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A few tips for all who is interested on travel to Colombia

Hello everyone. I occasionally visit the site and would like to throw a few ideas out there. By no means am I an expert on Colombia, but I am alive to tell about my experiences and pass on a few tips that I have learned on my travels to this beautiful country.

First, if you don't speak Spanish you sure better be with someone who does and you trust. Skin color means very little in Colombia, but the way you present yourself does. If you look like an outsider you will be treated like one, however if you feel comfortable and feel like you belong you will fit in just fine.

When it comes to forms of travel obviously there are three types: Plane, Bus, and taxi. Plane is by far the safest, but also the most expensive. By Bus is an experience in itself and if all goes well you will enjoy yourself, however it only takes one time for something bad to happen for you to wish maybe you had made another decision. Taxis are usually always reliable for short distances, but if you are not with a local or know the rates for taxis you will often be overcharged for you transportation. In my travels I used all three and each serves it's purpose. It all depends on how big a risk taker you are, how much of an foreigner you seem to be, and how much of Colombia you really want to experience.

What to do about money? Well it is always good to have Colombian pesos with you at all times. Probably $100.000 depending on what you are doing and all. Credit Cards (usually MasterCard) are accepted at any halfway major thing and ATM cards are usually accepted there at the Colombian ATM machines. I have found the best exchange is to open up a PayPal account with the Debit Card. You can transfer money into this account then withdrawal it in Colombia and get a much better exchange rate as if you tried to do it in person with another means. Travels Checks are sometimes difficult to use depending on where you are and also ATM's can be difficult to find at times. If you have the opportunity to get some foreign currency before you leave the US for example as one can do in Miami, it would be good to have some Colombian money already for a taxi to get you to where you need to go if you do not have someone picking you up there.

Airlines? Well, I always fly Avianca. The price is unbeatable compared to Delta and American Airlines and the service is very good. It is usually better to either use a travel agent to buy the tickets or to just buy them direct at avianca.com.co website.

Hotels? You will find that hotels love to charge you for all sorts of things. Never assume anything is free in a hotel. Even if you pay upfront for the room and all you will sometimes have fees tacked on to your stay. Usually they are security fees to "keep you safe". Usually toll free calls are free, but anything else is usually expensive. (Let's just say my fee was refunded at the hotel in Cartagena I mention below.)

You can always request the hotel to call you a reputable taxi to make you feel safer, because there are some out there that might do the unthinkable. Remember that people in Colombia do not make anything near what Americans make for example. You could have a job in the United States that pays over $80,000 per year and the same job in Colombia pay about $8,000 per year. The economic situation there is better than it has been in the past, but it still is a long way from being were it needs to be.

I have had a few interesting experiences on my travels to Colombia I'd like to share. One situation was in Cartagena in May 2004. I was staying at the Capilla del Mar and guess what? I was lucky enough to be the last evacuee in the hotel before the FARC decided to leave it's mark on the hotel by blowing up the 21st floor. A little exciting and nerve wracking at the same time, but an experience I will never forget. Another experience I had was at the airport in Rionegro when a very young military or policeman decided to give me the full customs check. It took about an hour for them to search every last thing I had and also take me into the command center and give me an x-ray to be sure I was not trafficking anything. However, this experience was interesting and the man was not too bossy. I'll tell you this; I feel Colombia's customs does a lot better job than Miami International does.

American Embassy? If you need some advice related to the K1 Fiancée visa I might be able to shed some light. My Fiancée and I had no problems at the Embassy, but we did have to wait about 3 hours to finally she had her 3 to 5 minutes to be approved. Let's just say if you go with your Fiancée it will be much better. I watch one of the consulate officers turn down many people that did not have their other half with them. Sure it is not required, but your presence is worth more than a 1,000 words. If you cannot make the interview, be absolutely sure your Fiancée has as many papers as possible of evidence. No joke we took about 8 to 9 inches thick of papers to our interview. The officer did not even want to look at them after seeing me, but you can never have enough evidence.

Anyhow enough of me blabbering. Colombia to me is a wonderful place and I enjoy it very much. Medellin, Rionegro and nearly all of Antioquia is my favorite. The temperature is wonderful and the scenery is breathtaking. Cartagena is hot and just like any other beachfront tourist place (other than the fort of course, it is a must see). Bogota is Bogota. The climate is cool to cold depending on what you are use to. It is big and one needs to be very careful as you would in any very big city. It has everything you need and it is where the embassies are located. However, I did want to comment on a hotel in Bogota, The Casa Santa Monica Hotel. Let's just say hot water, does not mean "HOT" water and you better use your blankets because there surely is not any central AC or Heat. The cable tv sucks and there were a few other things that really upset me on my stay there. It does have a nice view of Monserrate (which I advise going to see at the top of the mountain there), but that is it. For those of you needing a few private hours with your better half try the Motivos Motel ( I think I spelled it right) in Medellin. It is a nice place to relax and enjoy each other. If hotels were like this place no one would ever want to leave.

Well I hope I have helped some of you. I'm all about learning so if I have mislead anyone please help me on the right track, all the above is based on my personal experience and what I have learned from others using this website. Thank you for your time.

By wofiii on Nov 11, 2004, 19:27 in Friendly Talkzone.

Pirovito says on Nov 11, 2004, 19:52:

Thank You Hey dude, thanks a million for sharing your experiences with us. I'm really looking foward to experience colombia. the only thing that scared me was the hotel in cartagena, that was kind of scary. well anyways I enjoyed reading your adventures.
Thnak you!

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kernow62 says on Nov 11, 2004, 20:26:

nice post I had problems with hot water in San Andres, I had a damn jacuzzi in the room and the water was like ice, showers weren't bad as it is warm in San Andres. In Cartagena the hot water took about 10 minutes to get hot, but it didn't matter, Cartagena is hot, so cold showers again. Now in Bogota I had loads of hot water at Hotel Dann Norte, and believe me you need hot water in Bogota because the tap water is cold!

You also left out an important part of Cartagena, the old city, it is far more interesting than the fort in my opinion, although the fort is very impressive. It might be the largest such fort in the world, unless the one in San Juan is bigger. It sure dwarfs Castillo de San Marcos here in Florida though.

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Bill1243 says on Nov 13, 2004, 21:14:

and Good report...

Let me add that there is never any heat or A/C in Bogota.

And as far as taxis go, I could write a book on how many ways they can rip you off in taxis. So far, I have counted 23 ways!! Even now as an expert in Colombia travel, it never ceases to amaze me the ways you can get ripped off there... mostly in little ways thank goodness!

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seattlejames says on Nov 13, 2004, 21:26:

are you sure... Skin color means very little in Colombia, but the way you present yourself does?

I do not believe this....

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william_andrew_channell says on Nov 16, 2004, 10:36:

I do... I agree with this:
Skin color means very little in Colombia, but the way you present yourself does?

Looking like a typical white American I can tell that this is true. If you are speaking from personal experience, it's probably because you presented yourself wrong. Believe it.
Remember, a typical white american could easily be a typical white paisa, typical white boyacense, typical white cachaco, typical white argentino or any other of the millions of white people in Latin America.

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