Buenaventura, Valle del Cauca

The city was founded on July 14, 1540, by Juan de Ladrilleros through orders from Pascual de Andagoya. At that time it was inhabited by the Buscajas. The city was destroyed by Native Americans before 1600; it was later rebuilt. Buenaventura thrived after the opening of the Panama Canal in 1914; and in the 1950s became a regular stopover for the 'international jet set'. Today, the city is crucial for sending raw materials to nearby areas; this has brought prosperity and allowed recent new development to occur.

The city is, as of 2011, affected by very high levels of poverty and violence, and is considered a center for the cocaine trade in Colombia.[5]

Buenaventura's population is mostly of African descent 85% — while 10% are Mestizo and 5% are White.

Buenaventura has had a notorious history plagued by the Colombian armed conflict, drug trafficking, violence, and the presence of guerrilla and paramilitary groups.[7]

Colombian authorities have seized almost US$28 million in cash from drug kingpins. The money found was in several shipping containers sent from Manzanillo, Colima (Mexico) and Houston (United States), that belonged to brothers Luis Enrique and Javier Antonio Calle Serna, also known as the ‘Combas’.[8][9]

Between 2008 and 2010, the number of reported homicides in the city doubled. In 2010, the murder rate of Buenaventura was 175.2 homicides per 100,000, a rate 24 times that of New York City. To counter the violence, the Colombian government has set up a marine special forces unit in the worst area of the city.[10] In 2011, it seemed that counter-violence efforts had improved crime metrics, even while aspects of the Colombian drug war in that city worsened. According to community activist Victor Hugo Vidal, "If you ask the authorities, they will tell you [the city] is better -- that the homicide rates are way down. But for us [living here], during the last 10 years, there has been no change."[11]

Buenaventura is located a few miles from the western cordillera of the Andes mountain range and about 116 kilometres (72.1 mi) by road from the major city of Cali, the department's capital. It is one of the rainiest cities in the world, with 6,000 to 7,000 millimetres (240 to 280 in) of rainfall annually.

The city has several places of interest.

The most notable tourist venue is the Cascajal Island. This island is located in the western part of the city of Buenaventura, it is inhabited, and is surrounded by marshes and in it are important tourist and commercial sites, making it an important source of income. Among its most important tourist attractions are: Néstor Urbano Tenorio park, the field of handicrafts sea of the same, the cathedral San Buenaventura Hotel Station, the ramp or site boats to go to nearby islands and finally the pier, from which over 70% of commerce happens.

Piangüita, which is near Buenaventura is a coastal town, where the sea meets the sky in dreamy sunsets, is the Ecoparque Theme Green Iguanas, it becomes a community effort to revive tourism, as Rigoberto Gomez, creator of the place. The Ecopark, comprising four hectares, is part of the homelands of the black community of Bazán, "who designed nature trails to show tourists their way of life, fauna and flora, and how it has been recording their culture." It also has beautiful beaches which attracts many tourists.

Bahía Málaga is a deepwater port designed to provide support to large shippers to ship next generation that can not enter the port of Buenaventura.

• Edison Miranda, a 2000 Colombia Olympian, former WBO Latino, NABA, and IBF Latino Middleweight champion
• Juan Carlos Candelo, former NABF Light Middleweight champion
• Freddy Rincón, retired Colombian football midfielder
• Gerardo Valencia Cano, Apostolic vicariate de Buenaventura
• Adolfo Valencia, retired Colombian football striker
• Raul Cuero, professor of microbiology at Prairie View A&M University and Inventor
• Petronio Álvarez Quintero, singer-songwriter Currulao
• Fernando Montaño, soloist with the Royal Ballet in London
• Marbelle, pop singer

The city has had two professional football teams; each club played Categoría Primera B and had only a short existence. Pacífico F.C. only existed for the 2010–2011 season, whereas Atlético Buenaventura played between 1991 and 1995.

• Media related to Buenaventura at Wikimedia Commons
• Buenaventura travel guide from Wikivoyage