Trip Report: Colombia, February 2024

About Safety
I’m going to cut right to the chase on this subject, since it seems to be the first thing most people question, comment on, wonder about or hint at.

I felt completely safe, and at ease, throughout the trip in all the places we went. And I believe we actually were safe, not just blithely oblivious. Colombia seemed as safe to me as any place I’ve been in Europe or North America (in fact, safer), with one specific exception (noted below). Yes, I know you want to know about Pablo Escobar and the narco gangs, blood in the streets, kidnappings, etc.….we’ll get to that trope.

Where were things sketchy? In two places – ironically, both with the same name. There were two neighborhoods we were warned about: the old historic centers of both Bogotá and Medellín (both neighborhoods are called “La Candelaria”). In Bogotá, our hotel was smack in the middle of this neighborhood. We arrived from our flight at about 2 am, and the streets were absolutely deserted and looked desolate, intimidating. But during daylight hours and into the evening, the streets were lively, full of people, restaurants were bustling. People were out and about, it was clearly a vibrant, happening neighborhood, with a festive, upbeat vibe. We walked around during the day and before and after dinner and it was like any other hip, safe, comfortable city neighborhood. Lots of young people out, lots of upscale eateries, it was vivacious. Though after midnight, I’d want to be back in my hotel, and I wouldn’t go looking for trouble.

Medellín’s La Candelaria neighborhood looked a little scruffy around the edges in a few places (in one park/plaza in particular, where there were not a lot of tourists and a lot of sketchy-looking men) even during mid-day; we had been warned more than once (by cab drivers and our hotel staff) that while it was perfectly safe during the day, it was a place to be avoided late at night - and I believed it (it looked like some of the sketchier public spaces in Seattle, but frankly no worse than that). Outside of that one park/plaza, things were vibrant, booming, happening, with sprawling street markets and lots of activity. And that wasn’t the neighborhood we stayed in: we stayed across town, in Laureles, a hipster/popular residential neighborhood that felt like desirable neighborhoods in Paris, Madrid, and lots of other cities.

We saw a LOT of visible (but non-threatening) security staff all over these big cities. National police, city police, private security, probably other agencies. In some sections, security staff were visible on every single block. None brandishing guns, and all appearing to be just part of the neighborhood landscape. In Medellín, there was an interesting (and to me, delightful) security presence that initially surprised me: groups of female, uniformed, police officers (city police), four or five women in small groups. All over the place. Always smiling, greeting people on the streets from business owners to tourists to the occasional homeless person. They were simply “walking the beat” and on some of the bigger, busier streets, could be seen on almost every block. They appeared confident, happy and at ease, interacting with the locals, completely non-threatening - because (apparently, from what I saw on billboards proudly promoting their presence), they were recruited from the local neighborhoods, part of the community - so they were policing their own neighborhoods, interacting with their own neighbors and local shopkeepers - and determined (as the billboards declared) “to protect that which is most dear to us all” - their families, their homes, local businesses, their neighbors. Anyone who would be causing trouble is going to have to go through these groups of ladies first. It seemed to be working: the vibe was all positive, smiles all around, no tension, no hostility. Mothers, sisters and grandmothers as the first line of defense, everybody seemed to respect them.

Colombia, and Medellín specifically, had been notorious for years for bloody violence, drug cartels, brazen gunplay, stunning murders in the streets, military responses, corruption, you know, Pablo Escobar and all, political violence, repression, internal warfare, every nightmare that you can imagine and plenty you probably can’t. That sad chapter of this country’s history is now firmly in the rear view mirror. These people are DONE with that, and it’s crystal clear that they are NOT going back to that hellish dystopia. They have managed to turn the corner, put that behind them, everyone has MUCH better lives now and they are sticking to what’s working. People are upbeat, positive, visibly joyful, and they seem to be very, very proud of the progress they’ve made - as well they should be. You can see it, everywhere. They swagger. This delighted me.

The turnaround that this country seems to have made is dramatic, and a huge accomplishment. Once I saw this with my own eyes, and thought about it, I found that this made me really happy. It is so nice to see a success story for a nation that not so long ago was so deeply troubled, and that appears to have decidedly moved on to better things. I spoke with more than a few people about how things have improved in the past decades, and people seemed quick to point out that their lives - everyone’s lives - are so much better now, and they all spoke confidently with pride about how the country was now on a better path. Of course, it’s certainly not perfect - no country is - but the changes seem dramatic, widespread, and firmly established. Pablo Escobar is still visible - mostly through posters, t-shirts and souvenirs sold to tourists. Colombians seem well aware that to many outsiders, their country still has this reputation as a lawless, dystopian fever dream. They seem to view this with a mixture of annoyance, disbelief, and a little resentment, but with resignation and determination that they are not going to be defined by what they now see as a previous generation’s dark experience. They want to be done with all that, whether or not some foreigners seem mired in the past.

I realized that seeing this and understanding how big a change this must be for Colombians, it reminded me of other places where I observed something like this: in the Baltic countries of Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia. These nations also went through long dark years (in fact, generations) of troubles. Very different troubles, in their case perpetrated by Russian occupiers – and they have come out the other side determined to hold on to the progress they’ve made, with their lives so much better. It warmed my heart to see another clear success story where a nation was able to overcome adversity and set their future on a better path. It still makes me smile and gives me hope for the world.

Today, Colombia - and Medellín especially - is an upbeat, positive, thriving place. They are done with the Bad Old Days. Now they’re focused on salsa dancing, great food, and la dolce vita, like anyplace where people want a happy life, one that offers its residents (by some measures) one of the highest rated quality-of-life in the world. That may sound like complete nonsense, but our cab driver passionately insisted that Medellín’s quality-of-life was #1 in the world, and I heard others make similar boasts. I’m sure many folks would dispute such claims, but if I look at what life there must have been like 20 years ago and compare it to what I saw, I can easily understand the pride, positivity, and the outright swagger that Paisans (someone from Medellín and the surrounding state of Antioquia) often exhibit.

Now, to be clear, Colombia is not without its problems, including petty crime, and occasionally violent robberies. It’s a developing country, with some poverty and some wealth, all adjacent, and bad things can and do happen. Anyone going there needs to maintain awareness of their surroundings, same as anywhere else where opportunistic theft can occur. If you keep your head in the game, I think you should be fine.

If you go looking for trouble, I’m sure you can find it/it will find you. Don’t carry a lot of cash (it’s money-belt time), don’t flash a lot of bling. Be extra super-careful if going out late and visiting clubs, expecting to find love...sex tourism and victims of Really Bad Choices are real things, and you’ll undoubtedly hear or read about examples. But I think anyone with common sense should do fine, at least in all the places we went to.

Next up: Places and Things...

The places we went and the things we did

Bogotá
We had two days in/around Bogotá. We spent one day exploring the city itself, and one day we hired a private driver to take us out to a couple of day-trip destinations. Bogotá sits in a mountain valley, surrounded by higher peaks, all surprisingly close in. Our first morning there, we headed up to Monserrate, an in-city mountain that rises to over 10,000 feet. While some folks hike up (some even run up, the show-offs…), fortunately there’s a cable car (teleférico) and a funicular for those of us struggling with the thin air. The funicular operates in the mornings, the cable car operates in the afternoons. I don’t understand why they don’t both operate all day, both appear to be well-utilized, busy, and the lines get long; it’s not clear to me why they don’t run them both at the same time to reduce the waiting in line. They run on nearly-identical routes. The views from up on Monserrate (and on the way up) are spectacular. There are religious monuments, a church, shops and cafes on top. It’s a must see/must do attraction (although we had some rain while there). We enjoyed the city’s gold museum.

The next day we got out of the city to a couple of quirky day-trip attractions: a huge waterfall and an underground salt “cathedral” (formerly a salt mine, now a major day-trip tourist attraction). The waterfall was beautiful but smelled bad (the river is badly polluted, now being cleaned up, we were told). The Salt “Cathedral” is huge, and hugely popular (Tip: Do NOT lick the walls…we saw many people doing this...eewwww). It’s a former commercial salt mine (there are others in the area if one isn’t enough for you). There is a heavy emphasis on telling various Catholic stories based on different rooms in the mine, there are light-shows, an included audio-guide explains it all. If you are religious (especially Catholic) this may be more meaningful to you; my spouse and I found the audioguide narration a bit over-the-top and eventually switched ours off and just wandered, enjoying the weirdness of it all. This is kind of a tourist trap but it seems to be on everyone’s “must do” list and is probably Bogotá’s most popular day-trip.

We flew from Bogotá to Medellín.

Medellín

Medellín is easy to love. Sprawling along a valley nestled high in the mountains, and pushing up the steep flanks of the mountains that surround it, Medellín’s location is even more spectacular than Bogotá’s. I’ve never seen a city that just looked so pretty in it’s setting (San Francisco comes to mind, but with steep mountains around it rather than ocean). There’s an interesting and historic old center. There’s lots of art, music, food and culture. There are distinctive and cool neighborhoods. There’s amazing architecture and history on display - including many red-brick, high-rise buildings perched among green spaces on steep hillsides. A huge park on a mountain plateau that’s accessible completely by the city’s Metro system. And then there’s what just might be the world’s most amazing public transit system.

I know this will sound crazy, but the thing that made perhaps the biggest impression on me was Medellín’s incredible public transit system (and that’s actually saying a lot, because the city has so many cool things going for it that have nothing to do with moving people around).

It’s an integrated system consisting of some components that are familiar: bus and rail lines, as you might expect in any large, progressive city. The “Metro” heavy rail system is laid out in two roughly cross-shaped main lines, one running north-south up the river valley, another running east-west across the center of the city. Fast and efficient, with trains running every few minutes, it’s squeaky clean, surprisingly modern, functional, safe, fully staffed, and serves the core of the city well. It is the only place I’ve even been other than Japan where there seemed to be plenty of employees standing around, looking for anyone lost, confused or needing help. We paused several times to consult a map, figure out which track to connect to, and get oriented. Uniformed staff would approach us asking (in Spanish and then in English) if we needed directions, needed help or needed anything. These were not scammers or hustlers, these were friendly Metro employees in “business casual” uniforms, whose job appeared to be to watch for and help anyone who needed assistance - they were always smiling, charming, and seemed sincerely wanting to help anyone who needed help.

But the efficient, fast trains were not even the best part of the transit system. That was the stunning, amazingly cool Metrocable system...

Medellín’s Metrocable System

In service since 2004, this is a surprisingly extensive system of public transportation “gondolas” - Alpine ski lift cars. The cars and most engineering is French. Each car seats up to 6-8 passengers comfortably, with room for another 2 standing. We often had cars entirely to ourselves; usually there were 2-4 other passengers in a car with us. We never saw a car with more than 6 people in it. It was like every seat was in Business Class. The views from the cars (with huge, 360-degree wrap-around windows) are spectacular.

There are 6 Metrocable lines, each one branching off from one of the Metro (train) stations, and then traversing up and over steep hillsides. It’s spotlessly clean, nearly-silent, fast, non-polluting, comfortable, smooth, and utterly delightful. The infrastructure to support this consists of a series of very (VERY!) tall, steel towers on the ridges and hillsides, with cable strung between them (so the infrastructure didn’t require digging or bulldozing neighborhoods, just the occasional tower plopped in). There are stations where you can hop on/off, just like trains. The cars run continuously, so there is zero waiting - you get off a train, walk to the integrated Metrocable station, and step on a gondola as it slows and pops its doors open. You sit down, the doors close, and off you zoom - up, up, and way up, silently gliding over rooftops and across deep, broad valleys, through tall evergreens, and on to the the next station. It felt like a ride at Disneyland, except it went right over dense neighborhoods, through barrios, across deep ravines and over high ridge lines.

The Metrocable lines are extensive, reaching way, way up into, through, and beyond hillside communities many kilometers, far from the rest of the city’s infrastructure (eg the Metro train lines) located back down and along the valley-floor. We rode one line miles up the hillsides, and across a plateau, to a vast park (Arvi Park) - it felt like we had gone to another province. We hiked around the park for a couple hours, then took the Metrocable back down (a long, long way!) to the Metro (train) station, and then walked the few blocks home. What a fantastic way to get around a big city! We were hooked.

In an interesting (and to me, absolutely brilliant) twist of planning and prioritization, the Metrocable system was not designed for the convenience of the city’s well-to-do neighborhoods. It was purposely built to serve the poorest, the “have not” barrios of the city - neighborhoods thrown together haphazardly (and often illegally) on the steep hillsides years before, which had been historically ignored, were under-served by most services, and where people had few good options for a better life. These neighborhoods were physically cut off from much of the city, by the steep terrain and with few, narrow, winding streets making access a nightmare. Forward-thinking (and bold) planners decided to focus the Metrocable system to serve these neighborhoods. It must have taken quite a bit of nerve to propose this at the time!

More About Metrocable

And it’s not just a transit system: many of the stations in the poorest barrios also include integrated social services - many stations have public libraries built in to them - “Bibliometro” facilities - something previously unheard of in these barrios, with books, shared computers and internet, child-care, and other needed neighborhood services.

I can easily imagine that these may have been the first examples of the government proactively doing something for the residents of these neighborhoods. They have become wildly popular. We stopped at one of the Bibliometro service centers located in a Metrocable station (which was modern, spotlessly clean, and being well-utilized), where we saw dozens of local toddlers being read to, using computers, and families taking advantage of the facilities. We were welcomed inside by a smiling employee, who was happy to answer my dumb questions and who was clearly proud of the facility (they seem to get a lot of starry-eyed foreigners who wander in dumbfounded). After chatting for a bit, he gave us some free books and sent us on our way. I was amazed that not only did such things exist, but that they appeared quite functional, attractive, even beautiful, and wonderfully successful in multiple ways. Something that could make even a jaded cynic believe that government can do some good in people’s lives (which seemed to be the reasonable conclusion that locals have come to accept). Yeah, imagine that - I know!

We also noticed other foreign tourists who were marveling at the Metrocable system - like us, other foreigners seemed just as gobsmacked by the beauty, efficiency and apparent success of the system. The neighborhoods around the stations appear vibrant, upbeat, colorful, and filled with both pride and optimism. We could see older locals smiling at the gawking tourists, nodding their heads at us as we recognized how awesome the system was. We shared a couple of Metrocable rides with younger folks from the barrios, teenagers who chuckled and rolled their eyes at us. In my imperfect Spanish I told them I was jealous, I wished my own city in North America had such a great system, that to me, their system was like a dream come true - they looked at me like I was crazy. Of course they would, these kids had grown up with this system right outside their doors, and they just took it for granted, probably assuming that everybody had something similar, and seemed to not quite understand why the gringos come and gush over the system they’ve ridden all their lives (these were teenagers - the system has been in place for about 20 years, but still looked new, glossy and futuristic to me).

We found the Metrocable system delightful to use, practical, and like some impossible thing out of a “worlds fair” or an urban planners fantasy - but real. For local kids it was just something that has always been there - like iPhones and food delivery services via scooters. The fact that the system worked so well, and that the local youth thought nothing of it, all made me happy. Of course when I came home, I couldn’t help visualizing where we should put up all the Metrocable towers across Seattle, and how great it would be to string the lines all over the city…

Medellín is clearly a city bursting with pride, and a major center for arts and culture, food, coffee, music, and more. Top attractions include artwork by Colombia’s Fernando Botero, famous for epic, rotund figures, giant sculptures and paintings. Plaza Botero is a wonderful outdoor park and a must-see, displaying 23 huge Botero sculptures. It’s also adjacent to an excellent art museum (with more Botero inside, including many paintings). A huge outdoor market runs many blocks from there. There is art and history and culture throbbing and booming throughout the city. The food scene in Medillín is as vibrant as anyplace I’ve been. We loved the place.

Guatapé

Guatapé is a small resort town on an extensive lake, up in the mountains a little more than an hour’s drive from Medellín. Guatapé has a couple claims to fame: first, there’s a big (really big) rock. El Peñón de Guatapé is a huge granite spike that looks like a gigantic bullet pointing to the sky, and it sits just outside the town. Visible from miles around (and probably visible from space), the rock is a major tourist draw…everybody climbs it. We did, too.

Given its base elevation (6200’ at the base of the rock) and with over 700 steps to the top, yes, it’s a bit of a slog. Go slow and steady, and do the climb in the cool morning hours before it gets crazy crowded and the day heats up. The views from the top are amazing and make your throbbing legs and pounding heart worth it.

Guatapé also has a large, extensive human-made lake (created when they built a dam), so has an incredibly long, complex shoreline (lots of lakefront real estate) and it’s home to all kinds of water sports and lakeside attractions. The town of Guatapé is extremely colorful, charming, and cute, and now very popular. It features a lot of colorfully-decorated buildings (entire sections of the town), some historic churches, dazzlingly decorated tuk-tuks, and plenty of smiling tourists snapping photos. Even though we are cynical and jaded (and it’s crawling with Instagrammers), it still charmed us. It’s a fun place to wander and take in all the cute.

After a couple days in Guatapé, we drove back to Medellín's airport, dropped off our rental car (easy, friendly, no hassles, no scams), and flew to Cartagena.

Cartagena

Unlike the other places we visited in Colombia, Cartagena is not high up in the mountains. It’s right smack at sea level.

A port on Colombia’s Caribbean coast since 1533, Cartagena is hot, humid, dripping with history, languid, and very tropical. We spent all our time in the old historic walled city, which features narrow streets, colonial-era architecture, and all the charms of a 14th century, old Caribbean port. The heat and humidity were pretty intense (thankfully our hotel had great aircon, lots of shade and breezes, and a pool).

Historically, Cartagena was the primary port for Spain’s empire in South America when it was the world’s only super-power: much of the continent’s silver, gold, and other plundered treasures all moved through Cartagena, then were loaded on Spanish Galleons, which then ran the gauntlet through (real) pirates of the Caribbean, before making the dangerous Atlantic crossing to Spain.

Steeped in history, the old city has a massive fortress (they call it a castle but it’s all a gigantic defensive fort), big ramparts surround, and the narrow streets of the old city are lined with historic old architecture. Buildings slouch and stand proudly in various states of decay, renovation, collapse, disrepair and glorious restoration.

Tourism is clearly a big business (they get cruise ships every day), there are lots of shops and restaurants and bars and every service a tourist could want, and the city positively oozes with charm and thick ambiance. Cartagena is a fun place to hang for a few days, but the heat and humidity can wring you out. Like other very hot places, it’s wise to plan your day around a mid-afternoon break (maybe take a dip in a pool if you can); stay hydrated, look for shade or aircon, and save some strength for the evening. It’s an extremely photogenic city, a great place for walking.

Logistics and Practicalities

Flying There, Getting Back
We flew from Seattle to Bogota on American Airlines (via Los Angeles and Miami – we had originally booked a far more efficient outbound itinerary straight down the Pacific Coast using United points, but Avianca cancelled our original flight and that entire itinerary collapsed). We ended up with a long, somewhat inefficient route SEA-LAX-MIA-BOG, all on American Airlines, and arrived quite late at night, but it was certainly cheap for a long international business class routing.

Our return flights home were from Cartagena to Panama to LAX to Seattle, booked with United points (with all three legs on three different 737 MAX-900 “doorbusters”!), most of the way on COPA, the national airline of Panama. COPA was great (and their 737 MAX business class cabin was surprisingly nice), I look forward to flying COPA again. All the doors stayed closed on all our 737 MAX flights.

We also had two short domestic flights within Colombia: Bogotá to Medellín, on LATAM (booked with Alaska Airlines miles), and Medellín to Cartagena on Avianca (paid for with Chase points). Both internal flights were cheap, and actually great - in fact, more pleasant than typical domestic US flights. Those flights and those airports were low-stress, uncrowded, modern, clean, functional and efficient, with no drama, everyone behaving well and generally smiles all around – like flying in an earlier era. Again, effectively zero out-of-pocket costs for the flights.

Getting Around
We did not have our own car in any of the three big cities; we got around most of the time on foot or using public transit; we used Uber a bit in all three of the big cities, hired a private driver for one day around Bogotá, and rented a car for a couple days for our side-trip to Guatapé.

We rented a car at Medellín’s international airport (from Sixt; it was easy, cheap, fun, the Sixt staff there were helpful, friendly and charming). We drove out to Guatapé, a cute, popular and small resort town on a lake, a little over an hour from Medellín. I did not drive in either Bogotá, Medellín or Cartagena. The driving I did (from Medellín’s international airport to Guatapé and back) was easy and enjoyable (OTOH driving in the big city centers looked pretty cringe-inducing; we took Uber and taxis when we weren’t walking or on public transit, and I would recommend NOT driving in the big cities).

We used Medellín’s extensive (and swoon-worthy) public transit system a lot. The only public transport we used in Bogotá was a gondola (cable car) up the mountain and back down. We mostly walked in Cartagena (took a cab to/from the airport and did Uber a couple times).

Accommodations

In Bogotá we stayed at Hotel Casa de la Vega. An old hotel with some quirks and charm (dating from the mid-1800s!) right smack in the old, historic center, we loved the location. Staff were very gracious and helpful, too. An inexpensive place, it was perfect for our first couple days.

In Medellín we stayed at Hotel Boutique Laureles Medellín. This is a modern, cool little boutique hotel in a great (and very trendy), hipster neighborhood overflowing with restaurants and other conveniences. A short walk to the Metro system.

In Guatapé we stayed at El Trabol, a cute little family-run resort on the lake. It’s a delightful place, our vacation-within-our-vacation, peaceful and quiet, with views of the big rock. This was the only hotel we paid out-of-pocket for (everything else booked with points).

In Cartagena we stayed at Hotel Casa Don Luis, a spectacular, boutique, old Caribbean hotel in classic style - luxurious and atmospheric, it felt like it could have been in Havana (if it was lovingly preserved) or any other hot, humid Caribbean port. A delightful place with impeccable staff and excellent service, and a wonderful, upscale Italian restaurant (we ate there twice, including a very nice Valentine’s Day dinner). This hotel was a gem.

Food
We ate really well on this trip, and (usually) ate pretty cheaply, except for a few splurge dinners. Colombian food tends to be rich and hearty, with plenty of meat and comfort-foods. We discovered a legendary place in Medellín called Mondongo’s (just down the street from our B&B), which serves a wonderful, satisfying chicken soup with potatoes (and huge jugs of fresh-squeezed OJ and other fruit juices). This modest, family-style place is legendary and incredibly popular across Medellín and Colombia. There’s plenty of international cuisine in the cities, too - Medellín especially has a very big restaurant scene (the neighborhood where we stayed, Laureles, was jammed with very trendy eateries). Of course, coffee is the nation’s pride, and they take it as seriously as any Frenchman takes wine or an Italian takes pasta. I’m not a coffee drinker, but fortunately they also have really good chocolate, too.

Money
This was a delightfully cheap trip for us. Costs for most things in Colombia are relatively low (certainly compared to at home and most of Europe). We also made very good use of a variety of miles, points and other alternate currencies, keeping cash costs way down for us. All our flights were booked with points (our flights between Seattle and Colombia, as well as two internal domestic flights). We also booked 3 of our 4 hotels with various hotel points currencies.

So with all our flights and most of our hotels paid for, our actual out-of-pocket costs for this trip were quite low (just one hotel stay and a car rental were our primary costs, plus our meals - and food in Colombia is pretty cheap…but with all the money we saved on flights and hotels, it allowed us to splurge on some nice meals with no guilt). It would have cost us more to stay home.

They use the Colombian Peso. Like anywhere else, get cash from an ATM linked to your home bank account. Credit cards are widely accepted, but for small things (ice cream, roadside fruit stands, some taxi cabs, etc.) a little cash is needed. Be prepared to think in large numbers: One US Dollar = about 3900 Colombian Pesos (abbreviated as “COP” and confusingly, they use the US dollar sign, sometimes but not always prepended with “COP” so you may see prices like “$19,000” for a sandwich, sometimes written “COP$19,000” - that’s roughly five bucks. If you see prices in US dollars, you probably should shop somewhere else (things priced in US$ seem to be for lazy cruise ship passengers, who are willing to overpay for the convenience of not having to think about foreign currencies).

Language
Colombia is now becoming pretty popular as a tourist destination, so English is widely spoken in tourist areas. That said, some Spanish will definitely be helpful once you are beyond the hipster restaurants and major tourist centers. I speak Spanish pretty well but my wife does not (nothing much beyond "Buenas gracias"), and she had no trouble in most places, though beyond pleasantries should would usually just smile and point to me. At least a little Spanish will definitely come in handy with cab drivers and others when you want to have a conversation beyond the most basic tourist needs (or if discussing politics).

Conclusions
Colombia is a vibrant, colorful, upbeat, swaggering place, and it can be a lot of fun. Don’t be put off by what it has been in the past, don’t be afraid to go and check it out for yourself. But do be smart while you’re there: not everyplace is safe, not everyplace is wonderful. But if you bring your A-game and some common sense, you will find it’s a wonderful place to explore and experience.

We are looking forward to going back and exploring some more - I’ve got my eyes on the Pacific coast and some places in the south for our next time there. But first I gotta work on my Salsa chops before we go back.

OK, that's enough. I've tossed up some photos online in case anyone who has bothered to read this far is still intrigued. Link below:

Colombia February 2024 - Quick Pics

I hope someone finds this useful. Cheers.

Wow - thank you for writing all these details of the places you visited and to provide others with the real view of what things are like on the ground.

This brings back memories - I've been lucky to have visited Colombia twice. The first in 2010 when the kids were smaller hitting the places you've described (Bogota, Zipaquira (salt mine); Medellin including a day trip to Santa Fe de Antioquia, and Cartagena). When we were there, both the cable car and funicular going up Monserrate were operational, so we took one up and the other coming down. The changing of the guards at the presidential palace was also great. I too found Colombia to be a very safe if you avoided the unsavory places - not even the taxi drivers tried to take advantage of us.

Last year I went south starting in Cali; rented a car and visited Popayan and the area around San Andreas. I ran into a group of female cops early one morning too as I was birding in a park in Cali close to my hotel. I am starting to plan another visit next summer (want to hit the coffee belt around Pereira or do the costal belt around Santa Maria) and do an extensive wander around Bolivia.

Waiting to read the rest of your report.

Fabulous trip report and photos.

Colombia has long been on our radar, because our daughter-in-law is from Bogota. Her mother was originally from La Union, and her father is originally from Perera, so they have family in all three places. She and our son have visited there many times, and have travelled all over the country. In addition, they lived in Bogota for 6 months a few years ago, while our son did a semester abroad there.

Your report makes me even more certain that Colombia is a place we should visit soon.

Thank you for this honest, heart felt, finely detailed, and updated report on Colombia. It is obvious that it made a huge positive impression on you, and so great to read a report from the field on what Colombia is like today, vs the dark specter we have heard about so often, which dispels what many may still believe, and presents us with a new view of the country. When I was in Peace Corps next door, in Ecuador, during the 90s, we were told to stay away from Colombia. If Volunteers traveled to another country it was usually Peru or Bolivia. It is so great to hear how much change has happened, how people are living, and how much the government has invested. Yes, Seattle could probably use some Metrocables! I think Portland has one (aerial tram)? I looked up Guatape--that is a wild staircase that goes up the side of the spire!

David, you are a master trip report author, and this is one of your best. Just fascinating! I really enjoyed it.

This was great! Colombia should hire you. It’s been on my list for some time but things keep pushing it back (hello pandemic), but you might have moved it up! I know some spanish but when I hear Colombians on the Mexican telenovelas, I’m usually at a loss. I hope it wasn’t too bad because it sounds like a fun place to see!

We are definitely branching out from Europe and South America is on our radar. I visited Bogota back in 1983 when my sister lived there. Her husband is from Bogota. Not as safe back then. She visits yearly and still doesn’t wear any jewelry having been robbed once.
Like David wrote, if you go, be aware of your surroundings.

PS, thanks for taking the time wrote a very detailed and informative trip report.

David, thank you very much for putting together this awesome trip report. What an amazing trip you had! You have definitely convinced me that we should be going to Colombia!

David thanks for bringing back some good memories. We were in Cartagena for our son’s wedding and took 30 of our family members. They would all agree with you on safety and inexpensive. Large beautiful country with borders on the Pacific, the Carribean, the Amazon Basin and Andes Mountains.
Well done.

Really enjoyed your writing and photos, David.

David, I appreciate this wonderful, detailed report on your first foray into South America. Thank you and cheers!