Don’t think for one minute that I am coming at this one from out of leftfield, I too am a dog owner in this city, and the following photo is my dog, Monty the Weimaraner, a six-year old grey bundle of love and chaos. Believe me, when I say that I am reporting from the trenches when I address this Bogotá Stereotype No.7: the Dog Owner.
While all eyes may be on the vote on October 2 when the registered voting public in Colombia will – hopefully – turn out for Si or No on the peace agreements, it’s key to remember that the Government requires only 13 percent of the total (some 4,5 million votes) to achieve their goal of pushing through the accords, my personal concern is not the plebiscite referendum itself but the following 180 days and beyond.
This barrio, Juan XXIII, is but one block from my home in Bogotá. It cannot be more than five or six blocks in size and is facing an uneasy and uncertain future as developers and real estate speculators look down vulture-like at the next plot of land upon which to build a mega-project of apartments in the highly desirable barrio of Chapinero. When I tell taxi drivers to swing through this barrio as a short cut on my route home, some look warily about them, others seem in awe at having never driven though here before. In
Having just enjoyed or perhaps better said, participated in a truly Cachaco experience of the Plan Playa in Santa Marta, it almost feels that my targeting this Bogotá Stereotype No.6 is akin to shooting fish in a barrel.
From here, the Plan Playa is positively a paradise
I suppose since I was in the company of my Colombian family and we fancied a