Safety in Colombia

The governing rule is no dar papaya. The phrase translates roughly as do not hand thieves an easy opportunity, and it shapes how locals behave. Leave the expensive watch at home and keep your phone in your pocket on busy streets in Bogota and Medellin.
Scopolamine. The drug, known locally as burundanga, is slipped into drinks or cigarettes to sedate people before robbing them. Never accept an offered drink, cigarette or sweet from a stranger, including a friendly one in a bar.
Taxis at night. Move around after dark only in cars booked through Cabify, DiDi or Uber, ordered from indoors rather than on the pavement.
Neighbourhoods. Do not walk into poorer barrios without a guide. In Bogota, stay away from Ciudad Bolivar and Patio Bonito.
If you are robbed. Hand things over without resistance, because the weapon is likely to be real and nothing you are carrying is worth more than you are.
Altitude. In Bogota and other highland spots, take altitude sickness seriously: drink plenty of water, eat lightly and skip alcohol for the first day.
Before you go. Check your own government's travel advisory for regions currently flagged, and make sure your insurance covers trekking if the Lost City is on your list.

Colombia has changed enormously and become a popular destination, but it remains a country with high crime. The local saying "no dar papaya" — do not give an opening — describes the required behaviour exactly.

Scopolamine is Colombia's main and most distinctive danger. The substance, known as burundanga, strips away will and memory: victims hand over their belongings, give up PINs and lead robbers into their apartments, then remember nothing. It is slipped into drinks, applied to cards and pieces of paper, and blown into the face. The dominant scenario in recent years is dating apps: someone goes on a date and wakes to find their accounts emptied. Foreigners have died of it in Medellín. The rules are strict: accept no drinks or food from new acquaintances, do not bring them home, and never leave a glass unattended.

Motorcycle robbery. Phones and bags in the street. A daily occurrence in Bogotá and Medellín.

Express kidnapping. The "millionaire's ride" around cash machines. Do not get into cars off the street; use apps only.

Fake police. They ask to see your money "for checking". Real officers do not.

Cocaine. Offers on the streets of Medellín and Cartagena are either a set-up or contact with people backed by armed groups.

Drugs. Possession of a small amount for personal use is decriminalised, but production and supply are criminal, and a Colombian prison means years for a foreigner. More important than the legal position is the practical one: buying drugs draws you into a world where matters are not settled by law.

Drones. Registration is required, and they are restricted over cities and infrastructure.

Yellow fever. A vaccination certificate is required to enter a number of national parks including Tayrona, and it is checked at the gate.

National parks. Tayrona closes for a month periodically at the request of Indigenous communities. Check the dates.

Regions people do not go to. Catatumbo, the departments of Cauca, Nariño, Arauca and Chocó, and the areas bordering Venezuela are zones with an armed group presence. Organised routes do not go there and there is nothing for you to do there independently.

Documents. Carry a passport copy.

Photography. Military installations and checkpoints are off limits.

Vaccinations. Yellow fever is effectively compulsory: a certificate is required to enter Tayrona, for domestic flights into the Amazon, and to travel on to neighbouring countries. Have it at least ten days before travel. Hepatitis A and typhoid are also advised, plus malaria prophylaxis for the jungle.

Altitude. Bogotá sits at 2,640 metres. Breathlessness, headache and poor sleep on the first day are normal, and alcohol hits harder. Allow yourself a day.

Dengue. Year-round on the coast and in the lowlands. The mosquito bites by day.

Water. Tap water in Bogotá and Medellín is drinkable and of good quality. On the Caribbean coast, in Cartagena and Santa Marta, bottled only.

The sea. Currents on the Caribbean coast are strong, and some Tayrona beaches are closed to swimming by signage — not over-caution, people have died there.

Healthcare. Colombian private medicine is excellent and inexpensive — the country is building medical tourism. Clinics in Bogotá and Medellín work to international standards. Insurance is needed.

Emergency number is 123.

Colombia sits in the lower part of the Corruption Perceptions Index, but police in tourist areas are active and visible.

Tourist police. Present in Cartagena, Bogotá, Medellín and Santa Marta, in uniforms marked Policía de Turismo, with some English-speaking officers.

Reporting theft. A denuncia can be filed online through the police portal or at a station. That satisfies insurers.

Do not resist a robbery. It is the first thing any Colombian will tell you.

Geography decides everything. El Poblado and Laureles in Medellín, La Candelaria by day and Chapinero in Bogotá, and Cartagena's walled old city are ordinary calm places. Central Bogotá after dark, Comuna 13 without a guide in the evening, the outskirts and the border areas are quite another matter.

Nightlife. A paradox: the highest risk to a foreigner in Colombia is concentrated in prosperous El Poblado, because that is where scopolamine and dating-app schemes operate. The caution required is not in the slums but in the bar.

Emergency number is 123.