Type "tourists flocking to Cuba before the Americans come" into Google and 160,000 results come up, including an entire page of headlines from various news sources from the New York Times to NBC News with exactly that wording. That is what you call a trending story.
President Obama's announcement last December that he was setting the wheels in motion to normalize relations with Cuba set off a frenzy of interest in travel to Cuba. That was in addition to an already ferocious demand.
Of course Americans have been actually going to Cuba for a long time, both legally through tour operators working under the restrictions of the U.S. embargo, and illegally, evading the restrictions by traveling through other countries.
But the point of the many stories with the identical headline is that once the restrictions are lifted, Americans will "flock" to Cuba in greater numbers than ever before, and it will inevitably change.
Most people hope the changes will be positive, but fear overcommercialization, overcrowding and a change of character and ambience. Already, even before the restrictions have been lifted, tourism is straining the capacity of Cuba's infrastructure. Availability is evaporating and prices are rising.
Go now while you can, the tour operators say. And there is more to that than merely trying to drum up business. Prices will rise, availability will drop. How much the character of the place will change is anyone's guess. My guess is that the Cuban character is so strong it will withstand commercialization just as it has withstood colonial domination. But it will certainly change.
Meanwhile straight south of Cuba, beyond Jamaica on the southern shore of the Caribbean is a situation that is parallel in many ways to that of Cuba. Colombia, the country on the northwest shoulder of South America, is also experiencing an opening, but one much quieter and less celebrated than that of Cuba.
Colombia shares many of Cuba's attributes. Separated only by the Caribbean Sea (with Jamaica in between), Colombia and Cuba share the Spanish colonial culture and the tropical Caribbean climate (Colombia also has a Pacific coast). They have similar music, similar colonial architecture, similar food, similar terrain and climate (though Colombia is hotter).
Their histories are very different, but there are striking parallels. While Cuba has been closed off by the American embargo, Colombia has been off the tourist map because of internal conflict.
When peace talks in Havana between the Colombian government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) finally brought the conflict to a close in 2014 it was being called "the longest civil war on the planet." It dated back to 1964 when Lyndon Johnson was the U.S. president. More than a quarter of a million deaths were attributed to the war. And as usual, most of the victims were civilians with the least to gain from any possible outcome.
The civil war is hopelessly complex as a matter of discussion. It is generally explained as a low-intensity asymmetrical war between the Colombian government, paramilitaries, crime syndicates and left wing guerrillas, most notably FARC and The National Liberation Army (ELN). But that tells us very little.
Conciliation Resources, an NGO that works to support people in war zones, said, "Despite its duration and destructiveness, there is no consensus on the 'causes' of the Colombian conflict. It has transformed over time and does not revolve around a single issue or two opposing sides, but instead has been defined by changing local, regional and national dynamics and different historical processes."
In fact the conflict has roots going back even farther. It is said to be rooted in a previous conflict known as La Violencia, which was triggered by the assassination of populist political leader Jorge Eliécer Gaitán in 1948. Gaitán had risen to popularity as a result of his role defending workers' rights after a strike of banana workers had led to their being fired upon under orders of the United Fruit Company.
Fortunately, though we may not understand the historical causes of the conflict, the good news is that as a result of the peace talks in 2014 the world's longest civil war is over. Colombia is peaceful and is now open to tourism.
The tourism infrastructure is just getting started. But the country has tremendous beauty to share, both natural and cultural. At the moment only a few of the most alert and adventurous tour operators have programs there, including G Adventures, Goway Travel, Intrepid Travel and Avanti Destinations.
I went to Colombia last week with G Adventures on its Caribbean Colombia Express, a one-week exploration of part of Colombia's Caribbean coastline, including Cartagena, Santa Marta, Minca and Tayrona National Park. It was a great thrill.
The country is gorgeous. The people are beautiful. The food is tasty. Prices are phenomenal. It's straight south of New York, only a five-hour flight, no jet lag from the east coast of the U.S.
Cuba is unique. There is nothing like it. But Cuba can only accommodate so many people. And Colombia is also unique, with as much to offer in its own way as Cuba, though I only saw a small part of it.
Cartagena has much in common with Havana, with its colonial history and architecture in its walled Old City. If you go with a competent tour operator you will learn where to go and how to make the most of it.
It will probably take a lot longer for Colombia to reach its capacity and for prices to rise. But just the same, I recommend going now while it's fresh and new to tourism, and before those Americans start "flocking" there.
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