The “heroic” city of Cartagena de Indias is a complex place. A fun-loving party town on the Caribbean coast of Colombia, with a dark history of slavery, corruption and stark contrasts between the have and the have nots. From the five-star luxury hotels found in the 17th century walls and on the private Caribbean islands owned by Colombia’s ultra-wealthy to the impoverished shanty towns by the airport, this is a city of extremes. A tropical paradise for some and a daily struggle to put food on the table for others.

Medellin is a fiercely, proud city perched high in the Colombian Andes, with a friendly populous seeking to bury its international reputation as the center of the world’s cocaine trade. Colombia’s second largest city has converted its violent history into an inspirational story of redemption, creating a pulsating mountain metropolis built on dominion of nature - mining, renewable energy, agriculture. A city of shopkeepers and merchants, just don’t ask where the money came from to build so many shopping centers.