That “Official Blogger” badge you see in the upper right corner of each page of this blog means that I am now a participating foreign blogger for the Colombian government’s tourism agency, ProExport. You know, the people behind those “The only risk is  wanting to stay” ads.

This in no way means that my writing angle about living and traveling in Colombia will change. ProExport does not exert any control over what I, and the 33 other bloggers in the program publish in our own blogs. We simply contribute original stories to the official web site at colombia.travel in exchange for fifteen minutes of fame! Logically, what I will write for ProExport will be slanted towards promoting the positive aspects of visiting Colombia. It is, after all, about tourism.

Unlike most other expat blogs about Colombia, mine touches upon many topics far removed from travel trivia, such as politics and security. I love this country and its people, but I do not think one can ignore the fact that it is still fighting an internal war and has more than half its population living in poverty. I encourage everybody to visit the wonders of my adopted land, but by the same token I think it is critical that travelers know that the slogan “The only risk…” does not mean there is no risk at all.

It is unlikely anything bad will happen to you when you visit one of the most tourist-oriented sites of Colombia, but if you want to wander far afield, it would be unwise for you to do so without first doing your homework, and sometimes it would be just plain unwise! For instance, my host city, Medellin, is generally very safe, but there are neighborhoods where a tourist should not stray. This is true of many other big cities in the world: you would be rather foolish to casually walk into any of the favelas of Rio de Janeiro — same thing here!

There are still patches of the country that present high levels of risk from one of the so-called rebel groups, remainders of paramilitary outfits and many powerful criminal gangs, all involved in some way in drug trafficking and extortion. These are not nice people and while they are not explicitly targeting foreigners, you probably do not want to cross their paths! Sometimes the difference between good and bad is just one kilometer. A perfect example of what I am talking about is the long, winding highway uniting Medellin to Cartagena that is commonly traveled by backpackers. There is quite a bit of military presence along this road, but you would be ill advised to stray from it or even spend the night in some of the towns that it crosses. The “Bajo Cauca” area is a hotbed of criminal activity, dotted with illegal coca and poppy fields, which you probably do not want to visit!

I am not a fear monger. I live and play in this country and I am never afraid! Why? Because I am well informed and know my boundaries. Tourists generally have less to worry about than someone who lives here, but coming here prepared will allow you to more fully enjoy everything it has to offer, which is a lot!

Come to beautiful Colombia, but with your head screwed-on tight, and I guarantee you will want to come back and even run the risk of staying!