PhotosIt’s a well-worn theme, that of the Inca Trail and Machu Picchu. But bear with me: this time – my fifth – we did it in luxury, an experience so alien to me as a …
May 31, 2014
Richard is an Anglo Canadian freelance journalist based in Colombia. When he's not exploring his new homeland, he's writing about it and when he's not writing he's running his small guesthouse (La Casa Amarilla) of the Garcia Marquian town of Mompos.
Blog: richardmccoll.com
Articles by Richard McColl
Macchu Picchu, in style
Caño Cristales, Colombia
The army sharpshooter looks us up and down, his anti-guerrilla livery emblazoned on a tightly wound bandana. He establishes quickly that we represent no threat, shows us his rifle and smiles, revealing braces. Incongruous, I …
October 20, 2013
Providencia, Colombia
Below us, the island came into view, encircled by a brittle ring of coral reefs made distinguishable by whitewater ripping at the edges. A turquoise iris skirted the white sandy edges of the Caribbean island …
June 18, 2013
I Am Rambo in Chiribiquete, Colombia
Strangely, the noxious swarm of mosquitos intent on doing me harm had ebbed, and the growl of the Chiribiquete waterfall (below) no longer sounded, as if its familiarity to my ears after a few hours …
March 4, 2013
Surinam: Outpost for the Scottish Diaspora
The gravedigger noticed me looking a bit lost among the weeds and snakes of the old cemetery. He shouted to me. "Bakra, over there." I looked up. "More further," he said, wiping the sweat away …
December 4, 2012
Striking a Balance: The Falklands
Keith the Kelper grapples with the wires, yanking some down, twisting them, forwards, backwards and then finally wrapping them tightly around the post. “It’s those cows that do this, they chew the signs I suppose …
November 15, 2012
Into the Heart of Magic Realism Country
There is a family somewhere near the Colombian Caribbean coast who have a novel way of caring for their elderly, infirm grandfather. Supposedly, along the banks of the river Magdalena, the very same river that …
October 22, 2012
Carnaval en Rio – Firsthand
My head was pounding. Fireworks crackled overhead. Hordes jeered, screamed, waved and then broke into joyous whirls of samba. The smell was unbearable, an open sewer ran beside our Sambódromo warm-up lane, and yet thousands …
September 28, 2012