A man, his Land Rover and a 20-Year mission to see every corner of his country

“I send the photo to someone so there’s proof that I made it," he explains.

Rosselli is recognized throughout Colombia as a neurologist, author and affable professor. At 66, he is quickly gaining a very different sort of reputation, as a single-minded wanderer determined to drive his relic to every single town in Colombia and photograph it in front of the church anchoring each plaza.

“It’s become an obsession," says Rosselli. “Many out there say I want to sell something, get rich with this. But I’m getting poor! I’ve financed this with my own money."

For the past 20 years, whenever Rosselli isn’t at Javeriana University in Bogotá or presenting at an international confab, he’s been on the road to one of the hundreds of municipalities that make up a country three times the size of Montana.

Some are on the well-worn gringo trail: the walled colonial gem of Cartagena or bustling Medellín, popular for its exuberant vegetation and nightlife. 

But Rosselli has also turned up at hamlets on indigenous reservations, jungle communities that take several days to reach on bone-jarring roads, and no-go zones such as Argelia in southwest Cauca province, now in the midst of fighting between troops and drug-trafficking groups. Crossing checkpoints set up by armed gangs is sometimes on the itinerary.

“Who am I competing with?" Rosselli asks with a smile. He takes a moment before he answers: “Well, myself!"

Rosselli, his wavy hair gone snow white and now balancing himself on a walking cane, had made it to 1,098 municipalities as of Friday, leaving just five to go.

He’s done it all mainly in the 1966 Land Rover—the same vehicle his father, Andrés Rosselli, bought new to ferry his seven daughters and two sons on trips around the country.

Rosselli inherited the boxy, marine-blue workhorse in 1981, a gift from his father as he graduated from medical school. He dubbed it “Prayerful Shadow" and says he wouldn’t want to see Colombia any other way—though there’s a second Land Rover, built in 1974, he also uses.

But it isn’t exactly an optimal ride. Prayerful Shadow’s engine clatters and even when gears aren’t grinding into place, the racket is so loud it is hard to carry on a conversation. And don’t expect butter-soft, heated seating.

The air conditioning? Vents that open below the windshield. There’s no heating, either, though Rosselli notes the engine keeps the cabin toasty warm. Two electric motors power the windshield wipers.

“Sometimes it’s torture," he says of the trips, after two long days of driving in southern Nariño province with a Wall Street Journal reporter in tow. “You get up very early. You don’t eat well. You don’t sleep well. They’re not easy trips."

Still, he gets a charge sliding behind the wheel and, after hours of driving, arriving at a remote village “where I’m the only tourist."

Rosselli, who is collecting material for a new book, posts frequently about his travels on X. He serves up footnotes in history: the town where a four-time president was shot in the face, the birthplace of singer Luis Bernardo Saldarriaga, composer of “I awoke still drinking." His 30,000-plus followers learn other obscure factoids, like the number of Colombian towns whose names begin with the letter D (14, compared with 62 starting with “A").

His ruminations are accompanied by photos or video taken by his 24-year-old daughter Paula Rosselli, a marine biologist and teacher who inherited her father’s zest for roaming and has now been to nearly half the country’s municipalities.

But it’s Rosselli’s unwavering cheer about a country known more for its dark side than virtues, along with his relentless devotion to the objective, that seems to have won him a dedicated following.

“He’s done more for our country than our politicians in going to visit all these places," says Jhon Santacruz.

The 32-year-old civil engineer recently spotted Prayerful Shadow in a parking lot and sought out Rosselli. “I can’t believe my luck," he said, as he posed for a picture with the professor.

Rosselli’s trips now often include such visits with fans—including those who stop to lend a hand on the side of the road.

On a recent day, 8,300 feet above sea level approaching the provincial capital of Pasto, Prayerful Shadow’s radiator began gurgling, the engine sputtering. As Rosselli poured water over the overheated radiator, Carlos Ibarra stopped to help.

Ibarra, who follows Rosselli on X, attended a 2019 talk the professor gave about his travels.

“It’s these synergies of life that allow people to meet and share," Ibarra said, emotional about the happenstance reunion. “I mean, to see him broken down here, well damn. I said to myself, ‘I’m going to stop and help him.’ "

Jeremías Acosta is the person Rosselli turns to most to help with breakdowns. The Bogotá-based mechanic, who specializes in vintage Land Rovers, has long been making repairs on the Rosselli family vehicle.

“I know the whole system from head to foot," says Acosta. He often talks through issues with Rosselli by video call. “I can offer a diagnosis and tell him to change this cable or put that one in, make this connection, and he’s ready to go."

As much as Rosselli likes piloting Prayerful Shadow, he doesn’t need old faithful as he makes it to the final destinations on his itinerary. Those enclaves have no roads. Instead, Rosselli arrives by motorboat or on small planes landing on dirt strips.

After the 20-minute boat ride in May to Roberto Payán, population 13,000, on the Telembí River in Nariño province, Rosselli and Paula trudge up a hill straight to the church on the plaza. They take the ceremonious photograph.

“Now we can begin the trip home," Rosselli says with a laugh.