Colombia Travel Forum

i am in Bogota at the moment and want to go to Nuqui by bus. Does anyone know which is the best way to go and where i need to change buses and stuff?

I'm planning on travelling from Colombia, through Central America, to Mexico in the new year. I was wondering about the border crossing from Colombia to Panama.
Which is the cheapest was to do this, by boat or plane?
I've heard that the boat trip is worth the extra time spent travelling rather than travelling by plane, is this true?
Also, is there any other way to get across the border which might be cheaper because I will be on a very tight budget?

Cheers,
Paddy

Can anyone comment on the safety of renting a car at the Cali airport
and driving to Buenaventura?

My daughter is thinking of spending some weeks in Cartagena, improving her Spanish. She found this program:

http://www.esl-languages.com/en/adults/learn/spanish/cartagena/colombia/index.htm

It looks pretty good, but it's easy to look good on the web. Does anyone have any experience with ESL courses? Maybe even first-hand experience with the school in Cartagena?

I would like to know if it is safe to travel by bus from Armenia to the pacific coast at Nuqui. Is it possible and is it safe. I would like to surf there aswell.

A friend and I are planning on visiting Providencia over Christmas 2009. It sounds super chilled which is great, but we wonder whether we *need* to book accommodation before we get there - I gather that the high season starts around mid December, and most places seem to get very busy around Christmas. We would prefer mid to low budget places and are whilst we are fairly easy going about things, we don't want to spend Christmas without anywhere to stay! Can anyone advise?

Many thanks,

Tom

I am planning a trip to Colombia this December-January. For the Caribbean Coast part of mi viaje, I plan on flying from Bogotá to Santa Marta, seeing a few things there and spending the night. In the morning I plan on traveling by bus to Barranquilla and then, the following day, traveling by bus to Cartagena where, after staying for a few days, I will fly back to Bogotá.

My question is: approximately how long does it take by bus to travel from Santa Marta to Barranquilla, which is a good bus company, and how much should I plan on spending on bus tickets? The same questions would then apply to the bus ride from Barranquilla to Cartagena. How long? What company? How much?

I have a lot of experience in South American bus travel and I speak Spanish so the latter two questions are not terribly important. I don't want to miss my flight (a hobby of mine) back to Bogotá, so the bus travel times are extremely important.

I have a long list of sights to see while I travel through the aforementioned cities, but I am definitely open to suggestions! And... my... umm... my girlfriend wants to know if in Barranquilla there are any other Shakira-related sights to see apart from the statue. :P

Thank you very much in advance for any help, I really appreciate it. If I didn't explain anything well enough, don't hesitate to ask.

Thanks!

Hello, I'm a 21-year-old female visiting Bogota by myself for about a month in March 2010 for some sightseeing and research. I was wondering where the safest, yet most affordable areas in town are for my budget (food and travel: USD $50/day)and for a single traveler. Are there any parts of the city I should definitely avoid? Thank you for your help!

Hello: I am traveling to bogota,colombia in november. Should one only drink bottled water there? Is it advisable to take any shots before traveling there?
Any other health tips would be appreciated. Thank you

I am thinking of visiting Colombia over winter break- 12/25- 1/1.
I've read various websites regarding malaria around Colombia. I was wondering if most travelers to Colombia took malaria meds etc...

If we go our flight would be into Bogota. Could anyone recommend the best way to spend our time. ( My wife would like 2-3 days at a beach area if possible etc..)

Thanks for the help!
MLW

I would like to know if anyone knew of any places or anyone in Colombia where i could do some volunteer work. I plan on staying for a couple months so any help would be grat.

Thanks

Hi!
I already had one problem getting into Colombia by plane with no return ticket, so I know that yes, return ticket is necessary (in the case you go there as a tourist). I was wondering if it would be possible just to make a reservation for my return with some company...would it be enough...I think I have heard some people telling me that that's what they did, they just made a reservation and never bought a return ticket.
any experiences?

Thanks!

From Capurganá I would like to make about 5 days trip to San Blas islands in Panama and then return to Colombia.

Javier Martin seems to be a good skipper. Anyone heard about him or even have a personal experience?

Any other suggestions as for the price of the trip, dates, some other reliable skippers... would be most appreciated!

Thanks so much!!

mira

I'm going to Capurganá in December. There is a daily boat from Turbo to Capurganá. But due to strong winds in December/January the sea can be quite rough. I wonder if anyone has a personal experience about this journey.

Another possibility is a flight from Medellin to Capurganá though I found it quite expensive for such a short flight ($623.000 return). In case this would be the only option, I might consider taking a flight anyway.

Thanks for any information or suggestion!

mira

Any recommendations for a safe, tranquil, comfortable and CLEAN place to stay in Cartagena? My budget is about 30,000 per night, prefer private room with bathroom. Most important: clean! Communal areas are good, and I am OK at a hostel as long as they have private rooms.

Thanks so much!

Hi, I am planning to leave Villavincencio mid December and travel up to Santa Marta or Tayrona. What is the best way of travelling? If I travel by bus how long does it take. What are your suggestions? Thanks

Anyone knows anything about safety and punctual of AIRES airline? We plan to go from Bogota to Leticia and Bogota to Manizales next month.

Hi! I have one concern. I have been travelling quite a while around Southamerica and have been entering and leaving Colombia for several times since September last year. I am planning to leave the country in few days again and then come back again and my worry is if there is like a maximum number of days which you can stay in the country withing one year (calendar year or just last 12 month). In total if I count months, I have been in Colombia around 3 month with various entries and departures.
I know that normally they give 60 days and then if you want to stay longer then immigration department give you more, but I believe you can not do it forever. Different case might be, which is also mine, if you leave the country for a while and then come back in a week, month or so.

Thank you!

hi!!! anyone knows any cheap hotel or apartament in Bogotà close to parque de la 93 to stay a cuople of night?

I am planning to go to Cartagena to study Spanish for three weeks beginning July 20th. I paid my down payment with a company under the agreement that I they had a room available for me at the school residence. As it turns out, the school wrote back to them and said there were in fact no rooms available. The cost for the room at the school was $300/U.S. for the full three weeks. I know I'm not going to find an apartment or hotel for near that cheap but so far all I can find are apartments or rooms for $60/night and up. That is still a bit out of my budget for a full three weeks.

Does anyone know of where I might find a private room (shared bathroom and kitchen is ok) or an apartment for under $50/night? A friend of mine has been there a few times and is telling me to book something for a few nights and then go find something cheaper once I'm there. He's certain that once I get there I won't have a problem but I'm a little skeptical. I'm really trying to salvage my trip so any leads or advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

I fly into Panama city on july 8th

I'd like any reccomedations/(safety)tips on how to get to The coast of Columbia primarily Cartegena

THANKYOU

Mookie

I am going to be traveling to barranquilla in september for 30 days from costa rica bus to panama plane there. Trying to find place to stay thats not alot of money my spanish sucks btw. Just want to compare the 2 places see where i want to live. I'm a 100% disabled gulf war vet use arm cruches to walk. I blend in with ticos until i talk since my spanish is very minimal. Any suggestion would be great if wondering im native american aferican american from the US.

I'm going to Pereira, Colombia for a couple of weeks with my boyfriend and am dying to go out and hike or see some ruins. Should we try to do a day trip to Valle de Cocora, or should we try to find somewhere to stay the night and make a couple of days out of it? Any idea as to what it might cost us to stay a night?

And I'm assuming we're going to have to take a bus from Pereira to Salento, and then a jeep to Cocora? Any advice whatsoever would be greatly appreciated :-)

Is there anybody whoo can give me some good tips for diving near Cartagena
Thanks,
Francisoc

I´ll be four days in Cartagena, from 24th of June, I´ve never been in Colombiaand, would like to make scuba diving, any good experience, please I´ll be pleased to know about it.
Sincerely,
Francisco

Estaré 4 dias en Cartagena y me gustaria bucear.
Me interesan los corales y mantarayas.
Donde puedo acudir para hacer un par de salidas seguras¿?
Gracias,
Francisco

I´ll be a few days in Cartagena, anyone who knows where to make scuba diving, and had good experience, please share it with me.
Sincerely,
Francisco

Hello,
I will be traveling to leticia in august. I want to explore some of the amazon rainforest in brazil. I know a brazil visa is required for americans. Is it necessary if I will be taking day trips from leticia? Are there passport checks if I'm taking a boat into brazil to stay for a night. I would love to avoid the 200 fee as I am a cheap traveller.

Let me know your experiences with crossing between Colombia (leticia) and Brazil.

Hello fellow travelers!

So I found a fare from NYC for xmas - $490 on avianca, red eyes to cartagena (transfer in bogota first).

(1) does this sound like a good fare to you guys? Since I'm new to the Colombia travel market, I wasn't sure how this cracks up to other fares you guys have paid?

(2) Our plan is to go to for a week at xmas. We were going to spend 2 days in santa marta (with a day trip to tayrona), and then the rest of the time in cartagena with day trips to the nearby islands.

Does this sound pretty typical?

Thanks!!!!

to get to pueblito paisa from the city of medellin, what's the best way ,safe way and cheap way to get there?

Hi, I am looking for soccer matches in Bogota or Cartagena that are coming up in June.

Where could I find this listing?

Thanks
Jordan