Roaming South America

Ibagué, Colombia

September 21, 2023

Ibagué, Colombia, has a population of about 507,000, while the metropolitan area increases to about 629,000. The city sits in a valley in the Andes Mountains Central Range on the eastern side. The Combeima River passes through the western part of the city. The valley does not have a flat bottom, and the city is, therefore, quite hilly. They call Ibagué the "city of music." That expression dates back to 1886. A French count was impressed by the musical atmosphere of the city and the fact that it had a music conservatory. At the time, there were many buildings painted with music-related murals. I saw none during my visit.

Neiva, Colombia

September 18, 2023

Neiva, Colombia, has a population of about 358,000. This small city has the Magdalena River (the second longest river in South America) flowing along the western side, north to south, and the Ceibas River cutting through the northern half of the city from east to west. This area is the Magdalena River Valley, which sits between the Central Range and the Eastern Range of the Andes Mountains.

Mocoa, Colombia

September 15, 2023

Mocoa (pronounced Mocóa), Colombia, is a city in the southcentral part of Colombia. It sits on the eastern side of the Andes Mountains, where the climate is not terribly hot, but the humidity is always very high, as in 77% is the lowest average, and that is for the month of September, the rest of the year is higher, typically in the mid-to high-80% range.

This was my second visit to Mocoa. I didn't visit because it is particularly special, it's not, but because I want to continue my journey north on the east side of the Andes.

Visit to Ipiales, Colombia

November 11, 2022

First, in case you're curious, my wanderings around all the towns I am visiting are visible on my Strava profile. There's a link to it in the column to the right, or if you're on a phone or small tablet it's probably below these blog entries. So far, the towns are Buga, Popayán, Pitalito, and Mocoa. In each of those town I walked between 20 - 25 kilometers (12 - 15 miles) exploring them.

The towns of Mocoa and Pasto, Colombia

November 8, 2022

I was in Mocoa for 2 nights and enjoyed the visit. It's a nice little pueblo in a small valley at about 600 meters (about 1968 feet). When I first arrived in town I also recieved a message from a friend in Barranquilla telling me to be careful because Mocoa is in a "Red Zone". Here in Colombia there are red zones - areas where any of the various narcotrafico groups/illegal armed groups/guerrilla groups are located. So, when I was out exploring the town I went by the police station and spoke to two officers and they told me the town is fine, the armed groups are all out in the mountain jungles and don't come into the towns. I also spoke to the hostess at the hotel and she told me basically the same thing. And again, I spoke to a man I met when out walking and he, too, said the same thing. So, nothing to worry about walking around in town.