Hey travelers.

I would like to share very briefly, my trip to Colombia.

Colombia Montage Film on YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M1Be9vtLN_g) , Vimeo (http://vimeo.com/30248589), and My Website (www.TomRamble.com)

I arrived in Colombia in November last year and have yet to leave. (the tourism advert slogan is very accurate, ´the only risk is wanting to stay´. I flew in from New Zealand, via LA, and my first inkling of understanding of the Colombian people happened right as the plane touched down. The nervious passengers (mostly Colombians) suddenly erupted into celebration, shouting the likes of ´viva Colombia´!!! and opening bottles of rum. A young Costeña mother from Barranquilla invited me to visit them in there home and the general atmosphere was ecstatic!

Colombians are very patriotic and love there country. They see way past the dirty foreign image outsiders have given Colombia. They are rated the fifth happiest country in the world, according to the HPI (happy planet index) (although they are tenth to last on the global peace index).

I have read (I believe on Wikipedia, so may not be accurate) that Bogota DC has a lower crime rate than Washington DC, and I certainly have not felt in any danger during my entire stay thus far.

Bogota is an incredible diverse city (as lonely planet say ¨it is the city with one thousand barrios´. It is almost as diverse as the Colombian climate and landscape.

Instead of writing everything down I´d like to show you a short Montage film I photographed of the Colombian Coast. Because a picture is certainly a thousand words. This montage film is meant to show the beauty of Colombia and not the negative aspects, and is perhaps not necessarily the accurate reality of all Colombia, but its the way I see it. Vibrant, Alive, Colourful and Diverse.

Colombia Montage Film on YouTube , Vimeo , and My Website (about documentary making)
It was shot entirely on the canon 60D (with old Zeiss lenses) along the Caribbean Coast of Colombia (including the desert in Cabo de la Vela, the jungle in Tayrona National Park, and the Carnival in Barranquilla). Most of the footage is shot handheld, or using a homemade rig.

Thanks to the Quintero family for showing me your amazing country!

The music is by Ravi – Amazon Journey, and Totó la Momposina – Carnaval (Toto being a Colombian icon)

Please let me know what you think, and help share the beauty of Colombia by passing the link on.

On another note, next year I will be producing a documentary series about South America (as well as Central and North and Spain), you can view the Original thread Here

Thanks,
Tom

ps, I will write up a full article to post on here soon!
pss, (If anyone needs any advice on Bogota, Medillin, Cabo de la Vela, Barranquilla, Cartagena, Tayrona, Taganga, Villa de leyva, Villavicencio, or the islands, don´t hesitate to ask!)