A bit more about the blog and a geography lesson

As I stated in my kick-off post, I hope that this blog will document my journey toward greater understanding of Colombia and Colombian culture. I further hope that this blog will be developed in a manner so that it can be read both chronologically, for those interested in watching my experiences here unfold in a narrative fashion, or utilized as a reference guide indexed by labels tagged on each post, for those seeking what I hope is helpful and accurate information on the topics I will be addressing.

Ok, enough ‘blog philosophy’ …just had to get it out there for my own sake. On to substance!

My base of operations in Colombia for the foreseeable future will be Bogotá, D.C., the nation’s capital and economic center. Depending on who you ask, Bogotá is home to anywhere from 8-10 million people, or a little less than 1 in 4 Colombians. I’ll be discussing population and demography a bit later on but for now I want to focus on one of my favorite subjects, geography.

Nestled in the Andes on a high mountain plain, or sabana, Bogotá is the third highest capital of any nation at approximately 8,500 feet elevation. (Another way to think of it is that standing in Bogotá your head is about 6,500 feet further from the center of the Earth than the top of the Sears Tower in Chicago…even more if you account for the planet’s bulge near the equator.) The lush green mountains that circumscribe the city rise, at their highest, another 1,500 feet towards the heavens, towering over the tallest of the city’s modern skyscrapers.

Bogotá is situated near the geographic center of the Colombia, resting in the eastern of the three main mountain ranges, or cordilleras, that give the country its unique topographic character. (This reality has played an integral role in the city’s development as well as Colombia’s overall economic and political development, a fascinating topic that I will be delving into at great depth in future posts.) This location puts the city about four and a half degrees north of the equator. The combination of elevation and latitude make for a very potent dose of UV rays from the sun with the ability to burn this gringo’s skin beet read in about 25 minutes without protection.

This mix is also responsible for Bogotá’s mild climate. Generally speaking, daytime highs range between 60-70 degrees Fahrenheit with overnight lows around 50-60. Its far-South latitude means Bogotános experience a wet/dry cycle rather than the ‘seasons’ we gringos are accustomed to up North.