COLOMBIA SI! Get past the headlines and see the people up close and personal. Colombia a country of discovery. 3 UNESCO designations! Fabulous beaches and high country rural tourism filled with opportunity, adventure and excitement.
COLOMBIA SI! Come on already world. Get past the stigma and headlines of danger, narcotics, whatever. See the people up close and personal. Festivals, Music, Dance, the country is alive with the magnetic energy. Lush jungles, fantastic beaches, lost cities, antiquities and fantastic agri-tourism, adventure travel, biospheres, coffee plantations, sugarcane, bamboo, sweet pinapple and farmed fish worth the visit alone all in the Huila Region inland. CHIVA Ride the bus of celebration and raw sounds out fun and music. Folklora and much much more. Come on of course the country has a history twisted more by movie perception than reality. Heck in all travels TRAVELSAPIEN could point to eastern europe, south east asia, central america, mexico and countless other locations including my country canada, all having major issues with crime, narcotics, etc. etc. Put it in perspective travelers and Colombia is a fabulous country to visit. TRAVELSAPIEN recently spent some 2 months traveling freely throughout the country including the hinterland, with visits to countless villages and cities. San Agustin will one day rival most of the discoveries in lost civilizations and good coffee will continue to be produced for the world. Get aboard, get involved, the cultural exchange is worth the perceived risks. Just do it! Psssst. When in Garzon stop off at the Jean Pierre Restaurant and Bar right on the park plaza. Best darn broasted chicken in the territory and frequented by a host of fabulous people. Ask for Blanca the owner and say POLLO Robert Caliente! sent you. Enjoy
Reply to this That is very nice of you to say those things about my country. The media is like poison. It destroys the imagen of anyone and the countries. Look for Abelardus on any search engine and you will see a nice site dedicated to my country. Regards
Dan
Reply to this 2 months in colombia travelsapien i am jealous... my favorite as well. my only regret is i didn't allow longer to see what colombia had to offer.
Reply to this Matthew,
I am very glad you like my country. The note I put partaining to safety is generally for all South and even more Central America. Colombia is a lot safer than it used to be. We can now walk with no problems through most of the country.
Reply to this Hi Travelsapien, it's great to reas comments like this about Colombia. I am Colombian but live in the UK. I am married to an English guy and after more than ten years begging him I have finally convinced him to go and visit my country. His family and some friends are still very againts it, as of course the bad press really damages the country image. I only just came back from staying there just over 2 months, my first visit since I left more than 12 years ago and the country is even more beautiful. I will make sure my husband and every who are telling him not to go there, read your nice message.
I really appreciate it and thank you for it.
Best of luck
Olga
Reply to this hi there,
i'm planing to travel to colombia in january. i would like to do a jungle trip from leticia
and check out the santa marta area incl. the lost city. but you hear many controverdial stories
about those areas! has anybody been in these areas lately? some people say leticia would be the only safe area
in the amazon?? anybody been on the brazilian or peruanean area close to leticia? is that any safer than the colombian side? would anybody recomend to do a 2 or 3 day jungle tour there. (we'll be a blond german couple, so we could be an
easy to spot gringo victim ;-). also i've heard of dangers/kidnappings in the tyr.natinal park/lost city???
on the other hand side people keep telling me how cool and safe santa marta and taganga is?? so it just the park itself that is dangerous? i hope you someone can give me some news/infos on that.....thanxxxxxx
Reply to this HI Marco, I don't really know Leticia or that region at all. But of course have heard not very nice things about it. I have not been living in Colombia my country for the last 12 years and now that I am going back with my English husband and both want to go around Colombia visiting interesting places, I have not considered visiting the jungle. To be honest it worries me as I will be with my husband, if I was on my own with another Colombian friends I would probably be OK, but I just would not risk it with my husband. I do not want to say anything bad about my country but like in every where in the world you have to be carefull.
What I can say to you is, as we will be in Colombia in January, please do come to Manizales if you can, there are so many lovely places where to go that I can recomend you.
Best of luck,
Olga
Reply to this I stopped off in Leticia on my way to Bogota from Manaus... I crossed paths with an australian couple who did a jungle trek there and they said it was fantastic... (i met them previously in Manuaus but i did my jungle trek there). If i had my time again i would probably do my jungle trek in Leticia it is no where near as built up as where i did my trek in Manus (i think a city of 1 million people).
You will find Leticia is a fairly well travelled tourist trail so i wouldn't be worried there... santa marta i can't say because i havn't been there but i have met people who had and had no troubles. I think i have a short blog on Leticia if you want to have a quick read 😊
Matt
Reply to this hello!
i visited colombia in june this year and loved it! i saw a lot of it, but it was mainly a family trip.
i am thinking of going in febuary/march 2008. any recomendations? i would like to trek in the jungles and mountains, and perhaps canoe/kayak down rivers.
i'd be going to bogota, and meeting up with a cousin who drives. where are the best places to go? thanks!!!!
dave (surrey, ENGLAND)
Reply to this villa de leyva is a great place up in the mountains outside of bogota on the weekends it is pretty lively, and there is a real local feel which is what i like the only reason i traveled there was because i was friends with a girl who owned a holiday house in the mountains. thats my tip for a weekend if you get the chance, any longer it maybe boring... but a great place to take your girlfriend etc.
Reply to this Hi Dave, we live in Essex, England, and we are going to Colombia about the same time as you are next year. We are going to Manizales and will visit the coffee region which I can recomend you visit. There are many beautiful places where to go, for example you can go snow boarding in Nevado del Ruiz, it's about 40 minutes from Manizales, you can also visit two very beautiful places with hot springs. Do please keep in touch if you do manage to go to Manizales as we can take you around.
Good luck
Olga
Reply to this thanks for the replies!
i went in june 2007 and went to Bogota (Mont Serate? Sanpakira? Museo de Oro, went on a party chiva etc), Melgar? Villa de Leyva, Anapoyma? etc. loved all of it! sorry, i dont speak much spanish haha. ive heard of Manizales, i'll check where it is on the map. how could i get there from Bogota area?
in Villa de Leyva, i stayed in one of the strange houses up in the hills. it was the Casa de Botellas. it was great! would really recomend that!
Reply to this Hi again,
To go to Manizales from Bogota, the best way is to fly it only takes 40 minutes and it's really cheap, you can also go by land, but I think it takes something around 6 to 8 hours, which is ok if you do it at night, so you will be sleeping most of the time.
I don't think your luck of Spanish is a problem in Colombia, I was surprised to find out that Enlgish is now taught in primary schools which is great.
Good luck
Olga
Reply to this does anyone know about the oriental planes? i think this is an area i will be visiting. what is the terrain like there?
Reply to this 
