PBH / colombia (active forums more▼ | travelguide | pictures) / post

Trip Report - Cartagena. January 2006

Trip report, Colombia, January 2006

I went to Cartagena but also visited Santa Marta and Baranquilla. I will list my experiences, thoughts and opinions from myself and my girl from Ocaña, Norte de Santander. I´ll list the prices paid as a general guide. I think we got good prices as we speak Spanish and my girl lives in Colombia. I let her do the negotiating as she is a good negotiator and we wanted the local prices. Hopefully it will give you an idea how much things cost for your trip and so that you pay the proper amount or at least know how much a discount really is.

People
Colombia is a country full of different peoples. Each area has a nickname for their people or area. The lightest skinned people are from Bogotá and are called Rolos. To contrast this the darkest skinned peoples are on the coast, black to the rest of the world and are known as Costeños. The people from Cali are Caleños and those from Medellín are Paisas. Those from the departamento of Santander or Norte de Santander are Santanderianos. There may be a few other terms but we didn´t use them or I didn’t learn them.

The Colombians speak very good Spanish although they do have their own idiomatic expressions. The Costeños tend to speak faster and a little bit differently.

I saw very few people from the US or Mexico but there were many Italians, and in Bocagrande, almost every street corner had a pizzeria.

Very few people speak English so if you come, it is best to have some Spanish skills.

The street vendors are aggressive, not terribly so but seldom take no for an answer. I tried speaking to them in German, the 10 or so words I knew and that didn´t stop them. I also tried English. Saying I didn´t have any money also didn´t make them go away easy. Then the answer I read on a man´s T Shirt, it said, thank you but I bought one yesterday, the other side said no I don´t want to buy any. Yes folks, that is the easiest way to make them go away fast, just say thank you but I bought one yesterday.

There are many people walking around near the beach that want to offer you goods or massages. It is best to negotiate the price beforehand. Don´t accept a free trial or the trial seamlessly becomes the real thing and they try to stick it to you. Don´t allow a masseuse to touch you on the beach without discussing price first or that 10 minute massage may cost 20,000 pesos. The exchange rate the time I was there was hovering around 2,150 to the US dollar.

Cartagena
Cartagena is a walled city. The streets are narrow and it is a mix of the Carribbean and Europe. It really reminded me of Havana with it colours and architecture. At night the city and its structures are illuminated with different coloured lights so it makes it a nice sight.

You won´t see many pay phones but on the beach and on many street corners you´ll see people with cell phones and they´ll let you make calls for 200 to 300 pesos per minute. This was different to me but it was cheaper than using my cell phone even though I had local service through Ola.

Towards the newer end of the old city, I saw guys with typewriters on the street. If you need anything typed, they will type it for a price. These guys seemed older and I wonder how the internet and computer revolution will affect them as it seems a dying business.

There were ciber cafes around and it was around 2,000 pesos per hour to surf the web. Most had high speed, ancha banda, with web cams. Many internet cafes also allowed international calls starting at 600 pesos per minute.

There are many night spots. We aren´t really rumberos, ok, I am but my girl is not although she accompanied me. We went to a few night clubs. Mr. Babillas is a popular spot. There is also one in Cúcuta. It was fun and you should get there before 11pm to get a table. Cover was 10,000 pesos. A 750ml bottle of Ron Medellín was 80,000 pesos.

Another fun club is Babar, a bit smaller than Mr. Babillas and it is to the left of the Naval Museum in the old City. They have bottle service and prices are comparable.

Café del Mar is fun and is outside. Not good for windy nights but it is on the wall in the old city with futon like couches to sit on. Great views of the rows of tower buildings and they had a good DJ spinning.

There is another outdoor bar to the right of the Naval Museum, above the film festival office. Not quite as good as the other but still another place to try.

Food prices were generally cheap. Lunch for 2 ran 8,000 to 10,000 pesos for chicken, salad, beans, rice and soup and drink. The only time we got ripped off was at the Mexican place where we ordered nachos and 2 drinks and the bill was 10,000 pesos and the waiter wrote in a 2,600 tip which was 26%. I talked crap and left. Just beware there, it says authentic Mexican food and the nachos were 8 chips with stuff. It was a joke.

The first night we ate arepas at Arepas Pues. Usually a 1/2 chicken would run 8,000 or 10,000 pesos for dinner and unless we were starving, we´d share.

The best beach spot we found was by the wide 4 story white building by the Hilton. They´d play music and that is the infamous Tony´s area. I´d heard about him on the internet and had finally met him. Just ask for Tony, the short stocky, black guy with the silver front tooth!

Prices for souvenirs varied upon how much Spanish you spoke and where you were from. I got Colombian soccer jerseys for $15,000 each and kids T Shirts for 3,500 each. Also beach towels for 15,000 each. Others paid more so I think we got a good deal and I let my Ocañera do the dealing for me.

Taxi prices were similar. One driver said there was a 3,500 minimum. From Da Pietro to the boat landing we paid 3,500 and nightly we´d pay 4,000 to go to and fro the old city. The price to go to and from the airport was 12,000 pesos.

Hotel da pietro was cheap but it had a good full breakfast. The rooms were small, so small that if I was in the bed and stretched, I´d touch the walls, no joke!. But at 110,000 per night including full breakfast and in the heart of things it wasn´t bad. Breakfast included eggs, arepas, fresh juice, bread and fresh fruit and coffee. We went back to the room only to sleep so we really didn´t care.

It appeared as if there were many places in the area for rent. I found my place on the internet. No pool but it was located near many things. Perhaps the next time I´ll make reservations for one night and then change. The hotel was full of Italians who had their eyes glued to my girl the whole time and who spoke only Italian. I would have liked to meet more Colombians. They weren´t the friendliest. Usually Italians are the most fun people to meet and party with. Perhaps they went to meet girls and were upset at their own sausagefest. We met many people from all over Colombia and Central America on the tours but no real life long friends.

We went to the beach on the weekends. The best beaches are in Santa Marta with clearer water and whiter sand. Cartagena isn´t bad. To rent two chairs and a tent or Carpa, we paid 8,000 pesos. One day we paid 11,000 but one chair was a chaise lounge which was nice.

They sell everything on the beach. If you want to buy a thatched chair, sea food, beer, water, necklaces, bracelets, t shirts or anything else, just wait and it will come to you. All prices are negotiable. Also ladies drop by to braid hair and give massages. Boogie board rentals are also available as well as jet skis.
Selling things

Drinks
Well the popular beers are Club Colombia and Aguila. They are about the same although I´m not a real big beer connoisseur. As far as rum goes, on the Chiva we drank Tres Esquinas but at the clubs we drank Ron Medellín. Also I was disappointed that they do NOT sell Ron Medellín at duty free at the airport, so I had to buy Tres Esquinas. Better to buy it at Olympica and pack it before you go to the airport. The 750ml bottle of white rum Tres Esquinas run USD$5.50 at the airport duty free shoppe. They have another for $4.50 but I figured I´d pay the extra buck for the better bottle.

The Olympica in Bocagrande down the street from Hotel Da Pietro is open 24 hours and a 1 litre bottle of Ron Medellín runs 22,000 pesos.

On the beach we paid 1,500 pesos for a beer from the vendors. The best deal is to buy a bottle of rum, put it in a plastic bottle and then buy bottles of coke, drink a bit and pour the rum in there. It is the cheapest way to go. Small bottles of coke run 1,000 pesos and the larger run 2,000.

Crime
People have this idea that Colombia is a dangerous place. I guess it depends where you go. I´ve been to Jamaica and Mexico recently and in both places, every night no less than 10 people tried to sell me drugs. In Colombia, out of 11 days, not one person offered. In Mexico, in the safe resort areas, the police are in patrols of 4 to 6 and wear body armour and carry automatic weapons. In Colombia I saw no police with body armour and they only had revolvers, if they had any guns at all.

I have heard that Colombia is getting safer. I felt no concerns for personal safety on the coast where I was. I had been in crowded area and felt nobody rummaging through my pockets and I had money in all pockets and none was taken. Cali is getting worse per many I spoke with including my ex girlfriend who is from there and who has left less than a year ago. Other areas where crime is to be noted is by the Ecuadorian border and in the mountain areas where there is more activity by left wing revolutionaries and their copy cats. I did read an article about an Italian who died while I was there under suspicious circumstances but the article also mentioned he had brought a strange woman back with him the night he died.

As I left the airport, there were searches to my suitcase and belongings. This was by the national anti drug police. They took apart everything and smelled everything to ensure I wasn´t taking cocaine out of the country. The guy in front of me was an American ass and spoke no Spanish so they made sure to poke holes in his bags of coffee and his other stuff too. The American was an ass and deserved it. I was chatting with the national policeman and he didn’t mess with any of my stuff. I guess being nice and chatty saves your stuff from being punctured. He was even proud of being an ugly American as he told me so.

Odd Things
We watched the news there and two stories stuck in my mind. The 12 year old girl impregnated by her step father and the Indian mother who scalded her two kids for drinking milk.

Another sad thing that I heard about was the proliferation of prostitution. Many of the girls getting into it are not poor but are doing it as they are too lazy to work and want to keep up their materialistic lifestyles, such as designer clothes and plastic surgery. These girls are college students, usually and are models. They are called prepagos. They generally charge USD $100 to $300. I´ve also heard of girls from 12 to 13 years old getting into it to earn money. This is sad and alarming. These girls are not poor and don´t need the money but wish to live like they were rich even though they don´t lack the necessities of life.

What to do
When in doubt as how to start your night, there is always the Chiva Rumbera. The Chiva is a bus with a live band on it and they give you all you can drink rum and coke while you tour the old city. At the end they drop you off at a night club. They also stop on the way and feed you an arepa with egg. We paid 18,000 to 25,000 for the tour, less as time went on as we made friends with a lady in the tour office.

We also took a trip to Santa Marta that stopped in Baranquilla. Not much to see there but we did go there to a mall a few days earlier. Many women there seem to love their plastic surgery. We also stopped by a large property where Simon Bolivar used to stay and now there is a museum there and many things that used to belong to him. After they fed us and we were able to enjoy the beaches of Santa Marta. We paid a whopping 65,000 per person for this tour. It left at 6am and got back at 8pm.

We also went to the volcano near Baranquilla. This was a trip where you go in the small volcano and into the mud for a mud bath. The thick mud makes you float and is a weird experience. The mud is a cool 70 degrees, 20c and after you bathe in the river. Be sure to bring plenty of 1,000 peso bills because after, everyone has their hand out for a tip such as the little girls that guarded your shoes, the guys that rubbed mud on you, the guy that held your camara, the ladies that washed the mud off in the river, etc.

We took a boat trip on the Beltia Eagle. We went to the Rosario Islands and to Baru. At the islands you can snorkel or go to the marine park and see shark feedings and the dolphin show. After we were fed and hung out on the white sand beaches of Baru. The beach there was typical Caribbean with crystal blue water and white sand. We paid 28,000 each for the tour. The boat was scheduled to leave at 7.30am but really left at 9am and returned at 3.30pm.

Selected pictures at http://es.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/caymandm/detail?.dir=.d516&.dnm=2b38scd.jpg&.tok=phyLEXEBquTzSfxH&.src=mail

By Coqueton on Feb 6, 2006, 19:22 in Friendly Talkzone.

Coqueton says on Feb 6, 2006, 19:25:

Try photos here... http://es.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/caymandm/album?.dir=.d516&.src=mail

0 funny, 0 helpful.

utopiacowboy says on Feb 8, 2006, 11:05:

Costenos may or may not be black. Costeno is not a racial term but refers to people who live in a certain region.

Disclaimer: any comment I make is inane and is not to be taken seriously, and is so patently ridiculous that no one should take it seriously, even as an insult.

0 funny, 0 helpful.

Coqueton says on Feb 8, 2006, 11:44:

I know Like my favourite costeña, la negra... Shakira!

0 funny, 0 helpful.

Wastelandlive says on Feb 8, 2006, 11:45:

Your girlfriend is beautiful! Thanks for sharing your photos. Makes me homesick... for Cartagena and Colombianas.

Wasteland

0 funny, 0 helpful.

tomtom33 says on Feb 8, 2006, 15:32:

100 to 300 USD? The ones I use are COP 50 to 100K. It is a very rare chica who even asks for more than 200K.

The exchange rate from ATMs is around 2250. You get screwed by the cambios and banks when you exchange cash.

Glad you liked my city(CTG).

0 funny, 0 helpful.

Coqueton says on Feb 8, 2006, 15:51:

Pay? I never have to pay, I was quoting what i was told and those were the gals in Cúcuta. I didn´t notice many in CTG although one night I saw a few that might be as well as any girl with the Italians as they spoke no spanish and weren´t the best looking guys.

0 funny, 0 helpful.

tomtom33 says on Feb 8, 2006, 18:51:

You never have to pay? What have you been smoking?

The going rate in Cucuta is more like 20 to 40K.

0 funny, 0 helpful.