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What do steel projectiles, screaming Colombian men, and explosives have in common? Well, besides the FARC. The answer is the national sport of Colombia: tejo.
Never heard of it? It’s lawn bowls on steroids, or badminton with hand grenades – a refreshing mix of adrenaline, testosterone and gunpowder. And the proper way of playing, it’s said, [...]
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Ten years ago, Colombia was the kidnapping country of the world, and its second largest city, Medellin, was the murder capital of the world. When I made my first of many journeys to South America ten years ago, I was warned not to go to Colombia. Ten years ago, people who rode with their arms [...]
Smack-bang between the Andes and the Caribbean coast, the dry plains of Valledupar were home to South America’s first cowboys (vaqueros) in the 17th century.
Like a kind of Wild West south of the border, this was true big sky country – every man for himself, come hell or high water. Spanish haciendas peppered the arid [...]
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