Roldanillo Pre World Cup : Getting started...

I think I've landed in paradise!
The 30minute flight from Bogota to Pereira took us across the central cordillera with 5000m+ snow capped mountains and into a wide mountain ringed valley that dreams are made of :)
The approach into Matacaña "international" airport was interesting to say the least as the pilot wound the Fokker100 into a spiral dive over Periera before putting us down on the tarmac on the edge of the flat topped hill. We literally looked at ground level looming up as we skimmed the lip and flared onto the tarmac!
I don't feel like I'm somewhere strange here, the roads / houses / cars are pretty much as any country, the green rolling countryside is littered with large farms, healthy cattle and glossy horses and they speak a language I can understand!

We met up with Lucho at the airport and later with and Bernardo ( the joint organisers of the competition) in Roldanillo to check out the self contained HQ complex and the new launch that they have constructed here over the past 3 months.
Quick geography lesson: ;) Roldanillo is located in the Valle de Cauca at the eastern foot of the Cordillera Occidental, where peaks reach 4000m+. and if your still no wiser just for reference, Colombia is the top left had corner of South America!
The 'nose' of a spur above the town has been cleared, flattened and grassed, theres still some work to do but they have obviously been working hard here and for a very short time.
We'll see how it all works out as pilots from all over converge here over the next 2 days.

Obviously one of the main questions for us 'guiris' is the state of security in Colombia. I have already heard of European country embassies advising against travel, so far all I can say is that grumpy immigration officers aside, I have met incredibly polite, friendly open people. We chatted with the organisers about FARC, guerillas, narco-traffic and all the scary things we hear about Colombia.The experience of real Colombians is that just over a decade ago they couldn't travel freely within their country due to the threat but the efforts of the government over the past decade have cleaned up most of these problems. Resistance is largely confined to remote true jungle areas in the Choco in the far west of the country, the south frontera with Ecuador and the Venezuela/Colombia frontera. There are pockets of activity in remote central mountain areas but the greatest danger in the area we are staying is not wanting to leave!