Buenaventura, Colombia

Buenaventura doesn't have the best reputation as it used to be one of the most violent cities... I won't go into more details you can google it, but today it's center is quite safe and from what I experienced I quite like it and the people.

90% of the city is African American and has one of the more important ports in all of Colombia.

I stayed two nights there with a Couchsurfer who is helping to build a cultural center there. I walked around the city center taking photos and ended up meeting a parking lot attendant, a girl who cells minutes to call on a cell phone and another woman and her children who were trying to lure people to their restaurant. I spent the good part of the day chatting with them about the city and my travels and their kids wanted plenty of photos taken of them.

The city itself is very bustling as a port city but has a sort of chat that I imagine you might find on Cuba. I found a street cafe filled with gentlemen chatting, drinking coffee and getting their shoes polished while reading the newspaper. I sat down there every morning to write and soak in the atmosphere.Read more