Buenaventura, Colombia 🇨🇴 Gringo's Guide

Everything you MUST know about this lovely tropical *shithole*

Guest post from esteemed Colombia scholar: Scotian

Buenaventura is a port city of about 300,000 on the Pacific coast of Colombia in the department of the Cauca Valley.

The city is about 115 kilometers from the capital of the department and largest city — Cali.

It’s the most important commercial port in the country, receiving container traffic from Asia — it’s also the exit point of a lot of the country’s exports, including cocaine.

As such there’s A LOT of criminal activity in the city, from the streets to the container port, gangs fight each other for control of the lucrative drug market, as well as illegally mined gold and timber.

The city has a reputation for being violent, dirty, and dangerous — and overall I tend to agree with this although the security situation has improved in recent years, one still has to keep their guard up while in the city.

Below, you’ll find everything you MUST know about this dangerous city — including why I visit every time I’m in Cali.