Colombia do not miss places.

Hi to all who read this. Im in Colombia now. In Cartagena. I was wondering if someone has a must see place.
Also how difficult is to get to monopos or something like that.
And the last one, how much is the departure tax at Bogota International.
Many many thanks.
Javier.

Click here

Jorge Daniel Barchi.
Buenos Aires.

We were in Colombia on December 30 for 15 days. Flew into and out of Bogota. We didn't pay any. My guess is we paid the carrier AA when we bought the tickets.

Must see? If you are in Cartagena now, go to the mud spring 50 kilometer north of the city. Take only half a day. Some would argue Isla Rosario is not worth it. If you have a day to kill you should go. Cartagena is very touristy. It is the Miami of Colombia. You should also see the rest of the country.

These would be my favourite smaller, a little off the beaten track places

Arboletes - the biggest mud volcano in Colombia. 10,000 square metres of mud. Makes a joke of the little mud volcano near Cartagena that
everyone goes to.

Barichara - small colonial town near San Gil. Worth a visit but not necessarily the night

Cabo de la Vela - desert type landscape near Venezuela with beautiful beaches, sunset, seafood and a majority indigenous population. Not
so easy to get to which helps maintain the charm of this place

Capurgana - near the border of Panama on Colombia’s Caribbean coast. Only reachable by plane or boat. Beautiful jungle backed beaches.
Opportunity to cross over into Panama

El Valle - Pacific coast beach town one hour south of the more sizeable airport town of Bahia Solano. No roads to here, only light planes or a
boat ride from Buenaventura. The combination of isolated beaches and rainforest down to the coastline makes this a spectacular place. Also
whales from June - October

Finca Villa Maria - in my top three places in Colombia. This is a 80 acre working coffee farm in the heart of Colombia’s coffee region. There
are four private rooms with bathroom available to travellers. Normally the place is empty. On offer is beautiful scenery, a swimming pool, horse
riding. Bring your own wine, you’ll need it. A great place to go with your better half. This will score you the big points.

Isla Gorgona - Colombia’s answer to Alcatraz. A former prison island with 2000 of Colombia’s most dangerous inmates is now a nature
reserve. This is a fantastic place to get away from it all for a few day. Hiking, great beaches, whales (in season) interesting former prison ruins and
no shops, electricity. The island is also home to monkeys, snakes and big lizards.

Mompos - another colonial gem on the Madalena river several hours bus/boat journey from Cartagena. From this town Simon Bolivar recruited
the men that lead to the independence of northern South America from the Spaniards. The town is a pretty special place and the river winding
alongside it adds a great deal to the atmosphere of the place.

Rio Claro - Spectacular river in the middle of the jungle. No window cabanas available for sleeping. Tubing down the river, swimming, jungle
walks, caving. A great place to get away from it all for a few days.

San Andres - Colombia’s small Caribbean island nearer Nicaragua than Colombia is a great place to take a package holiday to. Beautiful
beaches, friendly English speaking Caribbean people, day trips to beach fringed islands. Package all inclusive (all the drink and food you want)
run at about US$400 for four nights. Airfare included.

Salento - very typical Colombian town. Great plaza, specialty food - trout. Good hiking available from a few hours walk to treks up to the
snowline.

Sierra Nevada del Cocuy - One of South Americas most spectacular mountain ranges and a great seven day hike. Uncrowded, free to
do and gorgeous valleys, lakes, mountain pases etc. The towns either end the trek, Guican and El Cocuy also deserve a few days in there own
right. Great people everyone wearing woollen ponchos and a different way of life from the big cities.

Termales Santa Rosa de Cabal - If you like soaking in hot pools surround by jungle and waterfalls this is the place for you. The pools
are open to midnight every day and you can buy drinks/ food. Sit in the hotpools with a cold Poker beer in the evening. Heaven. Also plenty of
nearby accommodation options.

Villavicencio - only two hours southeast of Bogota this is the main town in Colombia Llanos territory. Numerous surrounding villages, great
people, rivers, complete lack of tourists, pumping discoteques and great festivals as well as the tradition meat on a stick restaurants make this a
great place to spend a few

Surrounding areas of Medellin, particularly Jardin, Jericho, Guatape and swimming in the lake and Santa Fe de Antioquia..

If you want any other info or hidden gems email me
kelvin@blacksheepmedellin.com

enjoy colombia, its hard not too

kelvin

I forgot the spectacular Ecotermales de San Vicente..

on my site
http://www.blacksheepmedellin.com/EcoTermalesSanVicente.html

kelvin

Tax depends on the Airline that you are flying. Sometimes its included, Mainly with the bigger airlines. Avianca you need to pay.
Also if you stay more that 60 days you pay more.
Best to keep 120000 pesos spare for the Airport

As kiwipaisa says, Finca Villa Maria = out of this world. If you miss that when your in Colombia you are extremely foolish! Happy to give more details on how to book/prices/pics etc, drop me a pm. x

thanks all. Very very helpful indeed.
Cheers.

Hi,

A deff. must see place is Mompos. An english friend of mine has a hostel there called 'Casa Amarilla'. Deff. go there!!

{quote:title=wen2929 wrote:}{quote}
Hi to all who read this. Im in Colombia now. In Cartagena. I was wondering if someone has a must see place.

How much time do you have and what direction are you headed to in general? I really loved Tayrona National Park, near Santa Marta. If you head in that direction and need to spend the night in Santa Marta -- avoid SM and instead stay in Taganga -- much better.

San Gil is good for outdoorsy stuff: rafting, paragliding, etc.

Also how difficult is to get to monopos or something like that.

It is spelled Mompos or Mompox. I was just in Mompos last week. It's a beautiful town. Very hot and humid. Howler monkey and mosquitos. Beautiful river setting. Very clean and safe and friendly. Virtually no tourists! La Casa Amarilla is a brand new hostel that just opened up a couple weeks ago -- great place to stay.

To get there from Cartagena: Take a bus to Magangue (about 4 hours, 30K pesos). A tout will meet you at the bus station and show you where the pier is -- it's worth the 1K tip to have him show you. Walk down to pier to catch chalupa (small boat) to Bodega (20 minutes, 6K pesos). In Bodega, take a share taxi to Mompos - 2 hours, about 7000-8000 pesos (with 3-4 passengers -- more if empty).

And the last one, how much is the departure tax at Bogota International.

Depends on your plane ticket! I just flew with American Airlines and they included most of the taxes (there are 3 separate taxes). I just had to pay an additional $5 USD tax.

I think San Agustin is a lovely place, full of pre Colombian stone statues in a beautiful green landscape.

Hi Kiwipaisa (and others),

Thanks very much for your top places to visit in this beautiful country. I´m currently in Medellin and would love to try out Arboletes....it sounds great! I have met a few others in the hostel who would like to try it out aswell but we have a few questions.

1. How long does it take to get to?

2. Is it better to go to Monteria, try and stay there and do it in a day trip? (If we do have to stay there, can anyone recommend somewhere to stay there?).

3. Is there budget accommodation at Arboletes?

4. Do you think or have you heard about any subversive activity in the area?

5. Is it difficult to get up to Cartagena from there?

Thanks to anyone who can help us with these questions.

Kind Regards,
Niall

NYC_Girl_115: Thanks for the info and recommendation about Mompós. To get there the way you've described from Cartagena is one thing. Does anyone have current details on coming from Santa Marta to El Banco, and approaching from the other side?

Also, what's the likely availability of finding a cargo boat or something heading back down the Río Magdalena towards the coast as an alternative return? Am mapping a month-long itinerary that will take me through pages of the novels of Gabriel García Márquez. This really needs to be part of the field study research if it's still possible and not something that anyone would highly discourage.

you should go to the tairona national park between cartagena and santa marta. it's a paradise on earth with hidden beaches and coves in the jungle.. and it's safe to go there.

Just an update for my fellow travellers, Finca Villa Maria, ably recommended by Kelvin at the Black Sheep, has been under new management for a few months. And it's now pretty poor and well over-priced at 70,000COP per night (now including two meals, not three). I went after arranging through six or more phone calls two days in advance. When I arrived just after dark, no one was expecting me. There was no welcome to speak of, no entertainment, just a hastily thrown together meal of tough, cheap meat and cold chips. I was left to my own devices for the rest of the evening and when I asked about the services on offer the next morning they replied 'you can do what you like' and disappeared. It's a great shame. You expect the food on a finca to be delicious, farm-fresh fare. It's not. Not a fruit or vegetable in sight! The coffee farm is still operational and you can take a lack-lustre tour of the processing plant if you like.

It's saving grace is its beautiful location (complete with three native parrots!) and the superb friendliness of the local butcher who ferried me to the finca from the local town on the back of his delivery bike.

There are hundreds of beautiful eco-farms in Colombia that would make excellent alternatives. There are lots of options in the coffee region, but if you are looking for backpacker-style lodgings in the area, try Coffee Town hostel in Santa Rosa de Cabal or La Serrana ecofarm in Salento. Sadly, Finca Villa Maria isn't what it used to be.