Colombia: Adventure and Extreme Sport

Colombia’s rugged topography encloses an infinite number of environments that are ideal for exploring. Colombia adventure features varied landscapes and regions, rich in flora and fauna, which are an invitation to experience unforgettable thrills.

To explore our natural parks, valleys, mountains, savannas, deserts, seas, lakes, and rivers is to discover an exuberant nature where the practice of extreme sports is a permanent temptation. In Colombia, adventure is waiting for you.

Colombia is not only a tropical land. It possesses a gigantic aquatic garden in the Pacific Ocean and a virtually unlimited pool in the Caribbean Sea.

Indeed, our house is enormous and the only one in South America with such attractions. Located at the geographical center of the American continent, it occupies a small portion of the tropical zone, and is a country graced by abundant water, bathed by the two biggest oceans on the planet, and dotted with islands, cays, and coral reefs. Over 2,900 km of coastline, with cliffs and rocky and sandy beaches, constitute a large tourist attraction due to their expanse and color.

Colombia is one of the world’s diving marvels thanks to the privileged features of its two oceans, considered true living laboratories. On account of the unique adaptations of the fauna, the wealth of vegetation is home to endemic species.

Diving in Colombia involves visiting  national natural parks and flora and fauna sanctuaries, traveling across extensive virgin beaches  and jungles, and getting to know Indian villages and communities that preserve their ancestral traditions.

    Paragliding

A French poet once wrote that “flying is like looking at birds and smiling without envy, knowing that when one wishes, one can open one’s wings to accompany them.” As an action, flying is a dream common to all men, a dream of being carried away by a sense of freedom and surrendering to the will of the wind. In the context of expression, flying is about going beyond, about giving in to imagination to the point of abandoning logic.

Surely, these were the motives of the creators of paragliding - undoubtedly the sport that comes closer to man’s old illusion. Flying on a paraglider is safe, does not pollute, allows contact with the wind and, if as this were not enough, it is a delight to the senses when flying above spectacular and exotic landscapes.

Due to a variety of sites and the presence of experienced sportsmen and companies offering the service, Colombia has consolidated as a preferred destination for giving in to the thrills of paragliding. Contrary to what many think, the sport does not generate dizziness, but rather a sense of full tranquility.

Travel patterns of people of color

Over the decades, public and private travel among Americans has increased significantly, making America one of the most mobile of societies.  However, many policy-makers are concerned that the nature and distribution of travel are uneven, especially with regards to people of color.  Developing a broader understanding of travel behavior of people of color, which includes African-Americans, Hispanics, Asians, and others, is essential to create a more equitable distribution of transportation system options.  This understanding involves many aspects, including why, when, and how people travel, and how each of these aspects varies with time, geography, and population characteristics. There is still very little known about the travel patterns of people of color.  Only recently have significant efforts been made to better understand travel behavior among racial and ethnic groups.  This topic joins a small but growing field in transportation research that analyzes other issues of equity in travel including gender, age, disability, and wealth.

The population of people of color is growing and this growth is expected to grow much faster than thepopulation of Whites well into the 21th century.  Thus, this is an increasingly important share of total travel demand.  Travel by people of color is changing rapidly, with significant increases in travel and changes in mode choice.  A high level of mobility is essential to the lifestyles and economic well-being ofall people; historically, many people of color have not enjoyed as high a level of mobility as the White population.  In many ways, people of color have yet to experience some of the shifts in travel that have occurred for Whites.  The trends may be converging in some important measures of mobility, but the speed of convergence is slow.  Some of the delay is caused by the wide range of incomes, education, and travel choices within these populations.

This report begins to develop a body of literature on travel by people of color to better understand how Americans of all ethnic backgrounds are using our transportation systems today and to generate ideas to improve transportation mobility. The majority of the data used in these papers is from the Nationwide Personal Transportation Survey (NPTS) and the U.S. decennial Census.  This report is a compilation of seven separate papers, each with its own specific focus and point of view.  The topics include race, inequality, and travel patterns; demographics; commuting; residential location; mode choice; and gender differences.

The first chapter, “Race, Inequality, and Travel Patterns Among People of Color,” was written by Abel Valenzuela Jr., associate director for the Center for the Study of Urban Poverty, Institute for Social Science Research, University of California, Los Angeles.   The chapter provides a context for understanding social and economic inequality in the U.S. among people of color and how this inequality is connected to transportation patterns.  Valenzuela addresses two key issues: the nature of inequality in the U.S. and travel patterns as they relate to inequality.  He provides a broad overview of inequality, highlighting three particular areas of importance: immigration and rapid demographic change; economic restructuring and persistent inequality; and persistent racial residential segregation.

Valenzuela finds that uneven outcomes exist by race, ethnicity, gender, and age on a number of social indicators, including the distribution of transportation resources and travel patterns.  As travel patterns have changed, so have the contours of race and inequality in the U.S.  Travel patterns among people of color are complex but clearly differentiated from the White population and other subcategories such as gender and age.  Understanding inequality is part of the solution, as is understanding the role that uneven transportation opportunities, investments, and uses have in maintaining dichotomous relationships among different socioeconomic indicators.

Travel and exploration

In this context,  the literature of travel  and  exploration  refers  to  books written by Europeans or Americans about what came to  be  known  as the   "Third World Asia,  Africa, the islands of  the  Pacific, and t o  a certain extent the Americas (as relating to Amerindians) It would not include work in t h e  field of  anthropology. This literature of travel and exploration  (and  conquest] begins  around  the  time of  Columbus and goes onward until the early twentieth  century, when tourism  began  t o  make  the whole  world  a replica of  the  West  and nothing was left to  be explored Travel Literature.  

During  the  sixteenth,  seventeenth, and  eighteenth centuries, it was possible to write about "sodomie" with some frankness. Accordingly,  there  are numerous  candid references  to  homosexuality  in  the   various writings of  travelers which were collected in  massive multivolume anthologies  by Richard  Haklyt, Samuel  Purchas, and John Pinkerton.  Purchas  (the source  of Coleridge's  "Kubla  Khan") even  has  a unique reference t o  the homosexuality of the Emperor Jahangir of India. Many other travel books during this period not  collected by any later editor also contain data of  this kind.

As the eighteenth century drew to a close, a slow tidal wave of puritanism and prudery rolled over the West, and by 1835 it had ceased to be safe to make open references to homosexuality in books intended for general use. Here and there in France and Germany, scholars during the nineteenth  century were  able  t o   write articles or even books about homosexuality, or to mention i t  in passing, but in  the English speaking world there was  an almost  absolute taboo against mentioning such  an  "unspeakable"  subject  at  all. 

Travelers therefore either simply did not mention what they saw in foreign lands with regard to homosexual behavior, or else they mentioned i t in veiled phrases ("vice against nature," llabominablevice," "unnatural  propensities," and  similar expressions). This sort of nonsense went on until the  veil  was  rudely  lifted  by Arminius Vambery and Sir Richard Buaon in the late nineteenth century, Vambery being a Hungarian traveler who had visited the  court of  the pederastic Amir  of Bukhara in Central Asia, and Burton being the notorious explorer of  Asia and Africa who wrote a whole  essay  on pederasty, which  provoked  howls  of  "moral"  out- rage. But the Oscar Wilde trials in 1895 put the  lid back on until after World War I, and even  to a certain extent  until  after World War 11.

Tourism in the Developing World

Although often underestimated, the tourism industry can help promote peace and stability in developing countries by providing jobs, generating income, diversifying the economy, protecting the environment, and promoting cross-cultural awareness. Tourism is the fourth largest industry in the global economy.

However, key challenges must be addressed if peace-enhancing benefits from this industry are to be realized. These include investments in infrastructure and human capacity, the development of comprehensive national strategies, the adoption of robust regulatory frameworks, mechanisms to maximize in-country foreign currency earnings, and efforts to reduce crime and corruption.

The case studies of India, Kenya, and Nigeria reveal several important points. First, relative peace and a degree of economic development are preconditions for a successful tourist industry. Second, although it has the capacity to help promote peace and prosperity, tourism can also cause a great deal of harm unless it is carefully developed. Third, to deliver optimal benefits, tourism must be respectful of the environment and mindful of cultural and social traditions. Fourth, tourism must be supported by a coherent national strategy and robust laws.

 For tourism to help deliver prosperity and stabilize communities effectively, specific action must be taken by three main constituencies: host communities, host governments, and foreign stakeholders. Host communities should work to leverage their competitive advantage, improve service delivery, and protect their environment and culture. Host governments should establish supportive strategies, introduce and implement necessary regulations, remove bottlenecks, and adopt internationally recognized tourism standards. Foreign stakeholders could prioritize tourism as a viable economic force, direct investment to this sector, and facilitate knowledge and technological transfers.