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Recent trip to Colombia

Hi all:
Got back from my recent journeys, including a 7 week trip to wonderful Colombia. PBH has changed a bit since then! Just thought I would post a few observations and comments:
1. Arepas come in many shapes and sizes, stuffed and unstuffed, fried or grilled ... from a simple side to a meal to a yummy on the go breakfast ...
2. I couldn't seem to find out, even in Colombia, exactly what that mud volcano near Cartagena is. But I went and enjoyed it.
3. The Colombian people seem amazingly and genuinely friendly and extremely polite and hospitable to foreigners (ie. me). Having read a bit here on PBH and elsewhere on what people living in Colombia have been through over the years, IMO the general populace has demonstrated great strength and resilience, in character and tradition.
4. There must be a secret child-rearing technique: On all the buses I took from the North to the South, there were young children on board. In general, quiet and uncomplaining little non-brats, no matter the delays or terrain or length of the ride. I got on the plane from Miami to Toronto greeted by screaming and demandng toddlers,like a bad movie ... what is going on?!
5. Bus rides and Steven Seagal movies seem to go hand-in-hand.
6. San Andres, I thought was just going to be all white sand and 7 coloured water and my conference I was presenting at. Instead I found so much culture ... The Natives or Raizales, the anglo-Caribbean culture, the tensions with continental Colombian culture and administration. Did you know there's an independence movement?
7. If I went for a while trekking around and had such great times, an experience unmarred by anything, yet I have heard about the atrocities the people have been through and go through (the Colombian people and the internal conflict,) then Colombia must be very very complex and I hardly scratched the surface (?).

By island girl on Aug 22, 2008, 16:30 in Friendly Talkzone.

island girl says on Aug 22, 2008, 16:31:

Oh and I would definately love to go back to Colombia, like, right now lol!

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Papi de Alejo says on Aug 22, 2008, 18:44:

Hey Island Girl, glad you enjoyed it. For me as a West Indian, Colombia is a lot like "home" used to be, except in Spanish. I too enjoy every moment of my trips there and they have started to become quite frequent.

I think that I was in Cartagena around the same time as you but I was too distracted soaking everything in that I probably couldn't have bumped up on you.

Thanks for the memories of my San Andres trip a few years ago. To me it was a lot like Jamiaca with the occaisional Spanish accent. I didn't spend nearly enough time to scratch the surface of what is San Andres. I will have to do it again another time.

Wish I could spend 7 weeks tooling around in paradise. Lucky you.

Welcome back

PdA

PdA

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island girl says on Aug 22, 2008, 18:57:

Hey Papi thanks for the greetings! I had to constantly reevaluate my ideas of what Colombia was (it is so diverse!) ... my first impressions being formed by San Andres and the many native islanders I spoke to there: They liked my Vincy accent and SAI people even use some colloquialisms found in Vincentian dialect ... And the food in SAI was very tasty ... breadfruit! How did you find Cartagena ans what other impressions were lasting with regards to Colombia for you?

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gimmedub says on Aug 22, 2008, 19:35:

more islanders on PBH? papi - where are you from? I myself am born and raised in Trinidad but now living between la costa and canada...

island girl - you still living in vinci?

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Papi de Alejo says on Aug 22, 2008, 19:37:

When I go to Colombia, I head to Santa Marta and I stay either in Rodadero or in a small town outside of Santa Marta proper called Bonda. Having the ability to choose either or the other is a great boon for me. At nights Rodadero can get very noisy; and I am told that during temporada alta it can be insufferable. I haven't experienced it yet, but who know: I might like it, I might not.

That's when having a place like Bonda to retreat to is a Godsend. The first time that I stayed in Bonda, I thought that I had gone back in time to my great grandmothers house in the country (in St. Kitts). It wasn't bad or good, it was just different. I have now come to love the time that I spend there and there are probably 100 mango trees on the property. The kids tell me that there are at least 10 different varieties. I don't know, I just eat them.

My stay in Cartagena was more of a getaway than anything else. It was only a few days and we stayed at the Decameron Bocagrande. We spent one day on Isla Baru, pure heaven, yet still a few vendors. Most of the stuff that we did was at the hotel itself and the few times that we ventured away from the hotel, we ran back quickly, either the weather or the lack of adventure on our (read that my) part. The taxi rides that we took through the city did not leave a desire to return in any great hurry. But as Spirit is flying into Cartagena, I will look forward to using it as my way to save some money when traveling to Santa Marta.

A friend here on PBH, recommended a book to me about Colombian artefacts and I have been enjoying the book for the past few weeks. I am reading about areas of Colombia that never make the news or the latest topics on PBH. I know that I will have to start traveling to other parts of Colombia real soon. As in getting off the tourist track and getting to see life in all its splendor all over Colombia.

Oh, by the way, there's a Trini running around here as well.

PdA

PdA

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island girl says on Aug 22, 2008, 19:49:

Trini oy! Nah ... me base up Canada side fuh de time. Where you living on the coast in Colombia?

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Papi de Alejo says on Aug 22, 2008, 20:01:

Hey Gimmedub, I didn't see you when I was posting. I'm from St. Kitts but I live in Albany, NY. Not too far from the border.

PdA

PdA

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webmanco says on Aug 22, 2008, 20:51:

Thanks for the travel report. Good observations on the kids. Yes you got just the surface, you are welcome to Colombia anytime.

...A yo, déjenme queto y no me jodan má! ...

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dwmte7 says on Aug 23, 2008, 05:42:

papi...would that be 'artifactos?'

dwmte

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Papi de Alejo says on Aug 23, 2008, 07:09:

That would indeed be Artefactos by Liliana & Benjamin Villegas. I wussed out and bought the english version.

PdA

PdA

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island girl says on Aug 23, 2008, 07:18:

I'm going to take a look for this book PdA, sounds interesting ... I too wish to get off the beaten track a bit more in Colombia. When I was there I picked up the Rutas Turisticas publication and put down the Lonely Planet, so I found a few places that had Colombian tourists but no other foreigners. Need to dig deeper though! Where exactly is Bonda and how did you find it? Sounds great!

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tomtom33 says on Aug 23, 2008, 07:33:

There are very few tourists in Buenaventura.

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island girl says on Aug 23, 2008, 07:39:

You know, I have heard that Buenaventura gets a bad rap, and so on and so forth, but I actually met a couple of dutch chicks on my trip that went there and they really liked it.

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tomtom33 says on Aug 23, 2008, 07:43:

It's not a bad rap. It's the truth. At this point in time, there is very good reason to avoid this place. There is a lot of guerrilla activity and drug-running.

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Papi de Alejo says on Aug 23, 2008, 07:51:

Here is a link to the book. I hope that it works.

http://books.google.com/books?hl=en&id=0ExlLdy38FgC&dq=Artefactos colombian&printsec=frontcover&source=web&ots=SF7wt4XWF5&sig=Cydbr7A9Xe4wi2yP4Ou_jDmS1mE&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=4&ct=result#PPA70,M1

Douglas turned me on to it. It's a coffe table book, but there is stuff that I have never heard of in there.

Bonda is outside of Santa Marta. I'm not sure, but I would guess east on the Troncal Caribe. There's not a whole lot to do there. It's a very working class town. There are some very beautiful waterfalls on the Rio Bonda. Maybe waterfalls is the wrong word, nothing anywhere near Niagara but there is water falling down some rocks. There is a picnic area. Lots of locals go there.

Here are some fotos of the "Falls"
Las Cascadas bondero

Rio Bonda, las cascadas

Come on in, it's not that cold!

There is no great night life or excitement in Bonda. Just folks who look after their daily needs (and sometimes stare a lot). If you don't like calm and quiet, you'll be bored quickly.

My friend's family own a house on the top of the mountain. So we stay there or in Rodadero.

PdA

PdA

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dwmte7 says on Aug 24, 2008, 06:09:

been to buena ventura a number of times. there's only one place to stay..hotel estacion...in the old building (don't forget that). but for a place to visit, scratch it off your list. es un hueco y no ally nada. it's depressing, the sugar that covers the earth near the port sticks to your shoes and when you walk it's kinda 'squish' squish squish. wierd. don't care what the dutch chicas said, it's a no show. even without the problems of the insurgents.

dwmte

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