We end our trip where we entered the country two weeks ago. We are in Bogotá, Colombia’s capital city with a population of 8 million people. We didn’t spend much time here as we were more interested in other parts of the country. Yet, we still had enough time to wander around, try restaurants, do some bar-hopping and take a little train high up the mountain to visit Cerro de Monserrate, which offers a great view of Bogotá at a height of 3126 meters.
Lars, Wim and I enjoyed each other’s company during a trip to Thailand last year and decided to book another trip this year to a different continent. Wim suggested Colombia and after doing some research we decided to book our flights. Shortly thereafter Koen wanted to join and our group was complete.
Colombia was never on top of my list with travel destinations, but I’ve had a great time! The country has a great variety of things to do, as well as beautiful places and nature to see. We tried to get a little bit of everything by hiking in the amazon, visiting dynamic cities like Bogotá and Medellín with their surrounding nature and take some time to relax at the Caribbean coast.
The Colombians that we encountered were very friendly, helpful and honest. I’ve had a few occasions where people gave me money back, because I was paying too much as I didn’t understand how much they were asking for. Very few of them speak English so we had to ramp up our Spanish as good as we could. Some patience and a lot of friendly smiles got us a long way. In Medellín we saw many people simply waving at us and welcoming us to their city. Although the country is welcoming more tourists every year, foreigners still spark the curiosity of many Colombians.
Parts of Colombia are considered too dangerous for tourists, but I haven’t felt unsafe at all. Of course you have to use common sense and turn around when you find yourself in sketchy neighborhoods and watch your belongings in crowded areas. Our tour guide in Medellín coded areas that we walked through, with different ‘papaya levels’. Colombian parents teach their children not to give away papaya’s (opportunities for people to rob you).
Cocaine and other drugs are still common in Colombia. As our tour guide in Medellín explained: as long as there is a worldwide demand for it, there will be a supply and the Colombian people have to deal with the negative side effects like addiction, corruption and criminal activities. We see people use drugs out in the open, and it is offered on many street corners in Bogotá and Medellín.
“Since 1994, possession of 1 gram of cocaine has been legal for personal use. Sale remains illegal, but personal production or gifts of cocaine are permitted.”, according to Wikipedia.
As the temperature in most parts of the country is pretty high, the people are relaxed and generally don’t feel a need to rush. Except the taxi drivers. As Grand Prix drivers they race to their destinations and pass each other left and right even where the road makes a turn. I’m glad we made it out alive.
We definitely had to get used to the Colombian cuisine. It doesn’t matter which type of meal you’re consuming; wether you’re having breakfast, lunch or dinner, chances are that you’ll find some eggs, rice, beans and a lot of meat on your plate. Those meals fill you up for sure!
Colombia is a relatively cheap travel destination. A 30-minute cab ride is typically about €4, you can have a complete meal for €2.50 and you pay about €4 for a good cocktail. We booked a few last-minute domestic flights for about €50. Most of the time we stayed in decent hotel rooms for about €25 per person per night. Of course it helped that we travelled with the four of us, so we were able to split some of the costs. The Colombian Peso isn’t worth much compared to the Euro and at one point we were walking around with a combined amount of 2.4 million Colombian pesos (about €650) in our pockets. It made us feel like millionaires for a day.
The bar scenes are a lot of fun. Most places are playing salsa and reggaeton tunes and many hips are shaking. Also when going out, the Colombians are friendly and welcoming. We cheered with our drinks and shared shots. Guys and girls invited us to dance with their group. There seems to be little jealousy, but instead a focus on just having a good time together. Communicating turned out to be a challenge: “Do you speak English?” -“No, habla Espanol?” Nope. Luckily you don’t always need to have conversations to have a good time together.
Would I visit Colombia again? I don’t think so; there are many other places in the world that I would want to see first. Would I recommend to visit Colombia? Absolutely! It has been a wonderful experience! In fact: I would visit this country sooner rather than later as it hasn’t felt as a tourist destination yet. Of course that brings some challenges like a language barrier (if you don’t speak Spanish), but the big advantage is that you’ll still get to experience a lot of authentic parts of the country. You also get a chance to meet kind and honest people, who are proud to be Colombian. They have been working very hard to change the image the world has about Colombia: dominated by drugs and domestic wars. We’re going home with a positive experience in our pockets. Their work is paying off.
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