Travel Pics Not in the Guidebook: Worst Tourism Slogan Ever

I'm not sure this came out exactly the way the Colombian authorities intended:

Colombia: The Only Risk is Wanting to Stay.

Either it needs work, or somebody inside the Tourism Board is trying to sneak out a warning to others.

I'd say the former, though. I can't speak for the places I haven't been, obviously, but Cartagena definitely has its charms -- most of all the people. North American news reports might give you a different impression, but the place is just full of ordinary, normal people just like anybody else.

They fall in love in picturesque locations.

They get married.

They have soldiers armed with automatic weapons guarding the city walls.

OK, maybe things aren't exactly like back home.

But still. The teenagers like to bury each other in the sand, just like home.

And if you look closely, they even get a kick out of giving their male friend a healthy pair of highly feminine sand hooters.

I've come across scenes almost identical to this from Southern California to Singapore.

If there's one thing that unites humanity, it's teenagers giggling over sand hooters.

Might not be the first thing you think of, when you think "Colombia."

But there is hope for us, I think.