tips for solo american female to colombia

i have been planning to spend about 3 weeks travelling in colombia on my own in november. people keep trying to dissuade me saying i will get mugged, kidnapped, whatever. i have travelled extensively in asia and know from my experiences that it is never as bad as people tell you, but i admit i am a little nervous anyway. what do you think? tips on good parts to travel to where i can meet other travellers? safety tips? i plan to go to ecuador and bolivia as well.

Whoever keeps telling you that has never been to colombia and probably likes Mr and Mrs Smith and Arnold movies. It is significantly different to its reputation. I would be more worried about Ecuador and Bolivia than colombia. I am yet to meet a person who does not rate colombia as a fantastic place. You will have no porblems as long as you are sensible.

As I have more than once, I totally agree with Bickerss on this particular issue. It is such a safe and wonderful place to travel.

And OP, read you PM,s. I sent you an article I wrote re: travelling in Colombia.

Ron Wollersheim

Previous reports:

I have been in Colombia for a little over two months and have fallen in love with the country. Safety has not been an issue, just the same common sense precautions you would take elsewhere. Ask people at your hotel before setting off to areas that may have security problems. Main areas are fine. I do not think not knowing much Spanish is a problem, as many Colombians in larger cities speak at least some English. Also as the Colombians are so friendly you will be anxious to improve your Spanish and talk with everyone.

Last month (April 2007) I posted several times on this forum asking if it is safe to travel to Colombia with my wife and three small children. Because of all the encouraging responses on this forum we decided to go. We had a wonderful two weeks and always felt safe. One of you told me that after we went we would be posting to say how ridiculous our questions about kidnapping and gorillas sounded, well you were right. To anyone considering going to Colombia, I highly recommend going. Do not miss Cartagena, amazing city, also the Parque Tayrona was a highlight of the trip. Hiked through the rainforest, saw lots of wildlife including parrots, a capybara, tons of huge insects, snakes and two different kinds of monkeys including the almost extinct Ti Ti. To everyone who posted, THANK YOU from the Cacy family

* There are lots of posts on this site asking about the dangers in Colombia... The most dangerous one for me is not wanting to leave.. I was supposed to be crossing the border to Ecuador today, and here I am, back in Bogota.. I just do not want to go. My advice to anyone travelling round South America is leave Colombia till last. That way you will not be trashing all the rest of your travel plans. I really think I am gonna cry when I cross that border... Maybe I should go by plane....

Jorge Daniel Barchi.
Buenos Aires.

Hey, am currently in Medellin, so far been to Bogota, Cartagena, Santa Marta and Taganga and have had absolutely no problems, in fact if you have travelled in South America you will probably feel just as safe, and probably safer in Colombia than anywhere else. I too am travelling solo, speak no Spanish and have even fealt happy taking night busses along the way. Feel free to PM me if you like.

Regretably, I haven't been yet. But I have 2 single female friends who have been (on separate occassions) and their comments would concur with all of the above. They absolutely love it, more than anywhere else in all of Latin America.

Colombia is a wonderful place but parts of this wonderful country are not safe at all. The richer quarters of Medellin, Bogota and Cali felt fairly safe during the day. Do not take night buses, try to to check the safety situation before taking overland buses. Do not go to rural areas unless you are fairly sure that they are safe.

Many night bus routes are fairly safe these days, in terms of the main problems faced are the same as all over South America that roads and driving conditions are not always the same as the western world. It is literally a case of using common sense, the hostel I am staying at in Medellin at the moment has had 5000 guests stay with not one being robbed or attacked in anyway, I wander round the area at night and have no problems, however I wouldn't do this in Bogota for example. I honestly felt more concerned travelling in Bolivia than I have here in Colombia.

I do not want to minimize the risks as Colombia is not entirely safe, but it is not nearly as dangerous as one would think based on "reports." Like most South American countries, you need to be on guard and not do stupid/rash things. There are pockets still controlled by guerillas, etc., but in all likelihood, you will not be going there. (Those are the areas where kidnappings, etc. are more likely.) The police/military presence is probably the highest of all the countries that I have traveled. The Medellin Metro and the TransMilenio in Bogota are full of police officers. The Colombians seem to be really clamping down or attempting to clamp down on street crime in touristy areas, imho, more so than other countries near it, e.g., Venezuela. Many of the lodging locations in the bigger cities, e.g., Medellin and Bogota, that people gravitate towards are in the better parts of those cities. As such, crime seems less.

As for night buses, it probably is a better idea to use day buses, but I did go on a night bus in Colombia and had no problems. Remember to use a good company and make sure that stops are minimal or nonexistent, thereby limiting the odds of getting new passengers who may be robbers.

The big tourist sight in Colombia is Cartagena, a beautiful Caribbean city. You can also access some islands from there. Santa Marta near Cartagena also attracts a number of people, partly as a gateway, methinks, to Ciudad Perdida. Medellin had a few tourists as did Bogota. Medellin seems to have a couple of good traveler's hostels so you may want to check that city out. I met some people who were really keen on Medellin. I thought it was a nice place, but did not think there was a lot of things to see. Popayan in the south attracts some people. Overall, I saw very few foreign tourists in Colombia.