saritafercho has left 6 comments

saritafercho comments on Cartagena to host World Tourism conf. in 2007

great news for Colombia This is great news for Colombia, for sure. It could be a top tourist destination and this will hopefully serve to persuade people to start to visit more.

saritafercho comments on Travel in Colombia by overnight bus

hard facts On another thread asking about buses from Bogota to Cali, I asked the same question: what are the hard facts on this, instead of vague scaremongering? Nobody could come up with a single example. Is that because foreigners don't travel on buses or because to be honest, we are actually not that much use to them? This is what I have been told by my Colombian husband and his family. They are generally more interested in kidnapping someone that they know to have a lot of money, than a random person who might be (relatively speaking obviously) poor. The last example of kidnapping "gringos" that we can remember hearing about was a group in Ciudad Perdida, a place that everybody warns against visiting if you value your life/safety. My husband said they were insane to go there, it's like walking into the lion's den. As for US citizens, I don't think it's fair to comment on whether they are more likely to be a target for problems, but I think many Colombians feel that the US as a nation, and I am definitely not talking about individual Americans, gives Colombia a hard deal - many rich and important Americans are happy to consume the cocaine and then planes go over and spray the fields so that the farmers are left with nothing, breeding resentment and more... I am sure I will get a severe reaction for saying this, but I am only repeating what several Colombians have said to me about the US government approach to the situation. Neither can we think of a better solution to this vicious circle however....

saritafercho comments on Días perros

me salieron las lagrimas Que fotos mas preciosas y conmovedores... Me salieron las lagrimas. Como me gustaría ser fotografo de su calibre.

saritafercho comments on Bogotá-Cali by bus?

no answers yet Still no hard facts... Of all these people you know who have been kidnapped, how many are actually normal foreign people just visiting? My husband lost his father and brother 10 years ago to secuestro so he knows what it is all about I guess. We think that the last travellers kidnapped were in Ciudad Perdida, where they frankly should not have gone according to my Col. family. Anyway, I guess this is getting off the original thread here, sorry.

saritafercho comments on Bogotá-Cali by bus?

I want HARD FACTS! OK, so how many blonde "gringos" do the Bogota-Cali route each year, and how many get off happily at the other end with nothing more than buslag? I am a tall blonde (ie obviously foreign, obviously "rich") Englishwoman going to Colombia for the first time in December with my Caleño husband. We are travelling from Bogota to Cali by plane as we decided that we can't face a long journey. However the return journey may be by bus or car. I am bored of reading the scaremongering and theory, I want HARD FACTS! I want the truth, I can take it. My husband's (middle class) family use bus, plane and car for this route, never a problem, but they are also aware of the risks. BTW I don't like the word gringo to be used to apply to anyone who is from the "western! world. For me a gringo is American. But OK OK, I suppose it is a convenient catch-all phrase.

saritafercho comments on Slang

que te chumben My husband (from Cali) says "que te chumben". I think it means "get lost!" or something similar, I don't think it's bad but don't really know what it means to be honest! Anyone explain it?