Back CONUS from Colombia

rpn said:
Glad you're back safe and sound. Playing with narcos, paramilitary and Farc as a gringo is no joke.

Passing customs at El Dorado airport is no joke either. I mentioned before my spouse is from Bogota and I don't remember the last time I went through the airport without everthing getting unpacked and looked over. Course, I'm shifty looking! ;)

Colombia is rough. Great people with tough problems. My wife is connected with Human Rights networks there and we found out friends have been receiving threats on their families from DAS- like our FBI- lovely. :thumbdn:

It's no joke there...almost got a job at the embassy last year. We'll work there someday...with it's eco diversity- could be another Costa Rica with more safety and stability.
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You're absolutely right. Everything I have been a part of in Colombia has been very professional. All branches of the Colombian government and every agency in the Embassy takes their job very seriously because they understand the high stakes involved. We just appreciate the opportunity the Colombian government (and the Americans) have provided to us to tell the story. I plan on visiting Colombia many more times in the future. Beautiful country. Beautiful people.
 
Nice to have you back... very scary but important work! Thanks for doing that.

Im kind of new here... Not being a disrespectful, but what is your background that enables you to do that? Are you there as a field expert to assist in case a survival situation happens? Or are you there for the magazine?

Just curious...

BTW, I ordered my RC4 while you were gone! CANT wait to get it.

Oh and now that you are home safe and sound... what about that little teaser of SOMETHING NEW... Inquiring minds want to know! ;)
 
I'm nothing more than a writer and photographer covering a story for SWAT magazine. I don't even consider myself a journalist. In fact, I don't particularly care for journalists because most of them have an agenda. My only agenda is telling the truth and learning about different people, cultures and what makes them tick. I have never been in the military, never had any high-speed tactical training, not been a part of a SWAT team or anything else that may "qualify" me to go to some of the places I go or do some of the things I do. Nothing spooky about what I do, nor do i care to hang around with spooky people - just not my thing. I'm simply a curious person and when I want to find out what's going on, I do my best to track down every lead and research every angle. That may be the death of me some day but if it is then it's no one's fault but my own. Colombia, the drug war and the players associated with it have fascinated me for years simply because it has so many major consequences on the United States. I've covered it in Peru in the past and will continue to cover it in some form or another in the future. I actually plan to write a book on all of this some day. SWAT and other magazines have given me a venue to cover such things, and for that, I am grateful. Colombia is indeed a serious place with a lot of consequences for your actions. As the other poster said, it's not a joke, but it does have a story to tell and will have for some time.
 
Thats awesome!

I didn't mean anything by my question... I hope you didnt take it that way. I was just curious.

Sounds awesome! Glad you are back safe and sound. What an adventure!
 
Black said:
Is the visa hard to obtain?
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They just stamp you in at the airport. Lot's of great places to visit and tourism has increased a lot the last few years. On the caribbean coast are Cartagena, Santa Marta and a awesome reserve called Parque Taryona. Cali is the party city- great salsa and beautiful women, Medellin is in the middle of the coffee growing area, Bogota is big 8-10 million people- climate is less than great IMO. They have areas in the amazon that are supposed to be cool. Huge range of climate- from the pacific/atlantic coast to snow capped andes and everything in between. lot's of great places to see, some of my favorite food, tons of nice people- you just need to do a little hmwk and not do something something stupid/go someplace controlled by FARC or ELN- I really wouldn't want to play with the paramilitaries either- that all said- lots of good and safe places to go...
 
I've been to Brazil, but it required a visa. Good to know I can just show up in Columbia; wouldn't mind paying them a visit.
 
Glad to have you all back safely. Sounds like you had a very interesting trip this time out. Let us know what issue of SWAT the write up will be in. I would love to read it.

Best regards,

Les.

R.A.T. said:
Just wanted to touch base and let everyone know we're back from Colombia.

Way too many threads here for me to go over everything. If anything needs our attention, please bring it back to the top.

When I have time I will post some photos but I have a lot of editing to do before I can do that. Plus, some of the photos will need approval before we can post them publicly. Spent a good part of our trip on Blackhawk helicopters with about 30 Colombian Jungla Special Operations guys and some American agents. Located and blew up a very large HCL (cocaine) lab in the middle of the jungle. Lab was capable of producing 500-600 kilos of pure coke a day. All of this will be reported in SWAT magazine...that's the reason we were there. Anyway, we're tired after the long trip back home so I will do my best to get some stuff up soon.
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