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Published: October 17th 2010
Hello people,
as usual, in October we get one week school holiday so it was time to leave the island for a while again.
In first instance, the idea was to visit Dominican Republic. This plan didn't continue, then I was thinking where else to go to. Surinam was an option, but because I already visited Surinam twice I didn't want to go again. Then Sint Maarten also crossed my mind...and suddenly I thought about Colombia and there's where I went to!
I departed Curacao with Dutch Antilles Express, Fokker 100 to Bogotá, which took 1,5 hours. Once there Jesus David picked me up at El Dorado Airport. I met Jesus David in Australia, back in april 2008. He arrived in Australia without knowing any English at all and I helped him out a couple of times while there. We kept in contact after I left Melbourne until today.
COLOMBIA These last few years Colombia caught my attention a lot, especially because the international promotional marketing saying: "Colombia, the only risk is wanting to stay." The country used to have a bad reputation due to crime. But Colombia improved a lot and is becoming more and more popular
among tourists nowadays! It's friendly people, beautiful natural resources, historic sites etc. all work as a magnet on tourists all over the world. Being in Colombia I met with tourists from Australia, UK, Israel, Canada, USA, Argentina, Netherlands, Brazil a.o. Being here for only one week, I only had time to visit two areas of the country: Bogota and San Gil. But I'm eager to visit more parts of the country such as Medellin, Cartagena, Santa Marta, Cali etc. And what they say about Colombian women is true: there are many pretty women walking around in this country, no wonder many won't go back home alone after a visit to Colombia 😉 . In Colombia they use the Colombian Peso. One US Dollar is was around 1800 COP during my stay. In many places people thought I was Colombian too and they ask: "¿Eres de la costa"? (Are you from the coast?). All coloured Colombians are originally from the coasts!
Bogotá The capital and biggest city of Colombia has more than 8 million people. The city is huge and I found it very chaotic: too much traffic which meant that there were traffic jams all over the place, and
they were working / doing reparations all over the city and many motorways were broken or narrow. The city has many modern shopping malls and a couple of skyscrapers. Situated on a height of more than 2600m, the city has a mild climate and in the night the temperature can drop below 10° C. While in Bogota I visited La Candelaria, which is the historic/colonial quarter of the city. It is a very nice and colourful place to stroll around. A visit to La Candelaria must include the famous Plaza Bolivar with the Catedral Primada. Another place I visited was the Monseratte, which is a hill in the city. A cable car takes you to the top, where you'll find a very nice garden, a church, restaurants etc. From here you have a nice view over the city but it was very hazy during the day I went. Another interesting place I visited in Bogota was the Museo de Oro (Golden Museum). On Sundays the entrance is free for everyone and that's the day we went. It's a big, beautiful and impressive museum built in 1939 and shows golden objects used by the many indigenous cultures of Colombia in the
past. I think I spent about 2 hours in here.
In Bogotá I stayed the first two nights at Jesus David's parents. They have a big house and I stayed in a room upstairts. I met both his parents and his 10 year old brother Esteban. They were nice to me during my stay here. The other nights in Bogota I stayed at Jesus David's apartment, where he lives with his girlfriend Maleja and their little Matias who is 4 months old.
The first night we went out in an area with a lot of disco's and bars. There we met with two of Jesus David's friends; Javier and Hollman. The club we went to consisted of three floors and had a lot of salsa and vallenato music which made me totally feel like being in Colombia....I love Colombian salsa that's why! In Bogota I also tried the best hamburger I've ever had so far! Jesus David took me to a place called "Hamburgesas El Corral" which was the best! A little bit expensive, for Colombian standards, but very good!!!
We also visited
Zipaquirá, a little city lying just north of Bogota, 30 minutes by car. It's a small,
charming colonial city of about 125.000 people. The most popular attraction of the city is the Cateral de Sal (Salt Cathedral). The cathedral is built within a huge salt mine in the 1950's. It's big and consists of many corridors and rooms with crosses. Entering the place and going down, this takes you very deep into the ground and everything, all around is surrounded by salt! Impressive and interesting!
San Gil, Santander Getting more and more popular by tourists, San Gil is a little city in the province of Santander. It's a 7 hour drive from Bogotá. I took the bus in the night from Bogota and arrived here early morning. San Gil has around 60.000 people and is known for the beautiful landscapes in the surroundings of the city and it's adventure sports activities such as kayaking, rafting, bungee-jumping, para-gliding etc. Furthermore San Gil is a colonial city, charming and beautiful. The city of Barichara, about 45 min. drive from San Gil, is even more beautiful but quiet. Also a colonial city, all the roads are made from blocks which makes the city very unique in the area. A couple of hours strolling around the place, eat
something and have a little chat with some locals (elderly) is enough in Barichara.
In San Gil I stayed at a hostel, owned by an Australian who fell in love with Colombia. In the hostel there were all kinds of tours etc. available to book or do by yourself.
The first place I visited was the Juan Curí Falls. The waterfall is more than 80 meters high. To get there I had to take a bus to Charala and it leaves you at the entrance of a farm. At this farm you pay a small entrance fee and you can hike to the bottom of the waterfall. The hike takes about 25 minutes through the forest. Once there I was impressed by the waterfall and didn't want to leave the place! On my way back it started to rain but I was well prepared so my stuff didn't get wet. Once back at the farm I had a good, cheap lunch and went back to San Gil. I also walked and strolled around San Gil, including a visit the Parque El Gallineral which is a beautiful park. It has a big swimming pool which they fill with rain water (river
water) but it was empty when I was around. At Chicamocha Park I took a long cable car in which you first descend in a valley, cross above a river and then ascend on the other side. It was a nice ride. I did also canopy in the park which was very cool but it lasts for too short! Furthermore I wasn't too impressed by the park but it was worth the visit! The greatest thing I did during this entire trip was paragliding. From San Gil it's was an hour driving I guess, passing on many bad roads which was really annoying. Once there and in the air, I didn't want to come back on the ground!!! You feel like totally free, just flying and turning around, your legs hanging down and you're looking down....with a big smile, just enjoying it all!!! It cost only about US$33 which is not expensive at all! I actually went twice to the place, but the first day the weather conditions weren't favourable to do it. So I went all the way there for nothing. But on my last day in San Gil I wanted to go again and the conditions were excellent!
Next...? Yes, I'm already thinking what's gonna be next....currently I'm thinking about three possible destinations for my next trip....time will tell what will happen!
I must say that I had a great time in Colombia and I'd definitely return one day soon to know more parts of this country. Jesus David, his parents and friends, Maleja....all treated me very well all the time and I can't complain. Overall Colombian people are very very friendly and warm.
Kind regards and thanks for reading.
Elton
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Diana
non-member comment
hopi leuk!
Heel leuk alle foto's en het verhaal ook. Je bent van harte welkome naar Cali als ik daar naar toe ga. Ik zal je op tijd aangeven wanneer we gaan. Het zal ook in een kleine vakantie zijn. Groetjes Diana