In the light of the agreement reached by the FARC guerrillas and the Colombian government on Wednesday September 23 to sign a definitive peace accord on March 23rd 2016 bringing 51 years of conflict to an end, an interview with the Director of Save the Children couldn't have been timed more appropriately.

We get to sit down with Director Jez Stoner in the NGO's Bogota offices and talk about the possibilities of a post conflict situation in Colombia and learn about the realities and complexities of the Colombian conflict in an area as isolated and overlooked as Guapi on the Pacific coast.

It will not have escaped anyone's notice here in Colombia that more and more shows, series and films are coming to these shores to film and one company deeply involved in this process is Screen Colombia (www.screencolombia.com) run by Briton John Paul Lancaster and his Colombian wife Luna. Together they scour the land and beyond for ideal places for film sets.

In fact, I can only imagine that most of you out there have indeed watched some of the shows produced by Screen Colombia - without perhaps knowing that they were filmed here - because they include series such as Naked and Afraid and Banged Up Abroad.

So, I am thrilled to be able to share this interview with you and to be able to provide you with an insight into how Colombia is moving forward, why people are coming to film here and what's in the pipeline for the future.

Sometimes you get the experience to explore a city to a profundity that is unexpected and last week I was able to visit the off-limits (drugs, prostitution, homelessness and misery) areas of Santa Fe and Martires to attend some presentations given by the Colombian department of National Heritage at the Teatro San Jorge. 

We can take the Teatro San Jorge (which opened her doors in 1938) as a central architectural piece displaying how the centre of Bogota has fallen into decadence since the 1940s. It's a socio economic change that has come about through communication, transportation access, the change in the economy and more...all issues and topics for discussion in Episode 111. 

If you are interested further in some of Bogota's hidden stories you can check them out here on my blog: 

http://www.richardmccoll.com/bogotas-forgotten-history/

http://www.richardmccoll.com/teatro-san-jorge/

All too often friends and loved ones move away and in this case it's the turn of Tara Daze and Rafael Santamaria to bid us farewell. 

This couple, having met in Manchester UK and then married and moved across the world together, Colorado and Bogota amongst their homes, are now starting a new chapter of their lives in Houston, Texas. 

Listen to this Anglo Colombian couple speak of challenges bested in Bogota and their love for Colombia, the adventure ahead and more on this Episode 110 on Colombia Calling.

Taking the reins and enjoying his newfound fame as "The English Voice of Colombia", Colombia Calling host Richard McColl takes the show all alone in this Episode 109 talking all things Colombian. 

Having taken a short break in Miami Richard is back in Bogota and rearing to go, he discusses Tom Cruise's visit to Medellin to film yet another movie about Pablo Escobar, and apparently Sylvester Stallone is on his way too to look for places to film an inexplicable fourth instalment of The Expendables. 

The economy and the devaluation of the Colombian Peso are also a hot topic this week with the exchange rate swinging dramatically in favour of those wishing to invest funds from overseas into Colombia or to come and visit the country. 

And finally, we discuss the implications of the recent diplomatic spat between Venezuela and Colombia as Colombians living in Venezuela become the latest scaegoats of the Maduro regime. 

Tune in and enjoy!

Canadian surfer Brian Rea is living the dream. 

Having dropped out of university, he became a beach bum with a difference in Colombia. Using his skills and his brother Colm's knowledge they started the Costeno Beach Surf camp (www.costenosurf.com) along the Colombian Caribbean coast near to the pristine beaches of the Tayrona National Park. 

And the success story continues, running almost at full capacity all year round, later in 2015 these Toronto natives will be expanding their operations to include further palm frond huts and facilities for their guests in their corner of heaven.

Can it get any better you ask? Well, at the end of August Brian will be getting married to a Colombian pop star! People dream of this kind of lifestyle! Check out his fiancee Liliana's band Bomba Estereo when you get a chance. Described as psychadelic cumbia they are one of the most popular groups in Colombia at the moment (www.bombaestereo.com). 

But, it could have all gone terribly wrong just a few month ago as Brian was attacked by a huge crocodile after a surfing trip. Fortunately, he made it out alive and is here on Colombia Calling to share the tale with us. It's a jaw dropping account of survival, not to be missed!

I for one believe that there is a dearth of quality contemporary literature out there available about Colombia and while author Tom Feiling would clearly shy from the accolades at having successfully started to stop this gap, a routine search for informative and interesting books about this country would inevitably lead you to him. 

Feilings books "Short Walks from Bogota, Journeys in the New Colombia" (2012), and "The Candy Machine: How Cocaine Took Over the World" (2010) are two fascinating books and are highly recommended. So we track down Tom in London and get to discuss his latest project set for publication in 2016 all about the history of the Colombian Caribbean island of Providencia. 

Check out Tom Feiling's website here (www.tomfeiling.com) and inform yourself on Colombia before coming to visit!

Joining us this week from Asheville, NC is David Seth Miller. To most travellers David will need no introductions as he's a familiar face on the travel writing scene as Matador's Senior Editor and Director of Curricula at MatadorU. Check out the Matador page if you don't know it and reap the benefits of some serious inspiration! matadornetwork.com

David is the winner of two consecutive Lowell Thomas awards for excellence in travel journalism (2010, 2011) and we get the opportunity to pick his brains about the travel writing industry, Matador and of course his new book out there available on amazon: "23 Writing Prompts that Make you Work Smarter: a radical approach to skill building for writers of all kinds". 

It's a real pleasure to listen to David's insights and this show is highly recommended for anyone possibly considering living the dream and becoming a travel writer/ blogger and so on. Find out how David broke in to the industry. 

And yes, buy the book!

Sitting down with Karen Attman is an education of encylopedic proportions, she knows her subject matter and so it is a delight to have her on the show. Her website www.flavorsofbogota.com is an unmissable resource for those coming to Colombia and those already here wishing to enjoy some of the finer cuisine on offer in Bogota and the rest of the country. 

But, this episode is not only about food, Karen brings with her a wealth of knowledge about northern latin america having lived in Venezuela for over a decade. I do not want to spoil the suprise, but we talk about jail time in Venezuela (both her and her Colombian husband!), travels and more.

The other day I was able to interview a hot-shot Colombian start-up entrepreneur Alex Torrenegra over the phone to San Francisco. I had been alerted to Torrenegra’s existence through a Wall Street Journal piece and then a startlingly and refreshing article he has written on his website (Read: It’s Difficult to innovate in Colombia, Especially when the Government does more harm than Good.). At the end we discussed the fact that Colombia should be attempting and striving to create its own “Arepa Valley” and not mimic poorly the actual Silicon Valley.

And he’s right, but then Torrenegra is a shining example of a new and refreshingly altruistic generation of social entrepreneurs, just read the tagline on his website:Working on enabling humankind to reach its full Potential.

We also talk this week about the Bogota Book Fair and launching our book "Was Gabo an Irishman? Tales from Gabriel Garcia Marquez's Colombia" and how you can win a copy.

This week we sit down on Colombia Calling with Briton Naomi Dalton, the author of the a fabulously informative website entitled: "How to Bogota." (www.howtobogota.com)

How to Bogota is divided into seven helpful categories including those of, Life in Bogota, Transport, Money, Enterntainment, Food, Shopping and finally, Safety, must be giving the guidebooks on Colombia a run for their money. Dalton writes it as she sees and experiences it as each entry and chapter is both instructional and personal making it an enjoyable page to read and indeed re-visit. 

This is a fascinating interview with someone making a life here in Bogota and who has set out her stall to help others in the same situation. You can read her pieces on how to procure gainful employment, the ins and outs and the bureaucracy of renting an apartment and how to avoid being a target for common crime in the city. 

Dalton's website is highly recommended and is a must read for anyone thinking of coming to Bogota for an extended period of time. I only wish that she had set this up back in 2007 when I had to take on all these challenges alone!

Finishing up the series and Episode 81 of Colombia Calling in Mompos, we sit down this week with Briton Chris Bell and discuss the finer things in Colombia such as the differences between birding, birdwatchers and twitchers, Radamel Falcao's move to Manchester United, traveling in Colombia and what 2015 possibly means for the peace dialogues. 

Hailing from rural Shrewsbury we discover what has brought Chris Bell to Colombia and how he became the editor in chief of the See Colombia Travel blog (www.seecolombia.travel/blog) - voted best blog of the Americas in 2014. The Colombia Travel Blog, the most visited travel blog about Colombia in English and Spanish, was created to smash the widespread and long outdated stereotypes about this astonishing country. Their team of international travelers are passionate about sharing their fresh perspectives about traveling and living in Colombia, traveling around the world and keeping you up to date with what you're missing by not being here.

So, tune in for a frank, enjoyable and amusing chat with Chris Bell.

Clearly, we are all aware that Colombia's Nobel Prize Winning author Gabriel Garcia Marquez did not, in fact, hail from Ireland, but, in the first episode for Colombia Calling in 2015, we discuss with authors Victoria Kellaway (Colombia: A Comedy of Errors) and Caroline Doherty de Novoa (Dancing with Statues) a new collection of "Gabo" inspired essays written by Colombians and foreigners alike and due for publication in April of this year.

With submissions from all over the globe and with a number of heavyweight contributors, this new homage to Gabo will be launched at Bogota's Book Fair which runs from April 22 to May 4 2015, and be edited by the aforementioned authors and myself and published by Papen Press. 

Noting the change that is taking place in Colombia, the new year ahead and new challenges for the country, the three of us sit down in the garciamarquian setting of Mompos (www.lacasaamarillamompos.com) and discuss the inspiration and the reasons behind this new book, who it is aimed at and why it should appeal to anyone interested in Colombia. As yet, we are still sifting through the submissions but it is so interesting and exciting to have personal articles from a true variety of backgrounds, countries and contexts and all of which are very different from one another.

Listen in here to an exclusive sneak peak of "Was Gabo an Irishman" and whet your appetite for a fresh look at the magic realism of Colombia.

Jim Davies is the kind of person I want to sit down with and buy a beer or three and listen to his tales of derring do here in Colombia. The incongruity of it all is almost too much to fathom as he regales us in this week's episode with stories about his new friendship with the one and only Faustino Asprilla, his facebook friendship with Dania (of secret service fame, you know who I am talking about!) and further notbale personalities in Colombia. 

But, the real reason we have invited Davies on the show is that he is yet another foreigner in Colombia doing something for Colombia. Every conversation one has with Davies is punctuated with mentions of social projects that he has planned, has executed or has underway. Tune in to hear about the photography inspired workshop which produced proceeds for the more down at heel barrios of Soacha in southern Bogota, about his plan to start a "sponsored rubbish bin" drive in Cali so as to increase cleanliness and environmental awareness. 

Why Davies and why Colombia? How does a picture editor at one of the UK's most prestigious newspapers end up in Cali. Hear it all on this show "An Englishman in Cali."

Forgive me for saying this from the off, but I am particularly pleased with this show for you with Julia Symmes Cobb. It has the perfect balance between history, Colombia, journalism and quirky eccentricities of the past. So, get this, I met Julia - a freelancer in Colombia for Reuters and the Washington Post - through another journalist and over the months we have become friends, in fact her parents even came down and stayed in my hotel in Mompos...but this was all part of their research into a long deceased relative who travelled the Magdalena River exploring towns and tributories in this region on a search for gold. 

So, Julia's great grandfather was in this very area of Cartagena, Barranquilla, Magangue (all Caribbean areas of Colombia) and even further adrift back in 1900 and until 1902. The diary is a wonderfully embossed collection of letters about his travels and travails with a beautiful turn of phrase that you would expect from an educated individual of the era. We never really learn how the gold dredging business fared for this adventurer but what we are treated to is an unrivalled insight into Colombia during the initial phases of a conflict. References to Conservative forces and Liberal forces litter the text and there are even carefully drawn maps of the river and indeed of Barranquilla. 

Be sure to tune in to learn about a little known period of Colombian history all told through personal anecdotes placed in a treasured diary.

Doing his first ever media interview as a writer here on Colombia Calling, we take the opportunity to talk about Colombia and his new novel The Gallows Gem of Prallyn with Canadian diplomat Ian McKinley. 

As always, the interview takes the form of an interesting exploration of the experiences people encounter as they move through Colombian life. And indeed as his new direction in becoming a published author! Perhaps most interestingly, we ask how is it that a career diplomat writes a fantasy novel!

So, tune in to enjoy a free flowing discussion of Ian McKinley's development as a diplomat who writes, from absorbing the atmosphere of the situation of civil war in Angola, to missions to the peace negotiations in San Vicente de Caguán in Colombia, from Guy Gavriel Kay versus Tolkien, to the publication of The Gallows Gem of Prallyn. Check out the book here: http://northernfire.net/

The e-book version of The Gallows Gem of Prallyn is easily obtained through either Kobo or Amazon so be sure to check it out on either of these pages. (http://goo.gl/eZg8kt)

Creative writing has hardly ever been my forte, I am a journalist by trade and therefore try as best I may to stay within the limits of creativity as defined by the facts of the story as it is delivered or suggested by a source, so, it was a great pleasure some weeks ago to be invited to participate in a sit down and feedback session with the Bogotá Writers (http://www.bogotawriters.com/). I suppose these groups exist all over the place, but this was my first time participating in something of this nature and how exciting to know that something like this exists in Bogotá.

The Bogotá Writers group consists of eight individuals – all of them published authors – who share a desire to write, perhaps to enable them to be lifted away from the monotonous grind of Bogotá’s traffic or perhaps to facilitate an escape from the reality of the 9 to 5. There is the quirky self-proclaimed “professional geek” who seems to be inspired by the more sinister aspects of writing (you’ll have to buy the book), the author who was stifled in her youth by the glaring failures of the English schools system in weeding out an uninspired educator (you know who you are), the ubiquitous Irish writer (we’ve had her on Colombia Calling) and the incredibly well-travelled and well-informed academic amongst others. It’s an interesting group to say the least. In French you would call it a perfect métissage des cultures. 

Tune in to hear of an example of why Bogota boasts such an educated citizenry.

The ongoing peace dialogues between the FARC guerrillas (Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia) and the Colombian government began in November 2012 and so to mark almost exactly two years to the date since they began, we sit down with Gwen Burnyeat and Andrei Gomez, two academics and intellectuals involved in a group called Rodeemos el Dialogo (https://rodeemoseldialogo.wordpress.com/).

ReD is a group of Colombians, and friends of Colombia, resident in the UK and Colombia, who wish to express their interest in, and active support for, the peace negotiations between the Colombian Government and the FARC.The name of the group – ‘Rodeemos el Diálogo’, ‘Let us surround the dialogue’ – draws its inspiration from a popular Colombian saying referring to the need to provide support to an important cause in difficult times.

ReD is convinced that the path towards the end of the armed conflict in Colombia can only be assured through negotiations between the Colombian Government and the FARC, which should be based on the principles of truth, justice and reparation. They also believe that a lasting peace in Colombia has to be built on the active participation and wishes of the whole of Colombian society.

I have had the opportunity to attend a couple of their meetings and it has been refreshing to listen to people from all sectors of society voicing their concerns and hopes for peace in Colombia. So, if you want to hear about the peace dialogues and what is going on, tune in!

Several years ago author Brian Kevin came through my little town of Mompos and stayed in the Casa Amarilla. I had no idea he was following in the footsteps of one of my favourite authors, the forefather of gonzo journalism, Hunter S Thompson. I had no idea that Thompson had travelled South America in 1962/63 and as a shrewd observer of political events, his journey during the height of the Cold War and during dictatorial latin american regimes was partially reported in the now defunct National Observer newspaper and in his collection "The Proud Highway". 

Kevin speaks to us from Maine where he currently located and tells about the journey in writing this book, his reflections on "the gringo trail" through South America and his reflections on the nature of travel in his recently released "The Footloose American: Following the Hunter S. Thompson Trail Across South America".

Read more about the interview with Brian Kevin on my blog (http://www.richardmccoll.com/footloose-american/) and buy the book (http://goo.gl/edaGX8) for a fascinating insight into contemporary South America seen through the eyes of someone who clearly has found his voice as a pioneering writer of his generation.

This week we sit down with renowned Dutch Photographer and Journalist Fetze Weerstra who has just been to Mompos for the 3rd Jazz Festival as a guest of the Colombian tourism board. Can you imagine that in his time here in Colombia, Fetze was an innovator in creating a line of postcards with which to promote through their sale in major hotels and bookstores. So, in doing this he has been able to provide picture perfect images to the long overlooked tourist public and has been, albeit amusingly, very successful in perfecting an old concept and reconsidering it for the twenty first century. Check out his work here http://www.fetzeweerstra.com/

Of course, taking full advantage of his time to Mompos where, as you well know, I run my own little hotel, I get to discuss with him the various phases of tourism in Colombia and indeed the importance of UNESCO World Heritage Sites and how he found the town. As a photographer one hopes that he was able to capture the picturesque and authentic nature of out garcia marquian town.

This week we catch up with Maryland native Matt Aaron and speak about how he came to be in Colombia - full time now since 2010 - and his work over the years here. Aaron initially worked for a volunteer project and so we get a good insight into the realities of that world here in Colombia, before experiencing an epiphany and deciding to live his life in a more healthy fashion. 

From 2011 Aaron has been working on creating health food products for both sale in Colombia and for exportation in the United States. His initial plan was to sell coca leaf tablets, but, realising that he faced an uphill battle on this for the obvious reasons, he turned his attentions to panela. 

For those unfamiliar with panela, it is the unrefined whole cane sugar derived from the boiling and evaporation of sugarcane juice. Aaron has taken the bricks of panela, ground them down and has created a new organic energy drink containing panela and mixed with various fruits such as lulo, passion fruit and red fruits. The result is flavoursome and natural and soo he will be exporting to stores in the Miami area. Check out his product at http://www.panelamix.com/ if you are interested. Aaron can also source exotic products for you via his other enterprise http://www.valorfoods.com

At this point in time when Colombian politicians are talking only of reconciliation and of a post conflict phase to the situation in-country, we here at Colombia Calling have the opportunity of taking a step back and finding out who are these international people actually investing time and effort into improving the lives of the most humble. Alice Dow and her husband Agustin are two of these people. 

In a fascinating interview we get to sit down with native New Yorker Alice and talk about their foundation Healing Colombia (www.healingcolombia.org) and the work they have been doing for over a decade with some of Colombia's most needy communities. What makes this most timely and poignant is that they have been at the fore of launching a mentor program - similar to those in NY and London - where Colombians and/or foreigners can commit to a year of being a mentor with an individual from a marginal barrio in Bogota. 

This has been a roaring success and now Alice and Agustin and their team are embarking on the second phase of the mentor program. Tune in to hear about a foreign couple giving back to Colombia.

Can you dance like a Colombian? Sadly I have to admit that even after eight years here I am a poor imitation of any Colombian, so imagine how British writer Neil Bennion (www.wanderingdesk.com) felt when he decided to train himself up in a six month stay in Colombia and write a book about his travails. 

Bennion begins his journey in Colombia's de facto capital of dance, the city of Cali, takes lessons, suffers, succeeds and then takes off around the country. In what is an informed, digestible and enjoyable travel novel, Bennion details a history of Colombia and her regions through the music discovered and explored. His travels take him through a variety of destinations including Medellin, Bogota, the Eastern Plains and up onto the Caribbean coast where he finds himself in San Basilio de Palenque, a community of former African slaves with their own independent identity separate to that of the rest of Colombia. 

We catch up with Bennion in Poland and grill him about "Dancing Feat: One Man's Mission to Dance Like a Colombian", his first book and find out if, after his lengthy stay here, he is in act able to dance like a Colombian and how this skill benefits him now. Download his book here on Amazon http://goo.gl/e6Qv3n .

Expat Briton Kevin Howlett brings a wealth of parliamentary knowledge from the UK and is using it for good here in Bogota, his home town since 2011. Talking about what it is like to live and work in Bogota, Kevin speaks of his love for Colombia and why he chose to make a life here. We discuss Colombian politics, the peace dialogues, security in Colombia, the strength of family ties in Colombia, literature and where to travel.