Colombia Calling - The English Voice in Colombia

In our final episode of this three-part series with journalist Nadja Drost on crossing the Darien Gap, we bring the conversation back to the article Drost wrote for California Sunday magazine in April 2020. We discuss her experiences on the trail, the physical toll the journey took on her and delve into the extreme nature of thrill seekers in search of their next off-limits adventures such as in the Darien.

NADJA DROST is a Canadian journalist and documentary filmmaker. Currently based in New York, she lived in Bogotá, Colombia, for a decade and continues to report on Latin America for the PBS NewsHour and other outlets.

Direct download: RCC_326.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 10:30am EDT

Picking up where we left off in Part 1, Canadian journalist Nadja Drost continues her tale of travel alongside desperate migrants from all over the world in their hopeful quest of reaching the United States. At times, this does not make for easy listening.

We discuss the realities of the crossing through the Darien jungle, the most physically demanding section of their oddessey and Drost provides us with not only vital insights and information but also some of the stories she collects along the way.

NADJA DROST is a Canadian journalist and documentary filmmaker. Currently based in New York, she lived in Bogotá, Colombia, for a decade and continues to report on Latin America for the PBS NewsHour and other outlets.

Direct download: RCC_325.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 10:30am EDT

In what is a three-part series on the Colombia Calling podcast, we'll be exploring the realities - warts and all - of crossing the Darien Gap from Colombia to Panama. Canadian journalist Nadja Drost made the crossing in 2019 and her excellent piece came out in the California Sunday Magazine in April 2020. It makes for a terrifying and harrowing read, but is arguably one of the best articles I have read so far this year.

Drost brings us down to earth with stories of migrants from Sri Lanka to Cameroun and the difficulties they face on this physically and mentally demanding passage. Do all of their migrants make it to the US, what happens when they are in Mexico, did the journalists end up sharing their food, what were the dangers?

We address all of these issues and more over the coming three weeks.

NADJA DROST is a Canadian journalist and documentary filmmaker. Currently based in New York, she lived in Bogotá, Colombia, for a decade and continues to report on Latin America for the PBS NewsHour and other outlets.

Tags and Keywords: darien gap, journalist nadja drost, colombia to panama, migrants in darien, migrants reaching US, hike darien gap, adventure colombia, carlos villalon, richard mccoll journalist, colombia calling podcast, podcast english colombia

Direct download: RCC_324.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 10:30am EDT

Both a successful Judge and a Barrister in the UK, Sarah Lucy Cooper's life could have taken an extremely different course were foreigners permitted to practice law in Colombia. However, as we learn in Episode 323 of the Colombia Calling podcast, her 1990 introduction to Colombia defined the course she took in her life back home.

We hear from Cooper regarding her time in Colombia and her frequent visits to the country, her reflections on Colombian law and definitely understand why she has been described as: "a robust and tenacious lawyer equally adept at handling witnesses as arguing the finer points of law."

Tune in for an upbeat yet honest understanding of contemporary Colombia.

Direct download: RCC_323.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 10:30am EDT

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