People thought I was crazy when I told them that I was going to visit my friend in Bogota, Colombia. I read the state department warnings against traveling to Colombia and heard all the stats on the number of kidnappings. I even had friends offer to organize a rescure plan in the event of my kipnapping. (I think that they were kidding...)

Still I wanted to see my friend again and see the country that she had told me so many wonderful stories about. I must admit that I loved every minute of it. I never felt in danger, despite the military police armed with semi-autmatic weapons patrolling the streets.

I visited too many beautiful places to detial here. I travelled in and around Bogota, the capital city, as well as the Carribean coast. I highly recommend the city of Cartagena. It is beautiful and historic, has gorgeous beaches, and great nightlife.

The highlight of the trip was driving to a small village about an hour outside Bogota named Guatavita. This is a quiant little village that really gives you the feel for both the landscape and the culture of rural Colombia.

   From Guatavita, it is a short drive to *La Laguna*, a dormant volcano which was tranformed into a lake. The legend of *El Dorado* (which the Disney movie depicts terribly) goes something like this...

   The cheif of the pre-colombian tribe adorned himself in gold vestments and sailed to the middle of the lake on a golden raft filled with gold treasures. He then sunk the raft and himself to honor the gods and to keep the conquistadors from getting the gold.

   Colombia is a beautiful country with warm and welcoming people. It is a wonderful place to visit and I a strongly encourage anyone contemplating a vaction there to just take a deep breath and jump in. One suggestion: speak spanish! There are few places where people speak English. This is not one of those countries where you can go and expect to get by without knowing the language. You may end up in trouble.