about her experience of Latin America. As the author of more than a dozen travel books, Sarah received the Guidebook Writer of the Year Award from the British Guild of Travel Writers in 2005 for Panama (also by Bradt). Sarah spent three years as the travel expert on Alan Titchmarsh’s sofa (on ITV) and as a holiday presenter on BBC Radio Scotland’s morning show. Sarah lectures on South American themes in the UK, Spain and America and has given talks on Colombia at the Royal Geographical Society, bookshops and travel shows. Sarah won the PSA award (2013) for broadcasting and the Kenneth Westcott Prize in both 2007 and 2008. In the past few years she has worked on a documentary about Colombia’s former president Álvaro Uribe (2012) and the centenary of the Panama Canal (2014). Sarah’s compelling travel narrative On a Wing and a Prayer: One Woman’s Journey to the Heart of the Rainforest was published in hardback in May 2015 and is available in bookshops worldwide. She is currently working on a documentary about Colombia’s extraordinary ancient tombs, standing stones, catacombs and funerary chambers in San Agustín. Russell Maddicks is a BBC-trained journalist and travel writer who has spent the last 20 years exploring the countries of Latin America and publishing his experiences in print, online and in social media. A graduate in Economic and Social History from the University of Hull, England, he is fluent in Spanish and loves nothing better than mastering the country-specific slang of the Latin American countries he visits.He has worked as a reporter and editor at the Daily Journal newspaper in Caracas, the editor of a webzine aimed at the Latin American youth market called Loquesea! (Whatever!), and as a regional specialist at BBC Monitoring covering political developments and general news across Latin America.You can follow his Latin American travels on Twitter and Instagram: @LatAmTravelist