Ideas for next trip

Desideria (Moderator) says on Sep 23, 2006, 12:32:

I wish I could be in Colombia at the same time with you adri, maybe we could find some new places or interesting things to do there. I'd still like to go whale-watching off Buenaventura or spend a couple of days at San Agustin and Tierradentro (I've pretty much seen the museums and malls too) and the eje cafetero I missed totally in my last visit. Have you been in Villa de Leyva?

Cheers,
Desi

Embrace your uniqueness. Time is much too short to be living someone
else's life.

-Kobi Yamada

"I have opinions of my own, strong opinions, but I don't always agree with them."-President George W. Bush

0 funny, 0 helpful.

Colombiche says on Sep 23, 2006, 15:19:

Adrimm I am going to be there December and January, it would have been nice if we were there around the same time, we could have met up and I would have escaped from the clutches of my own family as well. Sometimes relatives can only show you so much, they will host dinner parties and maybe take you to Unicentro and their finca on the weekend.

I have no problem packing a pair of jeans and sandals and heading off to wherever, no matter how absurd the place :)

No me den trago extranjero, que es caro y no sabe a bueno.... (Rafael Godoy)

0 funny, 0 helpful.

bufalo says on Sep 23, 2006, 20:53:

BE CAREFUL! - I went to the Amazon for what was supposed to be two weeks, but ended up living there for half a year. This is going to sound odd, but you should go there at least twice, once when the river is highest, and once when lowest. There were dusty places and villages we walked through when we got there in December, months later we were canoeing through them as they were about 6-7 feet underwater. The place is awesome, we might actually move there at some point. Spring? You might hit poma rosa season! They are everywhere, eat 'em up. Oh and bring repellant for the jungle and DO NOT FORGET TO BRING SUNBLOCK!!!! I saw so many lightbulb white tourists there who had their legs bitten up only to get massive sunburn on top of it. sucks major if your eaten up, but then you can't even scratch it.

"If you don't like it - lump it, take it down the road and dump it." - Archie Bunker played by Carroll O'Connor

0 funny, 0 helpful.

arthur brode says on Sep 24, 2006, 01:18:

i will be here in Cali for those months as well.feel free to contact me .there is a nice park that i recommend just outside of Cali(in Cerrito) called "museo de la caña"

http://www.calirentals.net/

0 funny, 0 helpful.

adrimm says on Sep 24, 2006, 13:13:

Ahhh Villa de Leyva is a good one, I went as a kid but of course remember very little now. Cali isn't on the list (just not interested and already have my hands full with Bogota, family commitments etc).

Desi one of these days I would really really like to meet you, hopefully it will happen sometime!!

Colombiche, I am sorely tempted..(edit: I'm thinking April) but I'm scared of getting sucked into the family gathering vortex around Christmas time (there's just too many of them and it's overwhelming for me)..

Oh but we could even line up flights (so nice to have a safe seatmate on these longer haul trips)... are you planning to go again next December.. or Easter? Easter is in April, we get good Friday and Easter Monday (reasons why I've chosen April).

hmmm... will look at my financing (if I went this Christmas it would turn into a tradeoff between getting a new floor or going to Colombia, and right now I'm walking on 20 year old carpet soo..). That and the family will start to think that I actually have resources!

Bufalo: When are high and low water seasons? I can't stay for more than a week... but one day I might try and spend more time there.

0 funny, 0 helpful.

Colombiche says on Sep 24, 2006, 20:24:

Adrimm Yeah, it will be grossly expensive if you were to book a december trip right now, the only reason I got an almost decent deal (considering it is peak season) is because I booked over a month ago, I am paying $1250 for Toronto-Miami-Bogota. Some people are actually paying a lot more than that for nasty flights. Last time I checked the Air Canada Toronto-Bogota flight, it was $2,500.

The rest of the travelling inside Colombia I am doing by bus, unless I decide to include Cartagena in my itinerary, in which case I will fly.


I was hoping to do Quibdo but my Chocoano friends warned me to leave that out of my itinerary for now. My father lived in Quibdo for 3 years, he always goes on about it.

No me den trago extranjero, que es caro y no sabe a bueno.... (Rafael Godoy)

0 funny, 0 helpful.

adrimm says on Sep 24, 2006, 21:06:

Ouch forget christmas altogether then Nope I'm looking at about $1200 on Air Canada via Toronto - but I'm not booked yet, guess I better do it soon.

I'd stop in Miami, but after my tour of 4 US airports back in February I'd rather avoid the experience (even if it is $400 cheaper). Puffer machines stop being entertaining after the first couple of times!

0 funny, 0 helpful.

Colombiche says on Sep 25, 2006, 09:56:

I guess it depends when you are travelling. If you wait until after Christmas day the prices go down. If you travel before Christmas, it is a bit steeper.

I don't mind stopping over in Miami, but Newark, God forbid.

No me den trago extranjero, que es caro y no sabe a bueno.... (Rafael Godoy)

0 funny, 0 helpful.

adrimm says on Sep 25, 2006, 11:43:

Newark? what's so bad about there? I've heard that Miami is frighteningly large.. can't be bigger than Heathrow - which I actually quite like. So busy and international-feeling.

I think I'll probably buy in early january. Thing is I want to make sure that I can be there over easter, and prefer to be in Bogota first, so I can adjust to the language (takes a couple of days for the full breadth of my vocab to rematerialise) before heading elsewhere. Of course easter being easter, I'm sure that the Thurday flights will fill up early.. so..

0 funny, 0 helpful.

bufalo says on Sep 25, 2006, 11:54:

When we went in mid december, the offshoot river in front of Isla de la Fantasía (nothing like the show with Tatoo), it was a trickle, remember, not the Amazon itself, but the offshoot. When we left in June (?) the river had already reached its peak and started to go down again, but what a difference.

"If you don't like it - lump it, take it down the road and dump it." - Archie Bunker played by Carroll O'Connor

0 funny, 0 helpful.

adrimm says on Sep 25, 2006, 12:32:

Bufalo So April would be reasonably high water then?

0 funny, 0 helpful.

bufalo says on Sep 28, 2006, 14:24:

Yup
Yup

"If you don't like it - lump it, take it down the road and dump it." - Archie Bunker played by Carroll O'Connor

0 funny, 0 helpful.