Your Advice - Do's and Dont's in Colombia for vacation -;) ???

0POSTS

12 years ago

Hey - I don't live in Colombia but want to come and visit by end of this year for vacation (4-6 week) and started researching a bit...therefore, I am open for any suggestions you might have and willing to share with me what places to visit, which don't, how to commute, when is the best time to go and ...

I am German and moved a while ago to Doha and want to discover Colombia over December and January....

Any suggestions or comments are welcome to start planning and a discussion...either by locals preferably and/or other travelers who are in the same stage of planning to come or have been to Columbia....

Muchas gracias...and many thanks for your valuable feedback and advise in advance :-) really appreciate it...

Hasta Luego...

Kai

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cwjessop Member

1POSTS

12 years ago

It depends on many factors. The most important is what you tolerate in living conditions and your travel budget. I have traveled a lot in Colombia and I like the cooler climates. I like to walk and see the special things each place has to offer. Transportation is cheap. My favorite places so far are Bogota , Medellin, Armenia, Manizales, and Cali. Of course that includes the many surrounding pueblos. Do not wear jewelry or leave your cell phone or computer where someone can grab it. Petty crime is the same as in all large metropolitan areas. Just use common sense and you will be fine. Colombia is so beautiful that you could spend your whole life in amazement at the things you can discover here.

kw2312 Guest

0POSTS

11 years ago

Many Thanks cwjessop...

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Stevens925 Active member

26POSTS

11 years ago

You can do anything you want in Colombia. There are really no rules whatsoever. The only thing you shouldnt do is hit on a girl if she is with her boyfriend. Also, be very careful in taxis and around pólice. They are not very nice. Besides that.....anything goes. Colombia is the wild west.

marulalula Member

2POSTS

11 years ago

Hi!

I have been living in Bogota for 2 years. It's a very nice city, but its not my favorite. It rains a lot, and its always cloudy. But it has an amazing nightlife and so many good restaurants, and not expensive! And its the capital, so you have to come to Bogota...hahaha...The small towns around Bogota are super nice (Villa de Leiva is amazing) and of course the coast:
Cartagena: The walled city is amazing, soooo beautiful. I would recommend you to stay inside the walled city, there are hostels and hotels, also you can stay outside the walled city in Bocagrande....its a 15 min walk to the walled city. There you can find more hotels that have swimming pools (you will need them because of the heat!.....you have to go for a day trip to any island around to enjoy the beach (playa blanca just in weekdays, Isla del encanto, gente de mar, etc). The beach in Cartagena is horrible, thats why I would recommend you to go to the islands for a day.
Santa Marta: from there you go to the tyrona park, but be ware its nothing fancy or anything and lots of bugs, you will have to sleep in hammocks, or i think they also rent tents.....and there are some cabins but are more expensive named Ecoabs.
San Andres Island: Very nice island, it lacks a bit higine, but its a nice chill out island. You could rent a boogie and go around the entire island in like half a day.....beautiful.
Isla Providencia: You have to take a small plane from Isla San Andres, and i have not been able to go but the colombian people tell me its amazing, beautiful and its like a virgin island.
Also not coast but inland is:
Medellin: The city of the eternal spring. Beautiful, green, developed, people are amazing!.....and the surrounding towns are worth going to visit.
"Eje Cafetero": recomend that you go by plane from Bogota or big city to Armenia. From there you do the Coffee trail.....I have not gone yet but all the colombians really love it and say its amazing.....dont go by car because its an eternal trip and the road is not very safe (lots of curves and big truks).

DO NOT GO TO BARRANQUILLA....ugly city, it not nice at all and its soo hot you will want to die.

So Colombia is an amazing country and the people here are very friendly, but you always have to be careful because there is a lot of stealing, specially tourists, but like I tell everyone, just don't be showing off stuff and always careful. thats in every part of the world.

I am from chile and i would highly recomend you to go, after this trip, or in a future trip to Chile. Yo will love it!!!!!!

Hope I was helpfull.

Nice trip!

cccmedia Ecuador/Colombia Expert

10285POSTS

5 years ago

Stevens925 wrote:
You can do anything you want in Colombia. There are really no rules whatsoever. The only thing you shouldn't do is hit on a girl if she is with her boyfriend. Also, be very careful in taxis and around pólice. They are not very nice. Besides that.....anything goes. Colombia is the wild west.

Somehow, this thread on Do's and Don'ts in Colombia has been dormant for almost seven years!

In spite of Stevens' advice from 2014, there are rules. Unwritten rules. Immigration rules -- enforced. Income tax rules -- usually hard for Gringos to know what's being enforced.

Anyway, here are some rules I present for 2021 as I attempt to revive an evergreen thread...

1. Don't make jokes about Pablo Escobar. Though he's been gone since the mid-90's, he left a deep dark impression on La República.

2. Don't joke about Colombian food, especially arepas. I told my landlord in Armenia that many Gringos think that arepas are hard and tasteless. He didn't think that was funny. The next chance he got (my next trip to Armenia) he raised the monthly rent on my furnished rental by $200 US.

3. Don't drive intercity at night except for the Coffee Zone. I violated this rule (before I knew about it) and lost the rear windshield of my Ecuador-plated car when two delincuentes on motos
attacked my car with rocks around midnight south of Popayán. I was lucky the windshield (easily replaced that week) was all I lost.

4. Don't sign a long-term rental contract for Santa Marta, Cartagena or any other lowlands location until you are certain you can survive and thrive in the persistent heat.

cccmedia

marceloscorner Serial expat

486POSTS

5 years ago

cccmedia wrote:
Stevens925 wrote:
You can do anything you want in Colombia. There are really no rules whatsoever. The only thing you shouldn't do is hit on a girl if she is with her boyfriend. Also, be very careful in taxis and around pólice. They are not very nice. Besides that.....anything goes. Colombia is the wild west.

Somehow, this thread on Do's and Don'ts in Colombia has been dormant for almost seven years!

In spite of Stevens' advice from 2014, there are rules. Unwritten rules. Immigration rules -- enforced. Income tax rules -- usually hard for Gringos to know what's being enforced.

Anyway, here are some rules I present for 2021 as I attempt to revive an evergreen thread...

1. Don't make jokes about Pablo Escobar. Though he's been gone since the mid-90's, he left a deep dark impression on La República.

2. Don't joke about Colombian food, especially arepas. I told my landlord in Armenia that many Gringos think that arepas are hard and tasteless. He didn't think that was funny. The next chance he got (my next trip to Armenia) he raised the monthly rent on my furnished rental by $200 US.

3. Don't drive intercity at night except for the Coffee Zone. I violated this rule (before I knew about it) and lost the back windshield of my Ecuador-plated car when two delincuentes on motos
attacked my car around midnight south of Popayán. I was lucky the windshield (easily replaced that week) was all I lost.

4. Don't sign a long-term rental contract for Santa Marta, Cartagena or any other lowlands location until you are certain you can survive and thrive in the persistent heat.

cccmedia

Hi CcMedia,
Really interesting to read !
Thanks for the update, background experience!
Cheers,
Marcelo

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cccmedia Ecuador/Colombia Expert

10285POSTS

5 years ago

Since we're getting fan mail from serial Expat(s) in Cambodia -- or is it France? -- here are two more do's and don'ts for Colombia 2021...

1. Don't spend more than 182 days in Colombia in any 12-month period unless you are willing to risk the possibility that La DIAN would enforce income taxation on your worldwide ingresos.

2. If you like warm spring weather, consider Medellín for a visit or relocation. For slightly warmer weather but not stifling heat, there's Bucaramanga. For year-round cool, crisp weather at almost two miles of elevation, the border town of Ipiales (ippy-AH-less) near Tulcán, Ecuador, is a find.

Cheers,
cccmedia

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OsageArcher Colombia Expert

1661POSTS

5 years ago

And if you like it hot - consider Cali, the third-largest city in Colombia. It is known for salsa and for the friendliness of the people. They do not see too many gringos compared to Bogotá and Medellín.

It's not quite the Wild West, but people have been known to take law enforcement into their own hands. Just several days ago two robbers who tried to rob a taxista, and who ran into a shopping mall to try to hide, were beaten and would have literally been lynched but for the intervention of the police who finally got there and arrested the two after an exchange of gunfire (linchamiento means a lynching but also a severe beating):

https://www.elpais.com.co/judicial/robo … -cali.html

The vast majority of Colombians are honest, hard-working and peaceful, and are tired of being taken advantage of by the criminal element.

cccmedia Ecuador/Colombia Expert

10285POSTS

5 years ago

#10

Do's and Don't For Food in Colombia...

-- Make a point to enjoy the pineapples of Colombia. The best pineapples of Hawaii, sweet and delicious, made it to Colombian cities and have 'blown away' Expat fruit-lovers for years.

-- Look into Rappi. A play on rápido, the Spanish word meaning 'fast', Rappi appears to be dominating the home-delivery market after being birthed in Colombia just over two years ago. Look to Rappi to deliver your restaurant orders, supermarket foods, pharmacy orders, department store orders, electronics and more.
rappi.com.co

-- Be wary of the so-called national dish of Colombia, bandeja paisa. Bandeja (bahn-DAY-hah) means tray or platter .. and this is usually a tray's worth of meats, eggs and starches that may be trouble for the mature Expat's diet. I tried it (once, and that was plenty) at a roadside restaurant off the Panamericana highway west of Salento. Couldn't eat half of it. So much meat! Google it to get a list of the 'ingredients' and IMO consider getting a doctor's opinion before ordering this 'specialty'.

It has been called 'a heart attack on a tray'.

You don't make a habit of eating bandeja paisa, do you, Skipper?

cccmedia

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cccmedia Ecuador/Colombia Expert

10285POSTS

5 years ago

#11

If you would consider a move to Armenia, the Coffee Triangle or any mid-size city in Colombia, I recommend Gran Colombia, a series of videos and live Sunday programs hosted by a philosophical Expat named Loren Lowe (rhymes with Tao).

A Vietnam veteran now in his late 60's, Lowe migrated to the Coffee Zone (Manizales and then Armenia, from Cuenca, Ecuador) several years ago. He hosts his YouTube videos, podcasts and the 11 a.m. YouTube Sunday show from his apartment in the Expat-friendliest part of Armenia near Avenida Bolívar. The live show is preserved and can be viewed on video after the fact.

It would make little sense to move to, rent in or start shopping in Armenia without first watching some of Loren's related videos. Topics into which he candidly delves in unique style include his personal journey around Ecuador and Colombia .. dating and friendship in a mid-size Colombian city .. food for home and restaurant dining .. how to get a deal on an apartment .. and much more.

Lately, his Sunday program has been devoted to a main topic for his extended opening monologue .. followed by live Q and A with his many fans and newer viewers. Some of his programs feature an interview in English with a guest, usually friend(s) or associates of Loren.

Google .. youtube gran colombia

The name of this YouTube site, Gran Colombia, comes from the 19th century name of an area that included modern-day Colombia, Ecuador and Venezuela.

I do not receive compensation for recommending Gran Colombia, its programing or its merch.

-- cccmedia

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