Friday, April 22, 2011

South American Superlatives: Colombia

Back in the US!

My three months of writing hiatus have been the opposite of what you would expect three months with an empty blog to be. My friend Whitney and I had been traveling South America, running from one city to the next to see the main sites, meet new people and delve into new delicacies and cuisines our new location had to offer.

Starting north in Colombia we headed south by bus, winding down the mountainous highways toward Ecuador. After rediscovering the country I had lived in for three months just a year and a half ago, I said goodbye again to my friends and flew east to Brazil to visit family and celebrate Carnaval in the streets of Rio de Janeiro. We ended our trip in Argentina before separating ways after three months of spending almost every hour together.

With too much to say in one post about three months of travel, we'll go with the "best of," starting with Colombia.

The Nicest People I Have Ever Met: Colombia

We wondered if it was because we were girls, but male travelers who we would later meet said they were treated the same. It felt like we could have been the only foreigners in the country by the way the Colombians embraced us. They could not have seemed more excited to know where we were from, what we did, how we got here, what we were doing in Colombia... etc. In two different cities, two men, who coincidentally both want to be future mayors, gave us impromptu tours. They saw we had no idea where we were going (in one case, we were actually heading toward the dangerous part of town), and they swooped us up to show us a market or restaurant we would have missed without them. I had thought Guatemalans were friendly. Every time you step on to any form of public transportation in Guatemala, you greet every single person that’s already inside. Imagine that happening in the subways of New York! Well, Colombians take friendliness to the next level.



In Santa Marta, in northern Colombia, a group of fishermen began to talk to us, and one of their friends, Herney, decided to help us find a cheap place to eat. Cristian, a hyperactive 10-year old joined us after splashing through the waters. He was so curious abut the United States, and asked with his eyes bugged out, does the US really have cannibals and vampires like he had seen in the movies? I told him there were as many in the US as there were in Colombia. 

Street vendors gave us samples of their own personal meal before recommending a great place for music in Cartagena.

Most Beautiful Colonial City: Cartagena

Sorry, Antigua, Guatemala. I know I lived in you for six months, but Cartagena beats your majority one-story buildings with its building diversity and beautifully flowered balconies.


 Cartagena, a UNESCO world heritage site, was founded in 1533.

 Cartagena street vendors relax in the dripping heat of the city.

Best Day Trip: Guatapé

Saying this was the best day trip in Colombia--maybe in our whole trip--says a lot since I was recovering from a stomach virus that snuck up on me on a 16-hour bus ride. Just a day after feeling awful (details not necessary), I still was weak, but made it to Guatape, about two hours from Medellin. Each house in Guatapé has its own original decoration. The top half of the houses are painted a different color, and the bottom half has a strip of painted adornments, some simply shapes, while others depict people or animals. Right outside of the center, a rock sits with 649 steps leading to the top. I slowly made it to the top, weak stomach, no energy and all, to a landscape of natural water channels that make their way through hilly patches. It was as if mother nature created a jigsaw puzzle of water and land.





Most Unique Coffee Tour: Manizales

Since it was a hot day and just Whitney and I would be on the tour, our guide decided to take the back route around the farm. Rather than just taking a look at all the plants and hearing about the process of growing coffee, we started our tour walking through a river alongside the farm. We thought originally we would be walking beside the river, but we were in knee deep, struggling to keep balance above the rocks. We got the coffee talk too, but this made the tour much more memorable.
 Walking through rivers, jumping across bridges... this was not your average coffee farm tour.

Most Scenic Bus Ride

Before going to Colombia, many people had told me to not take a bus from Colombia to Ecuador. They warned me of robberies and kidnappings. However, while traveling by bus through Colombia, I could not have felt safer. Police came on to buses at least one time during each of our trips to look at people's passports or videotape our faces. We had no problem crossing the border by bus, and had a great view along the way. We crept up from the bottom of the mountains to the top, getting a full view of the jagged peaks. The border town, Ipiales, even has a beautiful church that juts out between the mountains. Hassle free, less money and a good view. Definitely worth it.
Church in Ipiales, Colombia a few minutes before the border crossing to Ecuador.



 


Taganga, northern Colombia

Street art in La Candelaria, Bogota

 Plaza Bolivar, Bogota

 Story Teller in Bogota

 View from road to coffee farm, Manizales

Street art outlining city view of Cali, a city known for its nightlife and salsa

View from top of the cable car in Medellin with our host David

1 comment:

  1. There are many undiscovered reasons why foreigners should visit Colombia .

    The weather averages about 65 to 85 degrees Fahrenheit year round in Cali. There is rarely a need for air-conditioning or heat. Medellin is similar, but a little cooler. Bogotá is cool to cold at night; Not what you would expect close to the equator.
    Colombia is not as dangerous as it was a few years ago, or as bad as you view on TV.
    There are many beautiful beaches; many of the most popular on the mainland are located near Cartagena and Santa Marta, and on the offshore Island of San Andreas.
    Colombia is known for its beautiful women.
    Colombia’s cost of living is less than most countries.
    Colombia is known for its rich biodiversity. It ranks in the top 2 or 3 countries in the world for species of birds and butterflies. The national tree, the Quindío Wax Palm, grows in the Andean high altitude valley of Cocora. Over 160 feet tall, it towers over other vegetation, making a very unique landscape scene.

    There are many reasons to visit Colombia. If you visit once, you will want to come back.

    Happy travels,

    Josefina! - Colombia travel

    ReplyDelete