Hi there, we live in Bogotá and our car got attacked at 14.30 pm with my young children and husband in the car! Three man attacked and stole what ever they could. People around just watched as everyone is scared that they might have a weapon! So NO TJIS WOULD NOT HAPPEN IN ANY COUNTRY. I love Colombians but please stop denying the fact that Bogota? is really dangerous

Did you leave it in the main compartment where it could be seen, or did they break into the trunk?

I got assaulted (jumped upon from the back) and had my compact camera stolen in Mompox (Colombia) at around 10 am near an outside fruit market just a few meters outside the well trodden camera supervised ‘tourist’ area. It’s a small historical laid back place near the river and takes some over land effort to get to. 3 guys came running at me, grabbed my camera as I was about to take a photo, and tore my small daypack off. They turned towards the river and followed it behind the houses. My instinct told me to ran after them and shout for help, but only people on the other side of the river saw me running. Finally they turned into an alley leading to a proper street, where a local man told me to jump on his motorbike. Soon another biker came back with my daypack. I tried to inform them that my camera was far more important, and that the guy who took it was getting away (he wore large white headphones and bright yellow shorts), and that they should chase that guy. But they drove to the police office with me instead. The first guy (caught with my daypack) was detained and questioned, but he refused to talk. By nightfall the second guy had been caught, who again refused to talk. The third guy with my camera was never found. The 2 thieves were held one night inside the open courtyard of the police office, and had their relatives visit them and keep them company. The next morning they were free to go… The police told me that the Colombian law kind of protects criminals, since they cannot be obliged to talk… except when they were caught in the act by the police themselves. I talked to the 2 thieves and their close relatives begging them to return my memory card as it contained 2 weeks worth of photos of my stay in Colombia. In fact the camera had little value, and the thief wouldn’t even be able to use it after the battery ran out. The charger was still with me, and was the only option for that camera. Apart from losing hundreds of photos, I also had to wait 5 more days before I could buy another compact camera (in Cartagena) for the rest of my trip. In Mompox there were no compact cameras for sale (the police even accompanied me to search for one), since everone wanted smartphones. A smartphone with a good camera was very expensive (even more than back home), plus the guarantee was not valid outside of Colombia. After the incident the local people all told me: you’ll surely have your camera returned very soon, since this is a very small place and crime is very unusual… Tomorrow it will be on sale at a second hand shop.’ Of course it wasn’t. So there you go: even with 2 thieves caught, and recognised by me and plenty of local witnesses, they were left unpunished, and I lost all my photos. It really hurt when in the evening I saw plenty of other tourists with their huge reflex cameras hanging carelessly on their back, or even placed on the terrace table when they were looking the other side. When I advised them to be careful, since mine just got stolen, they thought I was joking. ‘In Mompox? Impossible!’ In fact earlier on I had spent over a week in Bogotà and Medellin each (with no problems), while in the ‘loveliest’ of places it did! Needless to say that after that I became frightful to take out my camera… (while I had always been cautious).

Again, I am glad you are okay and look forward to reading your travel adventures.