Finding your bearings in Colombia

Yes to all your questions

Its Like anywhere really. Except the real Remote back country..

Anybody who has travelled anywhere in other developing countries and understands Spanish will have zero.problems.

I have been driving on and off in South America for several years, depending on which country I'm in and whether it's feasible to drive to distant locations in my 2016 Chevy Sail.

I bought the Sail in part because there are zillions of them in Ecuador (and other nearby countries), so it's easy to get parts and the car is not a fancy target for the unsavory elements.

I wouldn't put GPS or Satellite Radio into the car if I thought those gadgets would attract too much attention from los codiciosos.

I had satellite radio once when living in Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA.  There was a way to pull the box out of the car when parked.  I used that option off and on .. but it became a drag.

Hours before my first scheduled day of work at the Buffalo Thunder Resort & Casino while I was still staying at a Santa Fe Hotel, I discovered that the car had been broken into whlle parked at the hotel parking lot .. and the satellite equipment had been stolen. 

Sirius XM was kind enough to replace the system at no cost and without requesting proof of the theft, from which I inferred that this kind of thievery may have been occurring frequently.

If you can get a GPS system that is somehow fool-proof even against window-breaking snatch-and-grabbers, go for it if you want it.

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As a motorist in Medellín (2017), not having GPS, I got lost up in the Transversales while driving toward my obscurely-located hotel late one night.

Two traffic cops came to my rescue .. after I had voluntarily pulled over to consider where I was in relationship to the hotel.  The cops on motos led me the five or six blocks to the hotel.

Then they started asking for a propina. 

In my experience, this never happens in the USA, at least not for showing a confused motorist the way home.

The Medellín officers asked twice for a tip.

I tried to keep it light .. smiled .. thanked them twice .. did not offer up a 'propina'.   I waved goodbye and drove into the hotel parking area.

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In general, in my experience, traffic cops in Colombia are friendly and helpful (the one-time propina request aside).  Two times when I was similarly lost and voluntarily pulled over in metro Denver, Colorado, USA, a couple of policemen approaching on foot from cop cars treated me as a drug suspect for basically being pulled over in a questionable area after dark. 

In one case near the center of the Mile High City, when I had trouble at first finding my drivers license, a cop handcuffed me from behind without warning while I was still in the driver's seat.  As I had been in a resting mode, my pants belt was unbuckled.  As Officer Serve-and-Protect then dragged me backwards to the rear of the car, my pants-belt keychain -- attached to the ignition -- was ripped out .. and my pants were starting to fall down.  Cuffed, I could keep my pants up only by leaning awkwardly against the car trunk while they ran a police check for outstanding warrants.

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I can't conceive of an Expat being treated this way under similar circumstances by the polite and professional officers I have encountered at various times in Medellìn.

Fortunately, in Colombia, I always had my papers in order, including Colombia tourist car-permit.  So all encounters have ended amicably with me being sent on my way.

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