Situated in the northwest corner of South America, Colombia is the only country in the region with coasts on both the Caribbean and Pacific Ocean. It shares borders with Panama, Venezuela, Brazil, Peru and Ecuador, and maritime limits with Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Honduras, Jamaica, Dominican Republic and Haiti. The diversity of landscapes in Colombia is mind blowing. There are 1600 kms of beaches on the Caribbean coast; three mountain ranges including the Andes and three deserts.
The longest mountain range in the world, the Andes enters Colombia in the Nudo de los Pastos in the south of the country, where it divides into two. In the Colombian Massif it separates into three mountain chains that cross Colombia from south to north and create a rugged terrain, with peaks higher than 5,300 metres above sea level, expansive highland plains, deep canyons and broad valleys. These three mountain chains, crowned by perennial snow, boggy paramos, Andean rainforests, deserts and marshes, produce terrain that varies with altitude and whose fertile soils support an immense variety of crops. They are also where the majority of the country’s population live.
Colombia is a great destination for nature tourism. It is rich in a diverse variety of flora and fauna, boasting the most bird species in the world with roughly 10% of the world’s endemic species to be found here. You will also find around 130,000 of the world’s 300,000 recorded varieties of plants. The people of Colombia are amongst the most hospital people in the world. Their friendly culture makes this country a joy to visit and travel through. Colombians surely know how to party; there are more events, festivals and parties each year than anywhere else in the world.
You can find some of the world best spots for outdoor sports as well. As well as horse riding you can enjoy biking, rafting, climbing, diving, paragliding, hiking, abseiling and rappelling to name a few – the list is almost endless. The culture and history of this country is amazing with many wonderful historic places and ancient cities. At the other end of the spectrum Bogota and Medellin are world class cities and very modern – full of amazing museums, hotels, restaurants, and currently experiencing a massive economic expansion.
