Cartagena Columbia

Who's been? Have a chance to go for work... long ass flight to get there but looks interesting.. I guess Columbia isn't as dangerous as the stereotype?

 

Haven't been, would go in a heartbeat. Especially after going to Honduras

 

I'm in Cartagena right now with the family. So far it's been great. Looks like there is a little something for everyone. I'm staying at the Hilton which is nice but the only reason I'm here is because of the kids (3 pools). If it was just me and the wife then I would have stayed in the old city.

 

Enjoy!

I have not been. For some reason, I lot of my friends seem to make trips with some frequency.

The fact that Colombia is now one of the safer places in South America is hard to imagine but those are the facts.

I hesitate working on a pipeline a few years back. I don't think I would hesitate today.

 

Thanks guys, I decided to go. Won't know where I'm staying yet but should this afternoon. The beeb is so funny. You could literally name the most obscure place on earth (like the arctic) and someone on the beeb is either standing in that exact place or has been there!!

 

Watch out for a shifty looking guy and his girlfriend. Something about some big green jewel they are hunting for..

 

As I said from what I've experienced so far I would stay in the old city. There are all kinds of great restaurants as well as clubs etc... Where will you be leaving from?

 

Some additional info. You will only need ~20mil pesos for the taxi from the airport so only exchange a little bit of USD. Find the first atm and then get money from it as that will give you the best exchange rate anywhere (currently ~2545 per dollar). Also, not sure how comfortable you are negotiating but just about everything is negotiable. For us it's not a big deal as we have been living in Mexico for the past 3 years but I know many Americans are not.

 

I usually never negotiate with locals and their merchandise if it's a poorer country. I usually let the prices be, because in general a few dollars more from me, makes more of a difference to them than it would to me.

 

Well that's just what is expected. In some cultures if you don't negotiate then you will insult them. As I said, some people are more comfortable with it than others. Nothing wrong with that. Just a difference in what people are comfortable with.

 

I heard the neighbors aren't very friendly...and they don't like to give out rides on their 'Lil Mule.

 

a new car though....i just think it's fun to negotiate...because it's a "game"

 

Used to go there quite often for work in the 80's and early 90's. Had one restaurant bombed one night we were supposed to eat there, we changed our plans. This was a few months after our crew had seized over 90 tons of cocaine, at that time the largest drug bust in US history. So, that was probably just a coincidence.

There also used to be a farmer that walked along his property near one end of the runway. If he's still there watch out for him as he used to shoot at us whenever we would land or take-off that direction.

Take Cortez with you. There is an old fort that all the transvestites line-up during the night. When we would go in for our 2am briefings and preflights they were all out in force. He'd have a blast there.

Do not eat the fish along the beach front. Back then the sewage dumped right into the ocean about a 1/4 mile up the beach. Not sure if they fixed that or not yet, but it was nasty. One guy at fish at a beach front restaurant and had the shits for 3 or 4 days. Which really sucked because we didn't have a toilet on the plane, just a honey bucket. He was foul and filled up quite a few trash bags. That really stunk up the tube with some smells I'll never forget. Unfortunately, he was mission essential so he had to fly or we couldn't do our missions.

So, it wasn't bad at all. Booze and women everywhere.

 

It's about a 3 hour flight from Miami to Bogota, how are they routing you that it is a long flight?

I've lived in other parts of Colombia but I have not been to Cartagena. I would not hesitate to go there though. Like any city there are certain areas you stay away from. No matter where you are just keep on eye on your stuff.

 

Flying from south Florida and looks like there is a direct flight into CTG airport. I'll try to get one of the locals to hold a who's Mongo sign for a picture

 

If your approach is over the water, watch out for that farmer.

 

When I was in Bolivia 15 years ago, Bolivia was safe and Colombia was dangerous. Now it's the opposite.

 

http://www.laht.com/article.asp?Art...:+laht/mailer+(Latin+American+Herald+Tribune)

Don't worry the hookers are still here

 

Lots of tourists and safe for third world travel. Just don't be stupid and walk alone late at night back from bars. Haven't been in ten years. Nightlife mainly on Friday and Saturday, kind of dead otherwise. Old city best place to stay, outside is mostly barrios. Mr. Babillas was best bar. Again, be careful at night. Not sure how it is now but back ten years ago you would hear machine gun fire going back and forth at night in the barrios. A twelve year old tried to mug me at knife point. That being said, a great trip.

Anytime you see 50 cals mounted in rusted out Toyota tacomas, that should be a que to keep your guard up, bc you may not be in that legite of a country.

Come to think of it, the other time I went to colombia someone blew up the police headquarters down the street from my hotel with a massive car bomb.
That being said my trips to Colombia were some of my best and most memorable ones. The violence used to keep most of the tourists out and the prices down. Now I here it's safe(r).

 

Much safer now compared to what you described. No trucks with 50cals mounted or any significant sign of force. My experience is different than yours though as I'm with the family and am typically back in the hotel by 11 or so. Perhaps because this is semana santa the city has been pretty active every night.