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The probabilities of being mugged are low in general, but is higher than in the U.S.
In Bogota, muggings happen, not just in specific neighborhoods but can happen anywhere. To reduce your chances of being a target, it's best to not wear jewlery or a watch and to keep your cell phone tucked out of sight.
As far as getting around, a safe thing to do is to ask your hotel to call taxis for you. They will call reputable taxi service. You can call taxi service or Uber yourself on the streets, and in most cases will be okay. But be aware that there are some drivers who are unscrupulous and may consider you a target for being robbed (take you someplace, force you out of the car, take your stuff and leave you in the middle of nowhere), especially being by yourself and being a foreigner. These drivers are a small percentage of the total drivers but they do exist.
Certain neighborhoods in Bogota are extremely dangerous for those who don't live in those neighborhoods. Dangerous meaning there is a high chance of being killed if you venture into them. The best thing for you is to talk to the hotel employees and ask them to show you on a map which areas are ok to walk around, which should be avoided, and what times of day and night are ok.
Going out at night can be dangerous in certain areas. Ask your hotel. Unlike in Europe, in Bogota you should never walk down an isolated street where there's not a lot of people around.
Consult with the front desk employees of your hotel and trust what they tell you. They will be Colombians and they will know what's going on and will give you accurate information.
Certain neighborhoods in Bogota are extremely dangerous for those who don't live in those neighborhoods. Dangerous meaning there is a high chance of being killed if you venture into them.
Killed? Hmm, no.
Empty streets are safe in a lot of residential neighborhoods. I've walked at late night at many hoods I never had been in before, you can tell by how quiet they are that no one is around, not even thiefs, the hood is just asleep.
Uhh. YES. This has happened on numerous occasions. One example that comes to mind is a couple weeks ago, where a guy driving home from work didn't like being stuck in traffic, put his route into Waze, which led him into a neighborhood (in Bogota) he should'nt have been in, and he was robbed and killed. See below article:
Uhh. YES. This has happened on numerous occasions. One example that comes to mind is a couple weeks ago, where a guy driving home from work didn't like being stuck in traffic, put his route into Waze, which led him into a neighborhood (in Bogota) he should'nt have been in, and he was robbed and killed. See below article:
"high chance of being killed" when entering a certaing hood would mean there should be dozens of people being killed every day for taking the wrong alley. Such thing just doesn't happen in Bogota. That was one case in one million. Maybe you could get robbed but you would have to be extremely unlucky to get killed just by entering some hood. Also, Bogota homicide rate is close to be one digit.
"high chance of being killed" when entering a certaing hood would mean there should be dozens of people being killed every day for taking the wrong alley. Such thing just doesn't happen in Bogota. That was one case in one million.
These things happen, I'm sure I can do a quick google search and find a relatively recent horror story of a homicide in so many cities across the globe. For me the Bataclan o Manchester arena episodes are far more gory than that report. This is not to say that Bogota is safe or dangerous just that some of the paranoia is irrational just because it's "COLOMBIA" and well all the negative connotations that accompany it for obvious reasons.
However, let's look at facts - at statistics! At end of August 2018, Bogota has had 654 homicides a 13% reduction from 2017 and a 33% reduction from 2015. The aim this year is to get to 13 per 100k homicides as opposed to 15. This makes Bogota have a murder rate lower than Washington D.C. and Philadelphia yet can we say a remotely similar level of paranoia is applied to DC? I don't think so.
In any case this is not to say that Bogota is a safe city and there are of course other more common crimes but let's just keep it in perspective shall we? 80skeys just seems a little bit concerned with over-concerning people to ensure nothing happens to them, a noble gesture but in my opinion a bit overkill. Obviously someone that has been mugged in Bogota may have a different opinion to me on that.
No, it wasn't just an isolated occurrence, it just happened to be reported on the news because of the "Waze" thing. Every city in Colombia has certain neighborhoods, the poorest areas, that are very dangerous. For example in Cali there is a notorious one known as Siloe. Colombians who don't live in those neighborhoods avoid them due to the danger and high risk, and foreigners and visitors should do likewise.
Many things don't get reported, or are only fleetingly reported on the nightly news. I have a friend in Cali whose city bus was robbed in broad daylight by two guys with guns. They got on the bus and made everyone empty their pockets, cell phones, jewerly (and in a couple cases, shoes) into a bag.
I have a family member whose co-worker was stabbed to death a couple weeks ago in Cali because of women (probably he was messing around with a married woman, which would mean it was a hired killing on the part of the husband).
These probably didn't get reported anywhere on the news, but are not uncommon occurrences.
But hey, if you want to go walking around Siloe, or equivalent places in Bogota, nobody's stopping you. I personally wouldn't do it if you paid me money.
As pueblefuerte says, I'm just trying to keep people safe. I don't feel like I'm over-exaggerating.
Bogota doesnt have an equivalent neighbourhood to Siloe. Murder rate in Cali is like 4 or 5x that of Bogota. Aguablanca district in Cali is, by far, the urban area in Colombia with the highest homicide rate.
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No, it wasn't just an isolated occurrence
Yes it was.
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it just happened to be reported on the news because of the "Waze" thing.
no, such murders are reported on the news on Colombian media, and that's the only case of someone being murder in such circumstances in Bogota in years. I read Colombian media on a daily basis. There are many other crimes you are more likely to be you a victim of, being randomly murdered is not one of them and it's far from being "very common" as you stated.
Criminal gangs in Bogota don't work like these in Cali, or Medellin or other cities. Some cities had a past with paramilitary groups, others not, some cities have "bacrim", others don't.
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