COCO's Journey Across Colombia | Bogotá

My journey across Colombia started in its vibrant capital, Bogotá. What I found particularly striking about this city is that the street art is everywhere. Bogotá is an explosion of colour, where murals and graffiti become part of the city's culture and are celebrated by locals.

You can drive around Bogotá for miles and the street art doesn’t stop. Bogotanos embrace murals and think street art adds value to the city. Colombians express themselves artistically and the city is a canvas of their experiences, thoughts, and dreams. I met a few street artists during my trip and through them I learnt how most street art is linked to Colombian history. Artists use repetitions of symbols and meanings to represent their ancient culture. It's fascinating!

On my first day in Bogotá, I visited the factory that makes the chocolate with Daniel & Borja (two filmmakers who accompanied me on this trip) and Raul (our fixer). The Bean Store is a 200 year-old factory building where the cacao beans are brought from the other side of the country. I walked around the factory, talking to the workers with Raul interpreting, trying not to get in everyone's way with Daniel and Borja filming. It was a privilege to witness the process first-hand. I tasted, held, and smelled a bean from each of the five Colombian growing regions. They're all quite different from one another, but all smelling a lot like coffee, tasting quite bitter, and feeling very hard.

The day after visiting the Bean Store we got into our rented white 4WD and drove north towards Medellin...

Calum Haggerty, Director