Once you put the internet into numbers, the whole thing becomes so huge that it's impossible to comprehend. This week's Online Journalism lecture threw statistics at us like those that say that this year, 16.8 million Australians will spend 40.3 billion minutes on the internet and view 33 billion web pages. What does that even… Continue reading “There’ve been lots of glum faces in our industry of late”
Tag: Bogota
On Leaving
Since air travel has become a thing, travellers can find all kinds of weird and wonderful ways to culture shock themselves. A flight between the Middle Eastern hubs of Istanbul and Tel Aviv once took me via the icy Latvian capital of Riga. A few hours on a plane can take you someplace where things… Continue reading On Leaving
The Worst Smelling Waterfall in the World
Originally published in The City Paper Bogota on June 18, 2013 as "Tequendama: Forgotten Falls". Find the original story here. The trip to Tequendama Falls does not smell nice. You’ll start on the Transmilenio, which houses a diverse mix of body odour and strong perfume at the best of times, and riding down the G… Continue reading The Worst Smelling Waterfall in the World
“Take Your Parents Where?”
Originally published in the May 2013 edition of the Bogota City Paper. It took me a moment to realise I was being mugged. He was friendly at first and I didn’t notice when the tone changed and the knife appeared at my throat. I handed over my cash and he seemed pleased: “This is a… Continue reading “Take Your Parents Where?”
Pitstops
It should be noted that Colombia isn't exactly the easiest country to travel. It's not the hardest, but that conveniently timed bus still means ten hours of twisting and rolling around in your seat as the bus driver throws himself down and back up Colombia's three ranges of Andes. If you're lucky, you'll get vallenato… Continue reading Pitstops
‘Studying’ in Bogota
This article and photos was first published in the December 2012 issue of Phoebella Magazine as 'Life as an Exchange Student". We’ve just noticed them building Colombia’s biggest Christmas tree in Plaza Simon Bolivar when my housemate grabs my shoulder – “Firewood!” We’re walking home through the obnoxious, polluted rush that is central Bogota in the… Continue reading ‘Studying’ in Bogota
Agripina!
I had a subject this semester called Fotografía Documental ("Documentary Photography"), where the entire semester was dedicated to putting together, well, a photographic documentary. Plans to follow a troop of graffiti artists around fell through (fear not, I'm still working on it) so instead I spent a couple of days with Agripina, a lovely woman… Continue reading Agripina!
Abandoned Buildings in Chapinero
A month or two back I was asked to participate in the creation of an audiovisual presentation by Universidad del Rosario's news website, Plaza Capital. The idea was to explore the abandoned buildings in Bogota's Chapinero neighbourhood, a sort of bridging area between the ancient streets of La Candelaria and the soulless, colourless north of… Continue reading Abandoned Buildings in Chapinero
Return to Gringoland
So when we left off at the end of The Vegas Adventure, I had just left my good friend Chris in the blinding light of a Vegas morning, to fend for himself on the Strip for one last day. While he wandered around in a daze, trying to think of things we'd forgotten to do… Continue reading Return to Gringoland
The Vegas Adventure
"So when I was sitting next to you guys on the plane, I thought you were Mormons," confesses our new friend Junior, a young Colombian guy, as we sat waiting for connecting flights in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. We laugh, but Junior is peculiarly stone faced. "No, I'm serious." Several weeks earlier, my housemate (who I'll… Continue reading The Vegas Adventure