SALAMINA CALDAS

CTina70 says on Nov 19, 2005, 19:17:

Christmas Vacation. My husband was working in the Embassy and there are places that we were not allowed to go. One is to travel outside of the cities on the road. Depending on where this town is would tell you if she should go there or not. Is your daughter fair skinned? Does she look Colombian? These are things to take in to consideration.

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Lucia Rojas says on Nov 19, 2005, 21:20:

Salamina My family is from salamina. It is a beautiful pueblo close to manizales.
you drive from manizales, then neira, then Aranzazu and finally salamina. As far as I know Salamina is safe now. Its only about two hours away from Manizales. I don't know if she will have a lot of things to do in salamina, but it is worth the visit. beautiful women come from Salamina. People in Salamina are super friendly and nice. its a very catholic conservative town...

It's better to check about security because there have been times when it hasn't been very safe.

How old is your daughter?

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Lucia Rojas says on Nov 20, 2005, 07:38:

Yes and even though my mother lives in Bogota... she still loves the most her salamineña friends...I grew up in Bogota... but I had wonderful time in salamina when I was a child or a teenager with all my cousins. Manizales is the bigger city close to it. and if she is here along dec-january she will be able to go to the ferias de Manizales....

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litost says on Nov 20, 2005, 08:29:

I know people who have familiy in Salamina, and they go there on vacations once in a while. I'd say it's probably safe enough to go, but the best would be to ask other family or friends who live in Manizales if the road has been OK during the last few months. I also heard the architecture is very nice and that it's a small but pleasant town. There is really no reason AT ALL why your daughter would be "killed" just because she goes to Colombia, it's not like she's going to Irak where a bomb could explode at any minute (or London, Madrid, Istambul for that matter). As far as kidnapping, very unlikely given recent security trends in the country.

Please, Colombia is not "a country built in violence" like you've heard. It has its security problems, but it's much more than that. Maybe you should go with your daughter to see yourself.

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Lucia Rojas says on Nov 20, 2005, 08:36:

I think from the previous posts about your daughter, that she will have a great time in Salamina. And that connecting with her mothers family is something that is really important for her, and probably something that she must do... You should come with her, so you see that Colombia is not as bad as you hear, and then maybe she can come every once in a while to keep her connection with her mom, and you wont feel as nervous because you already know where she is going.

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Lucia Rojas says on Nov 20, 2005, 08:47:

Salamina

De pocas ciudades en Colombia, como de Salamina, Caldas, tienen sus habitantes una noción tan clara y un orgullo tan arraigado de su esencia de ser: la poesía. Salamina, hecha de poesía y de poetas, es un semillero impresionan te de intelectuales, como lo hicieron constar .Jairo Maya y Rubén Sierra Mejía en un famoso libro.

Con acuerdo a este espíritu poético se ha delineado, desde su fundación, ya en la Republica (1825), la arquitectura de Salamina, ciudad de las típicamente republicanas en Colombia. Su valioso y singular centro histórico ha conservado los cánones de la nueva arquitectura que vino con el advenimiento de la República, y por ello mantiene un atractivo invencible para los turistas, para los estudiosos y para los poetas de ambos sexos. Su clima, de 22

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jivelasquezt says on Nov 20, 2005, 22:28:

another comment Hi, I am from Manizales (the capital city of Caldas) and I've been several times in Salamina which is a lovely town. The safest way to get there would be to flight from Bogota to Manizales (about 100 round trip). If she has family in Salamina, the best would that they pick her up in Manizales and travel with her to Salamina (going by your own is not the best idea). I know there are have been some isolated problems with armed groups in the area but if she stays all the time with family and friends and she looks and speaks as a Colombian it shouldn't be that much problem. Probably, you have also had the chance to talk to her family in Salamina and if they say is safe to go is because it is safe.

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Lucia Rojas says on Nov 21, 2005, 14:53:

ciao Well, if you tell me the names of the grandmother I can ask my mother. The other day when answering this post I told her about you and she was like: ( which is typical salamineño) Really? whats her name? So I said " Toro I think" and she inmediately said" Oh maybe she's from the Toros de la casa de la esquina".... Everybody knows everybody in Salamina... so if you don't mind giving me the info, I will gladly ask her. I don't know if I will be able to get any results for I am in Bogota and so is she... but maybe....one never knows...

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Lucia Rojas says on Nov 21, 2005, 15:27:

Listo I just asked her... she is going to call her cousin in Salamina....... cross your fingers.

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