Episode 309 is an entertaining look at the Colombia Calling podcast as Richard McColl moves from being the host to the interviewee and Joseph Czikk takes over.

Long-time listener of the Colombia Calling podcast and self-declared "Colombia Evangelist,"Joseph Czikk made a suggestion over email to me that he be permitted to record a podcast episode with him as the host talking to me and having me reflect on some of the more memorable shows over the years dating back to 2016.

Now, to date I have recorded 308 episodes and some are notably better than others, some are awful and some are average. But, there's a market for all types. And so, we went for it and the result is Ep309.

In order to prepare for this show, Joey requested that I might put together a list of episodes about which we could speak and here's the resulting list - the task was overwhelming and the list became very extended. So, we plunge into the task to reflect and reminisce over past episodes and I think you'll enjoy the end result.

Jim Davies may have the midas touch for storytelling, that or he has an innate ability to find himself in the most peculiar of situations. Revisiting the Colombia Calling podcast - the first time being Ep79 in 204 when he spoke of his friendship with Danya (of secret service fame) and the legendary footballer Tino Asprilla - this time he manages to fit some of the most amusing anecdates, all true, about his life in Cali.

So, rest assured, you'll be laughing out loud at Jim "James el Peligroso's" Davies' tales including falling through a roof, nudity, interpol and yes, my personal favourite a link to the French Foreign Legion. It just goes to show, one good deed...no, you'll have to listen in!

And visit the Cali Curry House for authentic indian cuisine in the barrio San Antonio.

Our guest on Ep307 of the Colombia Calling podcast is Dr Julia Zulver (PhD Oxford), who is a political sociologist whose work focuses on women’s mobilisation in high risk contexts, mainly in Latin America, and of course, including Colombia.

We'll be discussing the "precarious peace" in Colombia which the country is now experiencing and indeed some of the different gender-based issues which she has had the opportunity to study whilst here.

Zulver is currently undertaking fieldwork at the Colombian-Venezuelan border to investigate the gendered impacts of the reconfiguration of armed conflict and Venezuelan migration on women living the borderlands.

On the first episode of 2020, the Colombia Calling podcast speaks to hiker and guide Gabriel Torres who is based in the breathtaking colonial setting of Barichar, Santander. The reason for having Gabriel on the show is not only to promote Colombia's oft-voted most beautiful colonial town, but also to hear about his project to map large parts of the country's Camino Reales.

The Camino Reales are what the spanish called a network of connecting pathways crisscrossing the country. Originally, the "Royal Roads," were pathways which were constructed by the original indigenous tribes and spanned the whole country from the Caribbean coast inwards.

Most people have heard of or will have hiked the stretch from Barichara to Guane which is roughly 10km, but Gabriel informs us that there are possibly some 18,000km of paths to map out. So, with the desire to create Colombia's very own Santiago de Compostela route, Gabriel is moving ahead with his dream to connect paths which run through Santander, Boyaca and Cundinamarca to Bogotá.

Tune in for an interesting look at a potential tourism and travel asset for Colombia as told by a Colombian.