Dollar has more value vs Colombian Peso

[fathertime]

How much was made in China? I refuse to buy anything made in China and I don't care if I have to pay ten times as much for something. More Americans should boycott those Commie bastards.

Mostly food items which are probably grown in the USA.   




I don't think we can gain wealth by selling to ourselves. If we are to sell in overseas markets we must be able to compete on price.  If we are paying $30-50 dollars an hour (loaded labor rate), then how can our products compete with goods produced from $1 dollar an hour workers?  American companies with facilitates overseas makes sense on that front, but does raise issues regarding what happens to our own manufacturing capabilities on US soil.  I can merely state the problem, and propose possible answers.


Fathertime!

[buencamino2]

Ha ha  speaking of price competition there's an article in today's El País about Colombian ex military mercenaries working in Afganistán and the mid east for companies like Acadami (né Blackwater). They along with mercenaries from Peru and El Salvador are paid about ten percent of the $10,000 a month the company pays US ex military.

http://www.elpais.com.co/elpais/internacional/noticias/mercenarios-colombianos-luchan-contra-estado-islamico

[robert angel]

I shudder to think what the Chinese investment in Colombia must be by now. When I moved here in 2002 there wasn't a single brand of Chinese car on the market. Today I count around thirteen in the paper. When I went with the compañera to Nuquí in 2007 the plane had to land in Quibdó for an hour or so due to storm conditions. The airport was an ugly little hole in the wall. I think the only thing you could buy was a soda. I went back just a few years later and there was a brand spanking new (they told me it was a year old) airport about fifteen times bigger and with all the amenities...built by the Chinese. I had occasion to be out on the street in Buenaventura one morning at 5 am and to my surprise I ran into five Chinese joggers. That port city must be full of them. I suspect the Chinese comercial takeover in the US is just around the corner. Only today I saw that Buick announced that it's SUV will be made in China. Initially the Colombians were quite chary of Chinese vehicles but it didn't take long for them to start buying in droves. In Colombia "cheap" rules.

What's scary is that the Chinese just don't set up infrastructure improvements, fund and build massive projects to win good will and then turn over ownership to the nations where they're built--the Chinese typically own them. They're creating oil drilling operations, refineries to handle the oil and ports to ship it from, hydroelectric plants to produce electricity to help facilitate that and more.

Often it's after paying the govts for a period like ten years before taking full ownership--as in the case of the upcoming trans Pacific-Atlantic Canal, which will dwarf the recently improved Panama Canal. But the Chinese are setting up a lot of projects and will have their hands on them indefinitely, also reaping profits from them indefinitely, unless the nation's try and 'nationalize' them which might be possible, but wouldn't be easy or w/o cost.

A lot of USA and European Car, SUV and commercial truck companies are big players in China. GM and Volkswagen are the biggest players. The top guys who run the commie party LOVE big, luxurious Buicks --they probably cried when the big "Roadmaster" model--built along the lines of the Cadillac was discontinued--they LOVED that luxury liner.

But every time we set up a European or US based nation's assembly plant in China, the Chinese take the fast and easy route, quickly building 'copy cat' assembly plants, 'decontenting' the Chinese counterfeit versions of the vehicles---things like disc brakes, air bags, emission control systems and more. They have no shame--many parts--even doors and engines from the 'fake' and original versions are so much alike, the parts can be interchanged.

Top USA executives know not to leave their laptops in Israeli and a few other nation's hotel rooms unattended--they will have their hard drive's quickly copied for any information that might help those nations, but they pale in comparison to the extent the Chinese spy or just blatantly take.

China owns 100% of Volvo now and are ramping up assembly operations there. Soon Chinese 'Volvos made in China' will be in a neighborhood near you. It appears inevitable that unless trade laws and price advantages change, that brand names we associate with certain countries will be built in China and sold in the USA.

But whether it's Rolls Royce is German owned (oh well--the British royal family from way back has more German blood in their bloodlines than true British already) Chinese made Volvos, or Chevy Silverado's and Cadillac's built in Mexico for sale in the USA, the only thing fairly certain is that this trend will continue.

Since 2009, China surpassed the USA in terms of nations where the most cars and trucks are purchased--no wonder they want their hands on the whole process.

http://www.cnn.com/2015/04/20/asia/shanghai-auto-show-volvo/

http://www.ipwatchdog.com/2015/06/23/volvo-american-sales-of-chinese-made-s60-inscription/id=58817/

[Calipro]

Mostly food items which are probably grown in the USA.   




I don't think we can gain wealth by selling to ourselves. If we are to sell in overseas markets we must be able to compete on price.  If we are paying $30-50 dollars an hour (loaded labor rate), then how can our products compete with goods produced from $1 dollar an hour workers?  American companies with facilitates overseas makes sense on that front, but does raise issues regarding what happens to our own manufacturing capabilities on US soil.  I can merely state the problem, and propose possible answers.


Fathertime!

If you watched the video......we aren't just  losing jobs just to $1 dollar an hour workers....we are also losing jobs to better trained workers in Germany.


Getting an education in a foreign country costs a lot less than in the U.S. and apparently they know how to actually do something.....they must not teach liberal arts over there.

[fathertime]

If you watched the video......we aren't just  losing jobs just to $1 dollar an hour workers....we are also losing jobs to better trained workers in Germany.


Getting an education in a foreign country costs a lot less than in the U.S. and apparently they know how to actually do something.....they must not teach liberal arts over there.

I have now watched the video,thanks for linking it.


If we(The US) does go downhill, we can blame ourselves, especially the wealthiest that have used their money/influence to tilt the scales to further benefit themselves at the expense of the country and the middle class.  That is one of the big takeaways I got from the video.
 But for now the peso is 3203-1, so all is good.   


Fathertime!

[fathertime]

All time highs yet again...the dollar touched 3271-1 this morning.


I watched a short video and it was mentioned how well the dollar was doing against the Brazillian Real at close to 4-1. Benjio is the only one here that has discussed Brazil very much, but it looks like it may be a cost effective place to travel to for the moment, if you have dollars....unless their inflation has been higher than the dollar rise.


Fathertime!   

[benjio]

All time highs yet again...the dollar touched 3271-1 this morning.


I watched a short video and it was mentioned how well the dollar was doing against the Brazillian Real at close to 4-1. Benjio is the only one here that has discussed Brazil very much, but it looks like it may be a cost effective place to travel to for the moment, if you have dollars....unless their inflation has been higher than the dollar rise.


Fathertime!

There is an incessant problem with inflation in Brazil but gringos that travel there are still getting more "bang for their buck" these days (no pun intended  ). The cost of flights have gone down significantly as well which is actually odd. All the people that travel to Rio for the New Years Eve celebration on Copacabana and people buying their tickets early for Carnival usually inflates airfares a bit this time of year. I've never been sure why Brazil doesn't attract more wife hunters. Money definitely wasn't an issue with most of the men I met looking for girls in Colombia. There's a much wider variety of women with respect to physical characteristics. There are Brasileiras that look like Naomi Campbell; plenty of others that look like Jennifer Aniston and everything in between. As I've previously mentioned there are exponentially more English speaking women in Brazil. And the emerging middle class means it's much easier to find well educated women. Suprisingly, I'd still say 95% of the gringos I met while I was living there came to whore monger.

[vikingo]

Benjio, isn't vacationing in Brazil somewhat costly? And how about the language? Many similarities between Spanish and Portuguese in the written form, but when they start talking I don't understand a word.
BTW, the USD went as high as 3320 today

[Elexpatriado]

Freakin oil price down again after OPEC meeting. WTI at $38 a barrel. I thought it bottomed out at around $45..so I bought some relatively stable producers at that range. Maybe not such a good idea.


That is, unfortunately the reason the COP fell again today.

There is an incessant problem with inflation in Brazil but gringos that travel there are still getting more "bang for their buck" these days (no pun intended  ). The cost of flights have gone down significantly as well which is actually odd. All the people that travel to Rio for the New Years Eve celebration on Copacabana and people buying their tickets early for Carnival usually inflates airfares a bit this time of year. I've never been sure why Brazil doesn't attract more wife hunters. Money definitely wasn't an issue with most of the men I met looking for girls in Colombia. There's a much wider variety of women with respect to physical characteristics. There are Brasileiras that look like Naomi Campbell; plenty of others that look like Jennifer Aniston and everything in between. As I've previously mentioned there are exponentially more English speaking women in Brazil. And the emerging middle class means it's much easier to find well educated women. Suprisingly, I'd still say 95% of the gringos I met while I was living there came to whore monger.

[benjio]

Benjio, isn't vacationing in Brazil somewhat costly? And how about the language? Many similarities between Spanish and Portuguese in the written form, but when they start talking I don't understand a word.
BTW, the USD went as high as 3320 today

Traditionally it can be very expensive depending on your standards and expectations. Perhaps that's what intimidates most men and keeps them running to Colombia. But when I meet guys at Jamie's for instance, that have paid for his service and are using his lodging for 2 or 3 weeks at a time I'm guessing a trip to Rio to meet a few girls a guy met online isn't financially out of the question for him. And that's not me taking shots at Jamie's agency or his prices. He provides an excellent service that's well worth the money regardless of your results. I'm just saying comparatively a guy would probably be spending around the same amount of money. Perhaps that's why Brazil never gained popularity as a locale to find a foreign bride though. As far as I know there's never been a significant marriage agency presence there.


With respect to the language barrier you make a good point. Portuguese and Spanish are two completely different languages. Outside of a few dozen words that are spelled alike and similar verb conjugations the two languages actually don't have much in common at all. The accent of a native Brazilian Portuguese speaker makes even the words you might recognize from Spanish sound completely different. I had a very, very hard time picking up Portuguese at just a conversational level...even with being fluent in Spanish before I started to learn. 


Either way it's a lot cheaper to travel and vacation there now with the exchange rate. The value of the dollar has literally doubled in Brazil during the last 18 months so maybe guys will start considering cities like Rio and Recife as options. I go online to all these foreign bride discussion forums and guys are complaining about the same thing on every site. Colombia and all the prepagos, blah, blah, blah. Colombia is flooded with gringos now, blah, blah, blah. You can tell most of these guys' only experience is in Medellin. There's a lot more out there to be discovered SOTB.

[vikingo]

Elex, some of us tried to warn you about investing in oil, but you won't listen. The only thing that could help you is if the Chinese economy takes off again, but by then we have more alternate fuel system and some day in the future fossil fuel to propel cars and heat homes will be a thing of the past.
If I were you I would wait for the day when oil hits a range where you could recover your investment.
Commodities aren't doing well at all anymore.

[vikingo]

Benjio, Elexpatriado lives in Manizales, he can't find anything either to settle down with. In Pereira if a you tell a woman to take a seat she lies down, in Bogotá you freeze your ass off,  in Barranquilla we had 40ºC temperatures for months on end and it's almost Christmas and it's still in the mid thirties and I doubt Cartagena and Santa Marta is any cooler. That leaves Cali with very high crime and maybe Bucaramanga, but during heavy rains the roads that lead in or out get blocked by landslides. Medellín is the Gringo's Sodom and Gomorrah and sometimes they have rain that never stops for months.
Maybe with yesterday's positive election results things will improve drastically in Venezuela if leading politicians of the opposition parties don't get assassinated before they can do any good.
At least they speak Spanish.

[Elexpatriado]

It ll be up within 5 years max. Probably 3 years. BHI rig count is at lowest level since 1999. WEll depletion rates worldwide are 7% annual and 12% annual  in shale.


Oil consumption is going up between 1.2 mmbpd to 1.8 mmbpd per year.All forecasters (EIA;IEA BP; OPEC) are forecasting 105 MMBPD plus consumption by 2030. 75% of the world currently has an energy intensity 20% of North America and Europe. Replacing fossil fuels is just a pipe dream for the next 30 years minimum.


https://www.eia.gov/forecasts/steo/report/global_oil.cfm


It will go back up. Not a matter of If . but when.


Most of my investments are in stable dividend paying companies.

Elex, some of us tried to warn you about investing in oil, but you won't listen. The only thing that could help you is if the Chinese economy takes off again, but by then we have more alternate fuel system and some day in the future fossil fuel to propel cars and heat homes will be a thing of the past.
If I were you I would wait for the day when oil hits a range where you could recover your investment.
Commodities aren't doing well at all anymore.

[fathertime]

There is an incessant problem with inflation in Brazil but gringos that travel there are still getting more "bang for their buck" these days (no pun intended  ). The cost of flights have gone down significantly as well which is actually odd. All the people that travel to Rio for the New Years Eve celebration on Copacabana and people buying their tickets early for Carnival usually inflates airfares a bit this time of year. I've never been sure why Brazil doesn't attract more wife hunters. Money definitely wasn't an issue with most of the men I met looking for girls in Colombia. There's a much wider variety of women with respect to physical characteristics. There are Brasileiras that look like Naomi Campbell; plenty of others that look like Jennifer Aniston and everything in between. As I've previously mentioned there are exponentially more English speaking women in Brazil. And the emerging middle class means it's much easier to find well educated women. Suprisingly, I'd still say 95% of the gringos I met while I was living there came to whore monger.

Thanks for info.
The airlines are likely dealing in dollars so what is inexpensive to us is costing foreign travelers an arm and a leg!

Fathertime! 

[fathertime]

It ll be up within 5 years max. Probably 3 years. BHI rig count is at lowest level since 1999. WEll depletion rates worldwide are 7% annual and 12% annual  in shale.


Oil consumption is going up between 1.2 mmbpd to 1.8 mmbpd per year.All forecasters (EIA;IEA BP; OPEC) are forecasting 105 MMBPD plus consumption by 2030. 75% of the world currently has an energy intensity 20% of North America and Europe. Replacing fossil fuels is just a pipe dream for the next 30 years minimum.


https://www.eia.gov/forecasts/steo/report/global_oil.cfm


It will go back up. Not a matter of If . but when.


Most of my investments are in stable dividend paying companies.

My CVX has been getting beat up but my KMI has been getting annihilated.   With this tremendous daily drops I'm starting to think they may not even make it   
Fathertime!

[benjio]

It ll be up within 5 years max. Probably 3 years. BHI rig count is at lowest level since 1999. WEll depletion rates worldwide are 7% annual and 12% annual  in shale.


Oil consumption is going up between 1.2 mmbpd to 1.8 mmbpd per year.All forecasters (EIA;IEA BP; OPEC) are forecasting 105 MMBPD plus consumption by 2030. 75% of the world currently has an energy intensity 20% of North America and Europe. Replacing fossil fuels is just a pipe dream for the next 30 years minimum.


https://www.eia.gov/forecasts/steo/report/global_oil.cfm


It will go back up. Not a matter of If . but when.


Most of my investments are in stable dividend paying companies.

All very true. It's cyclical. This has to happen once in a while. I talk to guys that have been with my company 40 years and they aren't worried a bit. "Eventually, you just learn to ride it out" is what one of them told me last week.

[benjio]

Benjio, Elexpatriado lives in Manizales, he can't find anything either to settle down with.

I'm not buying Elex is having that much trouble finding a woman that's long term relationship material. He's just like I used to be...Kid in a Candy Store Syndrome. Especially in Mani with all those young, hot college girls walking around. When the heart wrenching struggle to find exceptional beauty ends, we get a lot more critical of all the nonphysical flaws a woman can have. When you know for a fact there's a line of 8's, 9's and 10's standing right behind the beautiful woman you're already with, you become a lot less tolerant of her shortcomings. I never noticed Elex talking alot about prepagos but I don't read through the board like I use to. Recently there have been some accusations that he brings them up from time to time in his posts. If he has had that many run-ins with working girls I can almost guarantee his standards of beauty for any woman he dates are extremely high. Nothing wrong with that....I don't blame him. Unfortunately the combination of refusing to date any girl less than a 9 or 10 and being a gringo that lives in Colombia usually inevitably results in meeting a few gold-diggers. It just happens. You don't have to go looking for them. They always manage to find you. Of course I don't know the guy. I'm just making assumptions. But I find this to be true each time I meet an "Expat" that has been living SOTB a while and they're lifelong bachelors.


The only reason I ended up sticking with one girl is because we became very good friends after our honeymoon period was over. Don't get me wrong. My girlfriend is very attractive. Everywhere we go we get those WTF looks because believe me...I'm no Denzel. She was just here for Thanksgiving and she started to feel uncomfortable because of the way men stared at her. In Rio it's normal to see girls like her walking around everywhere. In Houston...mmmeeehhh, not so much. But in the end we just really enjoy each other's company. I wouldn't have given her the time of day if she wasn't so hot because that's the level I was on while living in Rio. I just lucked up and found someone with the same sense of humor I have, likes sex, speaks English, likes sports, history and traveling. And oh yeah...she's only managed to throw one emotional fit since we've been together...but I deserved it.

[utopiacowboy]

It ll be up within 5 years max. Probably 3 years. BHI rig count is at lowest level since 1999. WEll depletion rates worldwide are 7% annual and 12% annual  in shale.


Oil consumption is going up between 1.2 mmbpd to 1.8 mmbpd per year.All forecasters (EIA;IEA BP; OPEC) are forecasting 105 MMBPD plus consumption by 2030. 75% of the world currently has an energy intensity 20% of North America and Europe. Replacing fossil fuels is just a pipe dream for the next 30 years minimum.


https://www.eia.gov/forecasts/steo/report/global_oil.cfm


It will go back up. Not a matter of If . but when.


Most of my investments are in stable dividend paying companies.

De acuerdo, Senor!

[buencamino2]

I don't know why it works this way but the price that is paid out at ATMs and set by the Banco de la Republica is lower than the price the peso closed at the day before as shown on Bloomberg. Example: closed at 3307 yesterday but only paying 3287 today, twenty pesos per dollar less. Add to that the twenty peso per dollar or so bite the debit card company takes and the result is a lot less peachy than yesterday's close.

[Elexpatriado]

I have no idea why KMI is down so much. IN Canada, the pipeline companies are like utilities, and don{t moveas much as oil producers. You alays need pipelines. Maybe wont be as much expansion in the gathering systems in the producing areas (outside of OPEC), but lwith low energy prices and higher consumption. a lot more demand.
 
Maybe the thinking is that they wont be able to negotiate as high a  toll from the producers for transportaion and production of product.
 
Anyway, keep in mind a lot of these stock prices, and the oil price itself is speculation.Same as it was on the upside.
 
I am 100% certain Goldman Sachs is shorting the market and doing what they can to drive the price down.
 

My CVX has been getting beat up but my KMI has been getting annihilated.   With this tremendous daily drops I'm starting to think they may not even make it   
Fathertime!

[Elexpatriado]

I'm not buying Elex is having that much trouble finding a woman that's long term relationship material. He's just like I used to be...Kid in a Candy Store Syndrome. Especially in Mani with all those young, hot college girls walking around. When the heart wrenching struggle to find exceptional beauty ends, we get a lot more critical of all the nonphysical flaws a woman can have. When you know for a fact there's a line of 8's, 9's and 10's standing right behind the beautiful woman you're already with, you become a lot less tolerant of her shortcomings.

Actually, I have been trying to geting to the universities to meet people, not just women, but people in general. I asked my friend to see if one of the 14 institutes here had English classes here where they wanted to practice English with native speakers  during a laboratory, he said "there was no interst" and I laughed and said "ohh they all speak perfect English here'" " Muy divertido por que el unico ingles yo escucho en la calle es Ingles chimchambiano" (The only English I hear in the street is gibberish)
As far as women go, I would be more interested in the younger professoras or older students. All the real young 19 to 22 year olds here I have met have been either , bobas, gold diggers, or flakes.(come on really, a 22 year old interested in a guy 59 years old who makes 20 times thay do for his "Sexy Body"? Maybe it applies to the other geriatric "studs" on this site, certainly not me https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P5mtclwloEQ) But then once again, its a numbers game, Also women with a kid in thier 30s can be the same. I get really pissed off when this happens with a women in their 30s with a kid. Its like the maturity level of a 13 year old.
I actually have more female friends and the like from Pereira, Armenia , and even find Medellin better for the numbers game, allthough as Mudd pointedout, you do occaisionally run into the Pros there. But Medellin and Cali arre really too far away.
My main one now is a lawyer from Armenia. But I lam staying cautious.
Actually maybe there are  a lot of hot girls inside the university, but the only time I see them is during peak hours or Friday or Saturday afternoon night on Santander Street. Occaisionaly a couple in the gym., but not when I go.And I am not a party type. Generally, the women in Manizales you see in the street during the day are not as attrctive as in Medellin.
That being said, Manizales is by farmy facvorite city in Colombia, and recentlly has topped thsurvey as the best city for quality of life in Colombia
 
http://www.eltiempo.com/colombia/otras-ciudades/manizales-la-mejor-ciudad-para-vivir-en-colombia/16448063
Maybe I should sign up for an advanced Spanish course, Gut off my Butt. At least it would get me inside the University.I am so lazy lately. Spend a lot of tie at the gym, running and travelling, but waste a lot of time on the internet. This site is an example.
 

[fathertime]

I don't know why it works this way but the price that is paid out at ATMs and set by the Banco de la Republica is lower than the price the peso closed at the day before as shown on Bloomberg. Example: closed at 3307 yesterday but only paying 3287 today, twenty pesos per dollar less. Add to that the twenty peso per dollar or so bite the debit card company takes and the result is a lot less peachy than yesterday's close.

Interesting....well 40 pesos total is a little under 1.25%...a justifiable irritant...To put it in different terms if a guy wanted to access his 5 grand a month expenses, he would pay about 60 bucks for the privilege.   


I see it is a national bank holiday in Colombia today, therefore I don't think we will see any wild moves on the Peso today, although the US stock market is set for a volatile open.


Fathertime!

[fathertime]

I have no idea why KMI is down so much. IN Canada, the pipeline companies are like utilities, and don{t moveas much as oil producers. You alays need pipelines. Maybe wont be as much expansion in the gathering systems in the producing areas (outside of OPEC), but lwith low energy prices and higher consumption. a lot more demand.
 
Maybe the thinking is that they wont be able to negotiate as high a  toll from the producers for transportaion and production of product.
 
Anyway, keep in mind a lot of these stock prices, and the oil price itself is speculation.Same as it was on the upside.
 
I am 100% certain Goldman Sachs is shorting the market and doing what they can to drive the price down.

KMI...maybe the companies that owe them aren't able to pay do to the oil prices...that is a guess...if it continues to dive like this, I would think it would be a good pickup....I expect their dividend to take a massive cut though soon...

 
 
http://www.eltiempo.com/colombia/otras-ciudades/manizales-la-mejor-ciudad-para-vivir-en-colombia/16448063
Maybe I should sign up for an advanced Spanish course, Gut off my Butt. At least it would get me inside the University.I am so lazy lately. Spend a lot of tie at the gym, running and travelling, but waste a lot of time on the internet. This site is an example.
 

If I were in your situation, Spanish class is precisely what I'd be doing, I think...


 How much time do you spend in the gym anyway? 


Fathertime!

[Elexpatriado]

If I am not traveling 8 hours a week, pluss 2 or 3 hours running in the park. Plus I take dance classes about 3 hours a week. I do a hell of a lot of travelling though.
In last week I was in Cartagena,  2 weeks before in Medellin. In Argentina for 2 weeks in September.In Canada 5 weeks in July August for climbing and visiting family. Plus lots of trips to Pereira and Armenia. Will be going to Climb Nevada Tolima by a different route fo rthe 3rd time  between Xmas and New Years. Plus Maybe a trip to the Sierra Nevada de Sant Marta in January. Back for skiing in Canada 3 weeks in Feb. / March. It goes on and on like this.
 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dHUHxTiPFUU
 

KMI...maybe the companies that owe them aren't able to pay do to the oil prices...that is a guess...if it continues to dive like this, I would think it would be a good pickup....I expect their dividend to take a massive cut though soon...



If I were in your situation, Spanish class is precisely what I'd be doing, I think...


 How much time do you spend in the gym anyway? 


Fathertime!

[utopiacowboy]

If I am not traveling 8 hours a week, pluss 2 or 3 hours running in the park. Plus I take dance classes about 3 hours a week. I do a hell of a lot of travelling though.
In last week I was in Cartagena,  2 weeks before in Medellin. In Argentina for 2 weeks in September.In Canada 5 weeks in July August for climbing and visiting family. Plus lots of trips to Pereira and Armenia. Will be going to Climb Nevada Tolima by a different route fo rthe 3rd time  between Xmas and New Years. Plus Maybe a trip to the Sierra Nevada de Sant Marta in January. Back for skiing in Canada 3 weeks in Feb. / March. It goes on and on like this.
 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dHUHxTiPFUU

Have you ever done the four or five day trip to La Ciudad Perdida? I did it with a couple of my kids and I might have been the oldest person I saw the entire time. Almost no Colombians do the trip - it's all Europeans, Aussies, Kiwis and North Americans. This lack of interest corresponds to my wife's family visiting - they have no interest in anything other than shopping. Which is kind of a shame - when you see that huge Colombian flag draped across the side of a cliff behind the army's base camp above The Lost City, it's hard not imagine a sense of pride.