juanalejo has left 1520 comments

juanalejo comments on SAN ANDRES FOR SEMANA SANTA

San Andrés will be packed with people during Semana Santa, do book now. Lots of high school teens as most graduation trips tend to happen during these time of the year for schools that finish school year in June, which is quite a few from Bogotá and a lot from Cali.

juanalejo comments on 2 passports, 1 question

When you leave the US you can use which ever passport, it does not matter as you are simply leaving the country and you do not need visa to enter Colombia on a US passport either. When arriving in Colombia show the Colombian passport so you do not get a maximum stay in Colombia (plus your are legally supposed to do it, although since you are born in the USA nobody will question you about it), when you leave Colombia you show you US passport at the airline counter and both passports (if you finally entered Colombia on the Colombian one, if not just the US one) at the emigration booth. When reentering the US just show the US passport, inmigration will not look for stamps. You can legally travel on two passports and use one to enter or exit one country and the other to enter or exit the other.

juanalejo comments on Transmilenio

The only church that charges admission is Santa Clara which is actually a Museum. Worth paying and not much, maybe $2,000 or so.

juanalejo comments on Monserrate in Bogota

Funicular is open in the mornings from 5 a.m. to 12 noon. Cable car opens in the afternoons 12 noon to midnight. Sundays and holidays both are open. They leave from the same station down in Bogotá but arrive into different stations up in Monserrate.

juanalejo comments on I hate to re-ask questions...Where should I live in Colombia?

Barranquilla, Pereira or Bucaramanga, the latter two for nice warm weather and good enough night life. Manizales would not be my choice, too conservative of a society, too cold of a climate, to quite of a city.

juanalejo comments on Tennis (and a gym) in Bogota

The closest tennis courts to La Candelaria are the ones on National Park. The ones at El Campin are not that far either, neither the ones at Compensar. Gyms are all over town, there must be several in the Candelaria district, although many might be closed during holiday season as that area is a large university district and schools are all out.

juanalejo comments on Sneeking into venezuela without a visa

No border control, but plenty of road blocks on the way through Venezuela, and the Venezuelan security forces are not the nicest people in the world. So I highly discourage your venture, it is really calling for trouble.

juanalejo comments on Continental files for 2nd IAH-BOG

All this in addition to the Fort Lauderdale-Cartagena flights that will begin operation in February, courtesy of Spirit Airlines.

juanalejo comments on Continental files for 2nd IAH-BOG

This seems to be a very unlikely route to materialize. The Colombian civil authorities and the FAA have agreed on 21 weekly additional frecuencies for airlines of each country during 2008, yet the DOT has been quite rightfully upset at airlines which have asigned frecuencies and have forced to use them or loose them. This is the case of AA which had 14 weekly frecuencies dormant and after threat by the DOT decided to reopen its Miami-Barranquilla route, challenged by Spirit and Jet Blue who were after those frecuencies, as well as extra flights to Medellin and Bogota. Additionally Barranquilla has now been declared open skies so AA has been left with 7 frecuencies on its hands which have been assigned temporarily to complete the second daily Miami-Medellin and third daily Miami-Bogota, but the DOT has told them this is temporary as those Barranquilla seven frecuencies have to be put back on the pool for all airlines to compete next year. This is also the case of Continental who does not operate through the year its full allocation of frecuencies to Cali from Houston and might be subject to the same rulling by the DOT, unless of course it plans to use up its full daily Houston to Cali and the extra Houston to Bogota flights. And eventhough Spirit with its application for flights from Fort Lauderdale to Bogota and Medellín, Jet Blue with its application for flights from Orlando and Fort Lauderdale to Bogota, Delta with its application for flights from New York to Bogota and Atlanta to Medellin and Bogota and US Airways with its interest to operate from Charlotte to Bogota will definitelly put quite a bit of pressure on the DOT against airlines which have not fully used their their routes in these last years. On the Colombian side Avianca has been awarded a second flight to New York from Bogota, a daily Bogota-Orlando, a daily Bogota-Washington D.C., up to six weekly Bogota - Los Angeles, extra New York - Barranquilla and Miami - Cartagena, plus Aerorepublica was awarded Bogota-Miami and Medellin-Miami and Aires Bogota-New York (they have already been awarded Bogota-Fort Lauderdale). So if everything goes accordingly, cheaper tickets on the way.

juanalejo comments on

There are no import taxes between Venezuela and Colombia, you will be liable for a 35% sales tax payable in Colombia so in most occasions it will be more expensive as you will be paying both sales taxes in Venezuela and in Colombia. You could try and buy a car directly at the dealer that is put in Colombia prior to registration in Venezuela but hardly think it is worth it. No used cars are allowed in and cars already registered in Venezuela are considered used even if just put out of the dealer, so hence it would be treated as a temporary visitor car.

juanalejo comments on Bogota airport hotel recommendation needed

Habitel is the only hotel within the airport premices, it is also included in the airport shuttle that goes between terminals. Other hotels in the area are the Sheraton and the Capital, but not sure how expensive they could be.

juanalejo comments on Colombia hotel construction surging

5 star hotels in Bogota are 100% full, monday to friday. Getting a room has become a problem. Right now they are building the Marriot next to the Sheraton near the airport, Aviatur Travel Agents are building one in that area also, Hilton is building one in Chile Avenue area, J.W. Marriot also building one in that area, Ritz is going to build in Zona Rosa, Hilton also in Park 93, so will Sonesta and the colombian Royal chain who run the Radisson are also building a new tower of their Pavillon in Park 93.

juanalejo comments on US Airways competing with JetBlue for Colombia routes

US Airways has applied to fly from Charlotte to Bogota, so no more West Coast - Colombia flights yet. Spirit has also applied from Fort Lauderdale to Bogota, Jet Blue from Fort Lauderdale to Bogota and from Orlando to Bogota, Delta has applied for New York Bogota, Atlanta -Cali and Atlanta Medellin, and Continental has not defined which route but has also said they will be applying for a route, believed possibly to be Houston-Medellin. There are only 21 weekly routes to be approved, 7 for December, 7 for April and 7 for October, plus American has to be operating their empty slots by December which will include the Miami-Barranquilla, and the 3rd daily 4 times a week Miami - Bogota and the twice daily 3 times a week Miami - Medellin. Flights to Cartagena or Barranquilla do not count as both cities have open skies and any airline can start flying there when ever they wish (Barranquilla is a new open skies city so not sure if the AA slots will now be moved into another city). Both Spirit and US Airways have said that if they do not ge their routes awarded they will begin to operate into the North Coast anyhow. The US Department of Transport has to award these routes sometime soon as the first airline has to be flying in by December. P.D. Aires has been awarded the Bogota-Fort Lauderdale and are supposed to recieve a few Airbus A320 to operate the route and they have said they are interested in operating the Bogota - New York route also. This is competence of the Colombian Aerocivil which is the entity in charge of giving the permits for Colombian Airlines. Both countries have agreed to expand yearly 21 weekly frecuencies for airlines of each country but the agreement is now very open to expansion according to airline loads.

juanalejo comments on Swimming in Bogota??

Compensar at Avenida 68, has very good pools. The city training center at Calle 63 has great pools also.

juanalejo comments on Millions lost in translation

It is not only in Colombia, it is in the spanish language. Billion is a million millions rather than a thousand million like in english. In spanish, a thousand million is millardo which is rarely used in Colombia but very commonly used in Venezuela.

juanalejo comments on

Sorry Rubito, my mistake not one but two in one week and the news said not 9 but 7 this year. Yes the average is just over 1 a month. Do you happen to know the average for a city like NYC? Just curious. Still intersting to see how some try and make it look freaky, it is still something that has to be looked at but according to you it is unfortunatelly normal in large cities?

juanalejo comments on

Rubito, the statistics on crime are not on the rise. The protest yesterday had to do with the murder of ONE taxi driver the night before, not the many in the last week posted by we all know who, Mr. Doom and Gloom. There have been on average 1 killing per month, which is horrible, last year a total of 13. This year up to date 7 and the taxi drivers just got fed up and with just cause.

juanalejo comments on Farmers Markets in Bogota??

raquel, there is a supermarket called Surtifruver which caters only to fruits and vegetables, it is very worth having a look at if you are looking for exotic fruits. There is a large one at Avenue 9th with 140th Street.

juanalejo comments on A chink in the economy or the start of something bigger

I agree with you robi, lets enjoy life. I for one shall ignore the silly doom and gloom, it has been far too many years of trying to prove them wrong, but the numbers have done the job for me. If I ever see it coming I shall react properly and not worry years in advance. I simply do not like such a negative and sad life around me. I have a positive attitude on life and tend to concentrate on half full glasses not the half empty ones. Will look for the sunken ship when I am in Tayrona over the weekend and eat some fresh lobsters, hopefully my plane won't overshoot the runway on landing.

juanalejo comments on A chink in the economy or the start of something bigger

For all I know is that I employ 150% more than before (I have a small office, nothing big although sounds impresive) and everybody in my office seems to be having a better life. Most people even have a car now, something I would not have imagined just a couple years back and my biggest problem is providing them with a parking space at work. I just hope it continues for years to come. I hate when those who carry a black cloud on their heads on a permanent basis want to underestimate all the progress that the country is experiencing. Before they would only call for kidnappings where they weren´t any, now they see the economy crashing tomorrow morning and then still they say they love Colombia. It is my country and I will live here in goods and in the bads, and I will continue as I have done until now to try and make this a place as good to work as it is to live in. .

juanalejo comments on A chink in the economy or the start of something bigger

Tinto, everything you said is correct, anything can happen and hopefully it will go for the best, but none of the variables seem to be showing the doom and gloom others love to forecast. That is all I wanted to show. If the economy is kept under control, if exports keep on growing on the same rate and imports slow down some then most variables will be on the positive side.

juanalejo comments on A chink in the economy or the start of something bigger

Tinto: Imports exceeding exports can be worrying if it is only based on consumer products, up to know (depending on the data I have read) it varies from 30-50% being industrial goods that are imported as most companies in Colombia have taken advantage of the cheaper dollar to reconvert, not knowing where the peso will head in the long run. So if that data is correct once the industrial reconversion has taken place the trend should revert.

juanalejo comments on A chink in the economy or the start of something bigger

Semana Magazine June 25 - July 2 Foreign investment in Colombia grew to 3.7 billion dollars in the first 4 months of 2007, that triple the same period in 2006. 90% of Industrials say their production is at an all time high, industrial capacity is at over 80%. Bavaria (beer) is working at 95% of installed capacity, Cemex (cement) at 90%, car factories are working at 100% 24-7, Industrial investment in machinery, etc grew 26% vs, 2006. Construction in 1st quarter grew 28%, mortages grew at 81%, civil construction at 40%, social housing at 30% and bad loans came down to 4%. The biggest complaints are: not enough raw material, not enough trained professionals for specific skills in new technology, ports that are saturated, airports which are deficient and the highway system which is planned will take long to be built. The biggest risk is too much government investment through credit which can drive up interest rates and a sudden collapse in the Venezuelan economy which can really hit industrial production here. Where there are looking into is the free trade agreements with Mercosur (Brazil, Argentina, etc), Chile and the Central American countries and hopefully the free trade agreement with the USA and Europe for next year.

juanalejo comments on A chink in the economy or the start of something bigger

Just a quote from a thread from today: "Colombia's industrial production rose 11.91 percent in May from a year earlier, while the output for the January-through-May period increased 14.13 percent, the National Statistics Department said on Wednesday. April industrial production was up 13.25 percent from the same month last year. Retail sales in Colombia rose 10.24 percent in May from 12 months ago and grew 13.13 percent in the first five months of the year versus the year-ago period, the government said in a separate statement."

juanalejo comments on dollar dropping or peso rising?

GIB, maybe you could tell us why if you knew that the government wanted a strong peso were you actually saying that the peso would reach even 3100 two years ago? Were you misinformed back then, if so how do you know you are not misinformed now.

juanalejo comments on Fly the Friendly Skies.....Yikessss!

Miguel Calvo, I agree there. I have flown that prehistoric American Airlines A300 that flies into Bogota and it really looks creepy. but the aircraft in the incident was 3 months old and was being still flown by the factory pilots who are the ones that train the Colombian pilots.

juanalejo comments on dollar dropping or peso rising?

Bufalo, to be true this is definitely not the best site for financial information. They only see what they want to see, and that is Colombia down the drain. For what reason? Beats me, I have been around this site for a few years and still the same people are always calling for doom and gloom. For the time being it seems that the peso has stabilized at hovering just under the 2000 mark, most financial forecasts in the country expect to stay there until the end of the year. Just and example on what has been advised around here: xxx says on Thursday August 4th, 2005 13:27: "under my crude calculations the COP should be around 2550 or so against the dollar as other currencies in the world have seen at least a 10% correction against the dollar. The COP did not? Still holding at the bottom end. Just like a rubber band you can only pull back so far before it snaps. If it does snap you won't see a COP/$ retracement to 2600 but to 3100 in my opinion which isn't worth a lot I have to admit."

juanalejo comments on dollar dropping or peso rising?

China has been low? I think you meant it is maintained low, they do not have a free floating currency, it is pegged to a basket of currencies and not allowed to move much from there.

juanalejo comments on Fly the Friendly Skies.....Yikessss!

RUV ¿Which Colombian planes look scary? Maybe in remote areas of the country as the main stream airlines only operate newer planes. The oldest ones are MD 83 of which Delta and American have hundreds of them still flying around, but we will phase them out next year. Aerorepublica is moving into a brand new Embraer 190 fleet (like the one in the incident which was 3 months old), aircraft which are very popular in the USA by airlines such as US Airways. Aires which operates new Canadian built Bombardier De Havilland Dash 8 and is getting Airbus 319 or New Generation 737 for its fleet, and even Colombia´s government airline Satena operate brand new Embraer 170 and 145 like the ones operated by Continental. Airplanes like the DC 9 operated by Northwest and A300 operated by American are something of the past for Colombian airlines.

juanalejo comments on A chink in the economy or the start of something bigger

GIB, you can be right or you can be wrong. What you are saying applies to any economy and you are simply assuming things, putting in variables right out of an economics textbook. But my complaint was not about what you have said, but that it is that the same long subject is argued by you every six months, for the last few years, at least since I have been in this site. So if a well known economist came and said something on the lines, I may begin to think. But all forecasters are actually saying the opposite, both national and international economists. Sorry but if I did not know your stories from years back I may even listen to you.

juanalejo comments on A chink in the economy or the start of something bigger

Sorry, I meant we have barely appreciated against the pound not the dollar.

juanalejo comments on A chink in the economy or the start of something bigger

GIB, somebody got upset, please stop screaming that it is bad manners in Colombia. And by the way it is not easy to keep a peso from getting strong, if it were that easy then the Euro, and the Pound, and the Mexican Peso, and the Brazilian Real, and the Indian Rupee, etc, etc, etc would not be having record highs against the very weak US dollar. It is a world problem that will correct itself one day. We have barely appreciated against the dollar and we barely appreciated against the Euro. So please go complain about something real. And rent up 20%? Where did you get that? If there is something that has come down in price is rent, because many more people are affording their own homes and there is an excess of homes for rent in the market and the price has gone down. Will this generate an effect on house prices when these renters see it is not good business any more? Probably and that will correct the really high prices of the real estate, and is only better news.

juanalejo comments on A chink in the economy or the start of something bigger

GIB, you have been calling for this melt down since I have been in this site, and that is a few years back, so don´t come up with a hero telling story and try to act like you know when and where to invest, because you have been scaring people away from Colombia since time inmemorial. And yes the peso may be too strong, inflation higher than expected, but so are exports at record high, so are mortgages at record high, so is direct international investment at record high. And you have been noticing a faster slowdown since December, just when the economy has grown the fastest in decades? 8.8% makes it the highest growth in the world after China and India.

juanalejo comments on A chink in the economy or the start of something bigger

If you have lots of internet cafe´s for sale, it is evidence people can afford computers and internet at home. So it is far from an indicator of a slowing economy. Internet prices have halved in the last year, so I guess it is not good business anymore.

juanalejo comments on A chink in the economy or the start of something bigger

GIB, don´t tell me you are going to start all over again, you have been for several years announcing a melt down, I thought the numbers had finally proven you wrong. Maybe one day you will be right, but in the mean while a few of us will keep making money. Have you ever seen the movie "the secret"? Something tells me that you are following their advice to the limit, and since your biggest dream is to see Colombia´s economy in the sink, you can simply not see anything beyond that idea. Sorry but I don´t think the time is yet to come, while you are forcasting doom and gloom (as usual) HSBC (the second largest bank in the world for if you did not know) opened its doors in Colombia today. So my bet is they know better than others.

juanalejo comments on Help, I need to find a ticket to Cali for December

American is reopening its Miami - Barranquilla route in December plus adding a few flights a week to both Bogotá and Medellín. Avianca is adding increasing its LA - Bogota plus its JFK - Barranquilla - Pereira and its Miami - Cartagena - Pereira. In addition Aires, a regional airline will begin operations between Bogota and Fort Lauderdale before Christmas and Spirit to Cartagena and maybe Barranquilla also before Christmas, and last Aerocivil and FAA are supposed to finish negotiations by end of September to increase frecuencies between the two countries as of what Aerocivil has asked for 97 additional frecuencies a week, so in conclusion maybe tickets maybe not be as expensive this coming Christmas.

juanalejo comments on Help, I need to find a ticket to Cali for December

At this point in time, good luck in getting A ticket, much less getting some discount. December is expensive and difficult to get a ticket to get into Colombia same goes for January getting out.

juanalejo comments on supermarket loyalty cards - worth it?

I have all cards, the points are free so who cares, there is no fee. Exito gives you simple things, I got a lamp for my house last time. Carulla reduces the price of certain nice expensive things, got a really nice wok last week for 40.000 pesos. Carrefour doesn´t have a loyalty program, or at least last time I checked. Pomona just gives you discount prices on the spot.

juanalejo comments on Holiday in Bogata 15th

The 15th is NOT a holiday, it has moved to the following monday the 20th, like most religious holidays do.

juanalejo comments on China: Explosive.... and one little line in this article relates to Colombia...

The same sad story, the Gringos don´t give a damn about the rest of the world, they always give excuses for why they do this or they do that. Scotty you are the prime example of why the US is so unliked around the world, and it is because YOU think in YOUR opinion in that the US is the greatest planet on earth and therefore it excused from all its wrong doings, and you know what, NO it is not excused. And finally do try and read what I wrote again, you simply did not get it, what does Cali´s horrible fuming buses have to do with it, what do emergency needs like going to the bicycle have to do with going to work on a bike, don´t give me stupid excuses. China is simply pulling its population out of poverty and NO, it does not excuse their environmental damage, but the US has NO moral right to say anything because if the rest of the world was as polutant as your country then we simply would not exist as a planet.

juanalejo comments on China: Explosive.... and one little line in this article relates to Colombia...

Scotty, Bogota has gone from 3000 bikers a day in 2000 to 13000 bikers a day in 2006. So it can be done. Maybe not many are car owners, but many were bus riders though reducing the need for extra buses. We all know that China is growing beyond belief, but their waste is still far below the per capita volumes rich nations produce. The US consumes 25% of the worlds energy resources and it only has 5% of the population, lets hope China never reaches that percentage because the world will come to a stop that day. So the world needs to get together before China reaches those alarming numbers, but without example from western nations they have no interest in listening. But then again why blame them, I would be very upset if my rich neighbor came to me and asked me to turn off my 5 inefficient bulbs that light my 10 member home, just because he can afford to buy 50 efficient ones to light his single family home.

juanalejo comments on

El Dorado fogs up in the mornings only in January - February and maybe in August when night temperatures drop close to freezing. Yet it is never fogged beyond 7.30-8.00 a.m. Bogotá is definitely not considered dangerous by airline pilots, just challenging due to its altitude which requires faster speed take offs and landings. This is also something that happens in other high airports such as Denver. Rionegro on the other hand is a very foggy airport, and it can be closed up to 9 -10 a.m. and even in the afternoons. The reason they built JMC was because larger aircraft could become dangerous at Olaya Airport in dowtown Medellin, and who ever has been there knows exactly why.

juanalejo comments on China: Explosive.... and one little line in this article relates to Colombia...

Did you know the US destroys a forest the size of Belgium every year to build suburban subdivision so Gringos can live in their enourmous plots of land? but you never hear many Gringos mention it. Sadly Chinese are now catching up and the subdivision trend is heading the same horrendous direction. Damn for those industrialized countries who care only about their own personal lifestyles.

juanalejo comments on

It was a brand new plane, just 3 months under operation and the pilot was the aircraft type instructor. Very strange indeed.

juanalejo comments on The joy of the tienda

Sorry to dissappoint you.

juanalejo comments on what zona is Bogota airport (south bogota)

Those ice storms never cover much areas of town, but this one was last year and most of the undergroundparkings had the entrances covered fully in ice.

juanalejo comments on The joy of the tienda

GIB - Yes, off course you are so right, you always are. This site is pure evidence of how knowledgable your people are. Hope that makes you happy.

juanalejo comments on

As long as your high end FS is not a Microsoft one you might be close to reality. FS by Microsoft are really clumsy at leveling off our high altitude airports with the surrounding landscape, and precisely in the case of El Dorado it actually looks as if it were a table top when in reality is not.

juanalejo comments on The joy of the tienda

Did any of you guys even read my answer? 1. 60% of Brits have travelled OUTSIDE EUROPE. 2. I am not comparing a select group of people with all Gringos, I am comparing all Colombians that can afford to travel to all Americans that can afford to travel, can you not read. and Tinto 1. Yes the US is a very varied nation geographically, but so is Europe. The difference the US is like a carbon copy when it comes to culture and city scapes in most of the country, Europe is not and yet Europeans not only know their continent by heart experienced their different cultures, but they also travel much more abroad OUTSIDE EUROPE. It also costs them more to travel abroad, they just have different priorities, maybe changing cars less or not guying to mall every Sunday to see what can be bought ? Plus 2. Most Gringos who go "abroad" to Mexico or the Caribbean hardly leave a fully inclusive ALL AMERICAN resort, much less do they mingle with the local culture. That is off course unless they are looking for a sweetheart in Colombia.

juanalejo comments on what zona is Bogota airport (south bogota)

Sorry but I have no idea how to upload images in this site, was going to posta picture of the foot of ice in Bogota.