Blogs from Manizales, Colombia, South America

Advertisement

South America » Colombia » Manizales June 8th 2018

On Monday, June 4th, I arrived sometime in the afternoon to Manizales. I was expecting a small town, but it turned out to be quite a big city. Who knew? ^_^ From the terminal I took a cable car up to the center and from there I walked around 10 minutes to my hostel. On my way I saw the main square where many people were enjoying the sunny day (it was some catholic holiday so people didn’t have to work). The center of Manizales was quite nice, with lots of churches. My hostel, the Golden Frog Mountain Hostel, was very nice. Rooms were very spacious, beds large, common areas very cozy and there were lots of nice quiet corners for reading and hanging out. Everything was very clean, kitchen well stuffed and breakfast was good. ... read more
5336E80C-1CF4-4C16-A0E0-A153672A7AFB.
B35BABEA-DFE1-4D73-8203-FAA1F0405640.
F274DEB1-EF4D-4EAC-B9F0-C987688AF736.

South America » Colombia » Manizales June 8th 2018

Montag, den 4. Juni, kam ich irgendwann nachmittags in Manizales an. Ich erwartete eigentlich eine ganz kleine Stadt und war dann überrascht, dass Manizales eine sehr große Stadt ist. Wer hätte das gedacht!? ^_^ Vom Busterminal habe ich eine Seilbahn hoch ins Zentrum genommen von wo aus es dann ungefähr 10 Minuten zu Fuß bis zu meinem Hostel waren. Unterwegs sah ich den Hauptplatz wo an diesem Montag sehr viele Menschen die Sonne genossen (es war irgendein katholischer Feiertag und die Leute hatten frei). Das Zentrum von Manizales mit seinen vielen Kirchen war ganz nett. Mein Hostel, das Golden Frog Mountain Hostel, war super. Die Zimmer waren groß, die Betten riesig, überall waren Leseecken, Sofas und Hammocks und es war super gemütlich. Es war sehr sauber dort, in der Küche gab es alles was man sich ... read more
0252AF02-A397-4756-9373-4E38B4E8EA9C.
6F33B511-2499-48A9-8E43-DF20D21F1A5F.
34526CD9-8F17-4161-9E9D-C849E13FFDCE.

South America » Colombia » Manizales June 29th 2017

A few years ago, I had the chance to go to the Nevado del Ruiz and it was a very good experience on the 17000 ft above sea level. I've always recommended visit to it and take a tour of the parks of Manizales where they enjoy beautiful landscapes.... read more
Imagen 208
Imagen 211
Imagen 232

South America » Colombia » Manizales March 21st 2015

All the references on the web describe Salamina as a quiet, sleepy sort of place. I have never heard such nonsense. The place is absolutely buzzing well into the evening, which would be fine if it weren't for the traffic. Turns out that this house is on the corner of one of the main routes into town. I still don't understand why there is such a lot of traffic as the road we came in on is hardly a recommended throughway. Anyway there are motor bikes roaring past all the time and lorries start thundering by at about five in the morning. Fortunately the son has kept his promise and I have been moved to an interior room which has only a skylight - not exactly free of traffic noise but muted. In other respects I ... read more
My host talking to coffee farmer
Coffee bean picker, on coffee farm near Salamina
Washing the coffee beans

South America » Colombia » Manizales March 19th 2015

Had to get up at the unearthly hour of 5.45 this morning as the bus for Salamina was leaving at 7 am and had been told to be there ' una horita' beforehand which I think is a very flexible term, so checked that half an hour would be fine. Began to get a bit worried that I would miss my bus as the loudspeaker announcements were just a tangle of numbers. Asked a group of older women where they were going and it turned out that they were heading for one of the intermediate stops on my route so relied on them to tell me which bus to get on. Had difficulty in understanding two of them and vice- versa but the third acted as an interpreter – still in Spanish, obviously! It has been ... read more
Town Hall, Salamina
View from my lodgings, Salamina
Plaza de Simón Bolívar, Salamina

South America » Colombia » Manizales August 26th 2012

Nach vier Tagen Idylle zieht mich die unruhige Traveller-Seele wieder auf die Straße. Auf dem Weg nach Salento mache ich einen Zwischenstopp in Manizales, dem oberen Teil des Kaffeedreiecks. Erdbeben und Vulkanausbrüche haben die Stadt mehrmals verwüstet, daher ist sie heute auch wahnsinnig hässlich: Kontrastprogramm par excellence. Im angeblich ausgebuchten Hostel bekomme ich ein Zimmer mit einer kolumbianischen Salsa-Band – Unterhaltung ist also gratis inklu. Sonst tummeln sich mal wieder illustre Gestalten: Eine kolumbianische Öko-Konferenz wird grade im Hostel abgehalten, einer der Organisatoren erzählt mir in dreckigstem Spanisch beim Abendessen, dass er sehr gerne nach Deutschland fahren würde, um zu sehen, wie Landwirtschaft mit vier Jahreszeiten funktioniert. Andres, eine kolumbianische Busbekanntschaft vom Vortag, zeigt mir am nächsten Tag die Stadt – wichtigste Station: e... read more

South America » Colombia » Manizales April 5th 2012

Van Santa Elena besluit ik in een keer door te gaan naar Manizales. Manizales ligt in de regio waar koffie verbouwd wordt. Ik heb de tip gekregen om de koffie boerderij Hacienda Venecia te bezoeken. Daar wordt uitleg gegeven over het verbouwen van koffie en je kan er ook overnachten. Mathias legt uit dat van Santa Elena er en bus rechtstreeks naar de bus terminal zuid gaat. Ik moet de bus hebben waar Rio Negro op staat. Van de bus terminal is het vier uur in een bus naar Manziles. Ik neem een taxi naar de hoofdweg en ga bij de bus stop staan. Voor de voorruit van de bussen die langskomen hangt een bordje met waar ze naar toe gaan. Ik moet dus wachten op een bus met Rio Negro. De ene naar de andere ... read more
Hacienda Venecia koffie
Koffie plukken
Koffie vrucht

South America » Colombia » Manizales December 20th 2011

Geo: 5.06713, -75.5183Landing in Manizales - unbelievable! The airport's location is absolutely amazing - stepping out of a small plane and on to a runway smack dab in the middle of lush green hills. An incredible feeling, stepping onto Colombian soil for the first time and being fortunate to step out in such a beautiful spot. A deep breath of fresh air was the perfect cure for the malaise that sometimes sets in after a long day of travel after a bad night's sleep. And as much as the fresh air cleared the mind, the gorgeous vistas energized the body, with the heart racing just a little bit, pumping a few more drops of blood through the system. I'm in Colombia!!!But with every high, there's inevitably a low - the unthinkable happened today ... I received ... read more
Colombian Equivalent to Starbucks ...
Amazing Manizales ...
Colombian Equivalent of a Kebab ...

South America » Colombia » Manizales November 26th 2011

Since being in Colombia, we had been slightly disappointed in the coffee that had been on offer so far. We assumed as Colombia produces so much of the stuff, and having tried it back home, it would be in abundance here. Unfortunately it wasn’t, and therefore we decided a trip to Manizales coffee district would be just the ticket. The 5 hour bus journey there was fairly rough due to the twists and turns of the mountain roads, but was balanced out a little due to some of the funny randomness of the trip. This included the funniest DVD we had seen in a while. The DVD wasn’t supposed to be funny, but had Donna and I literally laughing out loud to it. The film was basically a collection of Colombian Singers from the 70’s and ... read more
'Cinema' night!
The Guest-house1
The main house




Tot: 0.108s; Tpl: 0.006s; cc: 8; qc: 71; dbt: 0.06s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1; ; mem: 1.2mb