CTina70 has left 23 comments

CTina70 comments on Leticia

When I was in Leticia last year we were on our way to... either Benjamín Constanza one of the other day trips and we had to stop at a boarder check. I want to say it was with the Peruvian military. The asked to see our passports and wrote down the number. My husband and I alway keep a lamanated copy of ours on us when we travel and we showed them that. On the way out the boat driver slowed, beeped a horn and they waved us off.

CTina70 comments on Thoughts on the site

I can't find my post from last night. It was going to the Travel Tips section... Help.

CTina70 comments on Brief travel guide to Baranquilla

Barranquilla. I am not sure if the hotel toneloc24 was talking about was Hotel El Prado but the link is http://www.hotelelprado.com.co/. I stayed there for a week over Christmas in 2005 and I loved it. My cousin knows EVERYONE in town just about and got us the room for less than 70 bucks a night. The standard rooms they show on there website are probably some of the bigger ones they have because the room we had was not that big. It was cozy.

Anyway, I learned to swim in the Prado pool when I was 3 1/2. The main difference I noticed when I stayed in '05 was the swimming pool was mostly in the shade. The trees had all grown. lol

So, anyone living in B'quilla, if you go to Buena Vista, the candy kiosk on the 1st floor belongs to my cousin Edgargo and his wife Rosana.

CTina70 comments on Travel guide to Bogota

Altitude sickness I found that if I keep really really hydrated I would not have issues with the altitude. Also, don't drink alcohol on the plane as it dehydrates. I have been traveling to Bogota 8-9xs a year for the last 3 and water really helps.

CTina70 comments on yellow fever vaccination certificate

Yellow Fever shots When I went to Las Amazonas flying in to Leticia I had to have the shot. They didn't tell us until the day before we left so I had to go run to the red cross to get my shot that would not even start working until after I got back.

As for as the National Parks on the Atlantic side, I am not sure, I have only been to the cities there, B'quilla, Santa Marta and Cartagena and I know you don't need the shot for going there.

CTina70 comments on Seat Alert!!!!!!! Aeropuerto Bogota no Tiene

I normally carry paper in my purse. When I was a kid in Venezuela I had to put tp in my little coin purse becuase even in school there was no paper. Only times I lucked out and one of the teachers left the "teachers restroom" open. Even worse, this is gross, there would be "surprises" on the floor of the student bathroom. So, the way I look at it, no seat if fine as long as there are no "surprises" on the floor. ewwwww.

CTina70 comments on NEED A HOTEL IN BOGOTA

Suite Real 97 I am going to be there the end of August. The only reason I am staying at a hotel is becuase my cousin is having a baby and the thought of spening 2 weeks in an apt. with a new baby is not my idea of fun. I have a friend who needs dental work and she doesn't speak spanish and doens't know anyone there.

I used to live off of 93b next door to the Italian Embassy and I love the area. I really miss eating at the Wok, La Estancia and the Diner. Not to mention my shampoo and blowdry for 4 bucks!!!!

CTina70 comments on Ajiaco anyone?

Yummy Thank You, My mouth is now watering. I guess I better call my step mom so she can make me some. My dad grows wasca in the yard.(the hurb that gives it, it's unique taste.)

CTina70 comments on Seat Alert!!!!!!! Aeropuerto Bogota no Tiene

Paper outside the stalls. It is also like this in Peru. The reason is people take the individual rolls. I mean I know people who have money and have for a long time but in their closet at home they have 15 Avianca blankets. The older ones that used to be plaid wool.

As for a toilet seat, Andino Mall (bogota) doesn't have seats but they do have paper in each stall. The bathroom was one of the CLEANEST I had even seen in Colombia but NO toilet seat. What is worse, is in the Santa Barbara mall (again Bogota), they have a dispenser for paper. You push a button and it gives you like 4 one ply squares and you have to wait at least 15 seconds before you can get more. I can live w/o the seat but the tp dispenser was annoying!!!

CTina70 comments on NEED A HOTEL IN BOGOTA

Has anyone stayed at Suites Real 97? I found it when I was looking at Suites Real 85. I would prefer to be closer to Parque 93 than to the Zona Rosa. I just wanted to see if anyone had stayed there.

CTina70 comments on mom freaking out about saftey in colombia!!HELP!!

Bogota is not the safest place in the world, but there are ways to make it safer for you. When I was living there 2004&2005 we, hubby and I, had rules the US embassy puts out for their people living out in town.

Most of the rules were made because of something or other happening.
I have grown up traveling back and forth to and from Colombia, so I am by no means a paranoid(sp?).

First off, don't hang where a bunch of other Americans hang out and don't sit outside on the patio. (rule made when a bomb was tossed on to the patio of the Bogota Beer Company in the "T" by the Andino.)

Always lock the cab doors when you get in. (other guys can jump in the cab and rob you)

Call a cab, don't hail on in the street call and get the clave. (anyone who is watching you from a cab can be at your service if you hail one.)

Remember to be aware of your suroundings. If you are walking make sure you know who is coming up behind you.

For the most part, if someone is going to rob you, they are going to try to do is with you you noticing. When I am there I use a small purse held tightly under your arm.

I mean other than the first one, the things i have posted here are things I would do if I went to New York.

Remember, you are young and if not this year, then maybe next year
when you are 18.

Good Luck.

CTina70 comments on My daughter has altitude sickness.

Also try water.... I have been to Cuzco, Peru which is over 11,000 ft and found that drinking alot of water, staying hydrated really helped. The altitude seems to make the air dryer and therefore it dries a person out giving them a headache. I was a very very little bit tired but I think that had more to do with traveling.

When my hubby was living in Bogota, 8,678ft I went back and forth from Ft. Lauderdale every month, Bogota for 28 days and then 5-8 days back in FL. Sea level to 8,678ft. I drank ALOT. No Alcohol because it makes the symptoms of Altitude sickness worse as it dehydrates you.

CTina70 comments on Visiting Americans; Usually Leave Too Much Of a Tip So Stop It!

Tipping Ok, so my cousins who are born in Colombia and some of them have NEVER even been to the US tip about 10-15%.(NOT LUNCH, DINNER) They also have many friends who own resturants in Barranquilla. I also personally know Colombians in Bogota in the service industry and this is how the tip in most of the resturants go (at least in the Parque 93 area):

the 10% on the bill goes in to a big pot. Most servers will not see this money until the 15th or 30th of the month.

The "tips" then are split up... a persentage to the cooks, the busboys, the hostes and even the guard at the door and then much much
less than 10% goes to the servers.

So, if you feel you should tip, then do. I know that once they take my small 5000 tip that is included and divide it up, my server is NOT going to get a decent tip.

Now the extra you leave at the table is your servers tip to keep, they do not have to share this with anyone. I also know from talking to the wait staff at the local resturants near where I was living that these people do NOT live in the same areas where the upscale resturants are. They live in places like Kennedy which is like a stratus 2 or 3.

From talking to my aunt who is a former Magestrda del Corted in Colombia, it sounds like the Haves want to keep the Havenots in the same place they are forever. It is shameful that my family actually do things like this. Where else could you get a 17yr old girl to leave her home to be a maid for less than the national minimum wage of $120?

I love Colombia. I love my family and when I am living there I love my life there but there are things I don't like and one of them is the way people feel they have to tell others NOT to tip.

CTina70 comments on Trip to Leticia and Amazonas

Leticia I was in Leticia last May. I was not there as long but it was a great trip. My husband didn't tell me we were going to go to the jungle on this trip. I had wanted to go to San Andres but we ended up on Leticia instead. It was beautiful. I might not have picked this trip on my own but now that I have been there, I would not trade it for anything.

Don Lucho went with us on one of our trips but he was not our guide. Both of our guides were wonderful. The Anaconda was a great hotel. We chose one of the rooms on the 4th floor. The rooms are bigger but you don't get hot water. You really don't need hot water. There is also no elevator. It is 65 steps up to the 4th floor. At least I know I didn't gain weight on that trip.

CTina70 comments on Taxi fare from CTG to BAQ

I took a bus last week. It is really a charter service, it costs 15,000 pesos ($7.50 US) per person. I think it is called Caribe taxi or something like that. It was in an a/c van that seated 9 plus the driver. On the way to Cartagena we were in a lager bus type van that seated 15. They pick you up at your house and they drop you off at some sort of terminal area. If you want door to door it is 5,000 more. My cousins also take a cab sometimes, they call the cab company, don't pick them up off the street, and they set it up the cab will take 3 passengers and it costs 25,000 per person.

CTina70 comments on What do you think constitutes fluency?

So True Gringoinbogota I learned Spanish when I was 3. I spent 6 months with my grandparents, I had to or I would not have been able to say I didn't want liver for dinner.

I am fluent but I don't think I have mastered 2000 verbs. I don't really know if I have because I have not ever taken the time to count them. I still have my cousins correct me when I say things wrong, but I have a niece who is from the states and I have to correct her English. I don't translate in my mind, I just speak. I have been speaking sometimes and think to myself... wow, I am really speaking spanish.

So, it sounds like you are fluent. You will find that there are words that mean different things in different places like in the US drink Pop, others drink soda and still others call all soft drinks a coke.

CTina70 comments on Looking for stores that sell organic and vegetarian foods in Bogota??!!!

Veggetarian place There is a place on Cra 11 between Calle 95 and 98. It is on the opposit side of the street from the Olimpica.

CTina70 comments on Colombia safety guide

Taxis in Bogota A rule of thumb for taxis, don't take them off the street. If you are in a resturant, have them call one for you. The cab dispatch will give you a pin number or "clave" and when you get in the cab you give them the last 2 of the phone number you called from. When you are at a mall, they have taxis that when you get in the mall attendent will write down where you are going. Don't get in a cab alone.

These are the saftey rules the embassy gives to their people when they go to Colombia.

CTina70 comments on Advice on how to get from Bogota to Villa De Leiva and surrounding towns

Winding Roads I went to Villa De Leyva last January with my mother and a friend of hers. We had an Embassy vehicle so my driver took us. We did not go through Tunja on the way there, we went through Raquira instead. On the way back we went through Tunja. The road from Villa De Leyva to Tunja is more curvy then the road from Bogota/Raquira/Villa De Leyva. If you get car sick, take something for it. The roads are good by Colombian standards but they are only 2 lane and people drive very fast around the curves and busses pass when they should not.

I am glad we went, but bought alot of pottery in Raquira and Villa De Leyva is so clean compaird to Bogota. Make sure you wear sturdy shoes in Villa De Leyva because the streets are all cobblestone and it is easy to turn your ankle.

If you go to a travel agent in Bogota you should be able to get on a tour charter bus.

Good Luck.

CTina70 comments on Living in Colombia

Broadband We had cable intenet in Bogota. It was through out tv cable company. TV Cable. I am not sure of the price because my hubby's job took care of the bills but they do have it.

CTina70 comments on SALAMINA CALDAS

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.

CTina70 comments on My Colombian Daughter

Why not. My sister has wanted nothing more than to have her nose fixed. My dad had said he would get it done for her when she was older. So when she was older, she went to my dad and he said, No. She has always had a complex about her nose. I know that he self esteem has suffered. She is now 36yrs old and still has a complex. She doens't have the money to get her nose done. I am sure that most of her lack of esteem stemmed from her idea that her nose was too big.

CTina70 comments on Living in Colombia

Schools Nueva Granada is not all that great a school. The American Embassy sends most of the families to this school. The school has hightened security but most of the people say the education is nothing to write home about. The other schools that are more international or bilingual Colombian schools have a much higher education standard. I know kids who have to have tutors to get through Math and Science because the US is so far behind them in these subjects.
Good Luck.