I ended my trip to Colombia with a short flight from Medellín to Bogotá, an overnight stay in an airport hotel and then my flight back to the U.S. early the next morning. I had spent three weeks and covered a fair amount of ground, a good introduction to the country. This is the wrap up of my impressions from my trip.
Colombia is a big, diverse, beautiful country. I enjoyed the small colonial towns and tropical highland regions the most. Bogotá has great museums and fantastic restaurants. Cartagena is worth a visit for its history and old walled city, but I wouldn’t recommend more than a couple of days there. Medellín is very nice but the rural region around it is nicer, in my opinion. I wasn’t very impressed with Colombia’s Caribbean coast or beaches.
It is an easy country to get around, either by air or bus. It has good quality hotels for all budgets and an abundance of restaurants and street food vendors. The food is excellent, although I find traditional Colombian cuisine to be rather plain. Thankfully there are many, many alternatives. Costs are all around very reasonable.
The country is very safe and the cleanest Latin American country I have ever visited. Colombia has a large educated middle class that seems to care about the environment and quality of life. It is a proud country that has struggled through some very tough times and emerged from them relatively peaceful and democratic. It is a generous country, taking in millions of Venezuelan refugees.
The Colombians I met were typically friendly, polite, and helpful. I find Mexico to have a “warmer” culture, but Colombia seems better organized, more efficient. A fair trade-off.
It was a great trip, my longest one alone which was a good experience for me. I made it home to the U.S. without any problems related to the coronavirus pandemic. I really threaded this trip through the needle, timing-wise. Now, two weeks later, I wonder when we will be able to travel again not under the cloud of this virus. It seems like it might be awhile.
Here’s a slide show of photos from my trip:
2 comments On Colombia Wrap-up and Slideshow
Dear Stephen,
Thank you for the summary of a great trip especially the slide show. I loved the “flower house” and the cocktail which seemed to have a lot of greenery too! Your description of Columbia was diametrically opposite to that I imagined. Much more culture and modernity amongst the history.
I cannot offer much hope of travelling again any time soon,but at least you have many memories and photos to remind you of the opportunities you have been able to enjoy
and I sincerely thank you for sharing them with me and I know that others will thank you too.
Love,
Mom
Thank you Stephen I look forward to hearing from you again as life continues with whatever you decide to do with your life from now on.
Best wishes
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