WHEN YOU GO…
Safety: In the past Colombia had a reputation for violence and drugs.
While this has changed dramatically, it is still advisable to leave your money
and ‘bling’ (ostentatious jewellery) in your hotel safe when you go out at any
time of the day. Take taxis at night time when travelling in downtown areas.
The Old City of Cartagena is relatively safe to walk around after dark. The same
holds true in some of the tourist areas of Bogota and Medellin but definitely not
all areas. It’s a great idea to check with the hotel concierge. Sometimes, as I
noted in my article, the safety factor in visiting the Bazurto market in Cartagena
is exaggerated, but it’s always good to travel in groups and again, not show off
cameras or jewellery. And the other nice thing to know is that there are
(friendly) policemen on just about every corner in both small towns and big
cities, many with muzzled guard dogs to keep the streets safe. They became a
great resource for helping us find our way around.
Taxis: Readily available and safe. There were times when we were told only
On the top of Monserrate,
overlooking Bogota
to order a taxi at a hotel or restaurant but we flagged down taxis most of the time
and did not have any problems. Use your sixth sense. If you feel that a situation
is not safe, then stop the taxi and get out. There is no such thing as “I did not want to offend the driver” (who you’ve
known for all of 5 minutes in your life). If you feel unsafe, use your travel common sense and get out.
Photos: As a member of the media looking to capture the history, people, culture and ‘sense’ of each place I visited, I
used my camera fairly liberally (including the Bazurto Market). If I felt unsure of the situation, I would ask permission to
take a photo. Otherwise, I snapped away and had no issues. The key is to respect the subject you are photographing
or videographing. These are not novelties to photograph; these are people with feelings. The idea of ‘respect’ is key.
Guide Books: On my trip to Colombia I used the Lonely Planet guidebook which I have found to be particularly helpful
in many Central and South American countries. The writers(s) are fairly dependable when it comes to site, travel and
restaurant recommendations. For example, we found El Bistro in Cartagena on our own, then saw that is was
recommended in Lonely Planet.
Memories to Savour include: Carmen Restaurant in Medellin, Villa de Leyva for relaxing (grab a beer—like the
locals do and just sit in Plaza Mayor at night time and people watch); the Saturday Market in Villa de Leyva; the Salt
Cathedral in Zipaquira, Climbing the 750 steps to the very top of Peñol de Guatapé; The Gold Museums in Bogota and
Cartagena; Fernando Botero’s works of art in Bogota and Medellin; the graffiti and bicycle tours in Bogota, the mud
bath in El Totumo; chatting with taxi drivers and locals everywhere we travelled.
Lessons Learned:
Don’t believe everything you hear. We wanted to ride horses. In Medellin it cost a lot of money to arrange
this. But when we took a day trip by local bus to Sante Fe de Antiochia, we found a taxi driver and asked
about horse-back riding. The driver went out of his way to find a guy who owned the local stables, and the cost
was a fraction of what the hotel quoted.
You don’t need to speak the language. I don’t speak Spanish
however, I can usually figure out menus and signs due to my high
school knowledge of French and Latin. We never had a problem
‘communicating’ with shop owners or restaurateurs or taxi drivers, even
when we had to ask for directions. People are people and most like to
receive a smile, help out, and receive a thank you (and sometimes they
like to have their photograph taken too!)
At least try it. Mitsuru, my associate editor and co-traveller tried the
friend ants in Bogota only to discover that he was not a big fan of ants.
He also tried the drink “Savage Love” on the Bogota Bike Tour and
both he and I (and several group members) gave the drink a thumbs-up
for taste, but a thumbs-down for any interesting side effects.
Enjoy, relax and have a great time in Colombia. There is so much
to do and see, and I covered only a small part of it in this issue of
Travel2Colombia. Stay tuned!
Mitsuru Sasaki, Associate Editor of
Talking Travel, sipping ‘Savage Love’.