Tag Archives: Colombia

City of Song – vallenato music in Cartagena

Posted on March 19, 2017 by Stephen Woodman

The humidity was the first thing I noticed as I stepped from the plane in Cartagena, Colombia. The bear hug embrace of the Caribbean air was so implausibly powerful that it was difficult to believe that locals didn’t still find … Continue reading →

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Magic and melancholy in Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s Macondo

Posted on October 17, 2016 by Stephen Woodman

From the moment my bus rumbles to a stop outside Aracataca station, I have the sense that an entire sleeping village is rising from my memory. The scorched streets, rusted tin roofs and dusty almond trees—I instantly recognise it all … Continue reading →

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Pablo Escobar’s son brings message of peace to Mexico

Posted on April 16, 2016 by Stephen Woodman

“At one point there was a four-million-dollar price on my head,” said Sebastián Marroquín, the son of infamous Colombian drug lord Pablo Escobar. “But I don’t want anyone in the audience to get too excited, there’s no one left to pay … Continue reading →

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What was great about Gabo?

Posted on April 18, 2014 by Stephen Woodman

The news that Gabriel Garcia Marquez, the Colombian Nobel prize-winning author, died yesterday led to an outpouring of tribute in the press, across Twitter and from a wide array of celebrities. The Colombian president, Juan Manuel Santos, described him as … Continue reading →

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