Colombian photographer Gabriel Eisenband performed a great public service when he decided to abandon his career in marketing to pursue his passion and dream of a life behind the lens. 

Now, Eisenband is a journeyman around his beloved Colombia and is the principal photographer for the new Colombia National Parks coffee table book available from July 2018. Having himself visited 41 of Colombia's national parks, he may be the person who has seen the most of this country and so we at Colombia Calling have the opportunity to sit down with him and talk about his latest project and the adventures he encountered along the way. 

Follow him and see some of his photos on instagram: @gaboeisenband
or, better yet, buy the book!

On Ep238 of the Colombia Calling podcast, we catch up with Jennie Levitt and get to see her new publication, "The Paris Picnic Club," a delightfully constructed cookbook put together with her business partner Shaheen Peerbhai, and illustrated with paintings by Levitt herself. The result is a collection of 100 mouthwatering and exciting recipes which stem from their student days in Paris and crosses continents to include elements from Peerbhai's native India and Levitt's adopted homeland of Colombia. 

The launch in Bogotá for the Paris Picnic Club is expected for September 2018 and we can expect to wash delicious platters down with cordials or juices from the book itself, or perhaps even, some sparkling fruit juices made by Levitt under the brand Corelia. Available in Bogotá and with flavours of Mandarine, Passion Fruit, Blackberry and Lulo and produced in Chapinero, Bogotá, Levitt's is truly a story of success in Colombia. 

Tune in for a fun and upbeat episode of Colombia Calling.

It's always a real pleasure to have the brains behind the Leyenda del Dorado (la-leyenda.com) mountain bike race on the show bringing with them an infectious enthusiasm for Colombia and what they are doing. So, on Ep237 of the Colombia Calling podcast we chat with race creator Brian Murphy and his sidekick Dave Procter based in the city of Cali to talk about this, the third edition of the only race of its kind in Colombia. 

With 250 participants coming from 21 nations for this multi-stage mountain bike race to take on the challenge of volcanic ascents, humid river valleys, colonial towns and coffee plantations in the department of Caldas, this is a UCI certified event which is not for the faint of heart. 

Hear about the news sections to the race, who is coming to participate, how the locals have embraced this event to their hearts and check out the daily updates and drone footage on La Leyenda's website.

It's a pleasure to have Adriaan Alsema of Colombia Reports (www.colombiareports.com) back on the show, this time, on Ep236 of Colombia Calling he discusses with us his newfound cult status - he is currently being shadowed by a photographer from the Dutch edition of Esquire Magazine who is doing a feature on him. So, for once the guy who writes the news becomes the news. 

However, the real reason for Alsema's return to Colombia Calling is to talk about the terrifying state of affairs for journalists and social/ community leaders in Colombia. Official figures put the number of deaths of Community leaders across Colombia since Jan 1 2016 at over 300. The worst departments are Cauca and Antioquia, but it is happening all over. 

We discuss this genocide, the problems in reporting and which groups and potentially behind the killings and why. 

Please tune in to this important episode telling the story of a tragic situation in Colombia.

There's an announcement to be made on Colombia Calling, no the "English Voice in Colombia," is not going away, but, we'll be branching out and there's a Spanish language podcast in the making (yes, I will stumble through in Spanish). There will be more about this in the podcast, so you have to tune in, but, just rest assured Jose Miguel Jaramillo (Ep219) of www.urbanlink.co and myself will be at he helm!