General Info

[Phunluv]

Im thinking about spending next summer in COLOMBIA between MDE and CLO, Is it worth trying to ship my SUV down there? I mean fly to SANTA MARTA or CTG or Baranquilla and pick it up, then drive it from there. Im thinking ALL the $$$ i will be spending on TAXIS and flights or buses will be recouped on the shipping process.. Of course there will be some kind of contract that I will be sending it back upon my departure.. Ive never seen this brought-up here in the forums and if anybody has any link or info, it would be much obliged. Or if its just NOT worth it.. regards!

Don't mean to rag on you but weren't you boasting about a 3 pop TLN for 90K pesos? But now you're willing to spend 9 million pesos (or more!) to bring an SUV to Colombia?? It's funny how some guys will haggle with a puta for 10K pesos (pride and ego thing I guess) but the wallet is wide open for other stuff. :) I think the import duty/tax for cars is 20 or 30 percent so that alone is crazy not to mention the cost of transporting it and dealing with the locals involved in the whole process. Yuck, not my idea of a fun vacation. If you want to blow millions of pesos, better off using a private driver all the time or just fly between the cities.

You live in Miami right? If you've flown on Avianca and have a freq. flyer account with them, you should have enough miles for a free internal flight or two. I have 30K plus miles on Avianca and if I had an extended stay, I'd definitely use them up to get me around.

Also, as someone mentioned already, the roads between the cities can be pretty iffy in some spots. Why risk damaging your car on unfamiliar roads? And let's not forget the crazy local drivers whether camionetas or cochecitos. Ever went with a group of friends out to a finca for the weekend? I can't imagine driving those roads myself, too stressful, I'd gladly take the bus which is far far cheaper. Who wants hassles when they're on vacation?

Finally, you mentioned once you're part Asian. An Asian looking guy driving an SUV on rural roads from Cali to Medellin?? That ain't low profile. I know Colombia isn't as dangerous as it used to be, but I'd say it's still the smart thing to do to keep a low profile, especially if you plan on staying for a couple of months.

[Phunluv]

Amazon.com now offers unlocked cell phones with a 90-day warranty. I want to buy an unlocked cell phone for usage in Colombia.

What type of unlocked cell phone should I buy for usage in Colombia?

What GSM frequency is used in Colombia?

You can also shop around for unlocked cell phones on eBay. Colombia uses the same GSM frequencies as the U.S. so almost any modern GSM phone that works in the states should work down there as long as it's unlocked. But follow kdogg's advise, a quad-phone is usable pretty much anywhere, including the EU and Asia.

I hate cell phones too. . . the phones may be relatively cheap there, but calls are expensive especially Comcel which has the best coverage (at least in Medellin, could be different in other cities). So yes, get a cheap cell phone, but also use the street vendors where the prices are 200 to 300 pesos a minute. Those are the cheapest rates that I've seen out there. Calling from your cell will be significantly more than that, especially with Comcel.

By the way, I still use my Skype account whenever I can even IN Colombia because the highest rate I've been charged is 10 cents a minute (about 200 pesos) for cell phones. So try to make as many cellular calls as you can from your laptop when you're still in your apartment, or from the street vendors. If your apt. has a land-line, you can make local calls of course to other land lines but it's not common to be able to call cell phones from a land line, just too expensive for most Colombians, that's why I say just use Skype in your apartment for calling cell phones. You can make any type of call if you're staying in a nice hotel but you will pay premium for that.

I'd advise NOT to bring an expensive phone, I lost my Motorola SLVR L2 partying late one night with my buddies, which I got for around $75 on eBay. At least it wasn't my $300 Nokia smartphone but it still was an ouch. As much as Colombians love their fancy cell phones, it's just not worth the potential grief and cost for foreign visitors to bring a top-of-the-line cell, you're going to end up worried half the time about losing it or having it stolen. There are other ways to impress your colombiana date. ;)

[Jericho10]

Get a quad band phone, as you'll be able to use it whereever GSM is available, including AT&T/TMobil in the US. I got a quad band Moto Razr V3 from Amazon.com also, and it works fine. My novia helped me get a SIM card. The Motorola website also sells unlocked phones, for a little more. You want want to consider buying it from them as you'll have the Motorola OEM warranty. Also my phone was set to some weird oriental language and I would have had trouble setting it to English. My novia asked the sales person who sold me a SIM card to help. She opened up a similar brand new phone and by comparing the menu commands side by side was able to switch it to English. With my limited espanol, I would have had trouble explaining/asking for this kind of help.

Buena suerte

Can anyone help me with a basic issue?

I've always hated cell phones, I still hate cell phones and I always will hate cell phones.

As a pragmatist, however, I finally admit and recognize that a cell phone is nearly a necessity in Colombia.

Amazon.com now offers unlocked cell phones with a 90-day warranty. I want to buy an unlocked cell phone for usage in Colombia.

What type of unlocked cell phone should I buy for usage in Colombia?

What GSM frequency is used in Colombia?

[Kdogg21]

Can anyone help me with a basic issue?

I've always hated cell phones, I still hate cell phones and I always will hate cell phones.

As a pragmatist, however, I finally admit and recognize that a cell phone is nearly a necessity in Colombia.

Amazon.com now offers unlocked cell phones with a 90-day warranty. I want to buy an unlocked cell phone for usage in Colombia.

What type of unlocked cell phone should I buy for usage in Colombia?

What GSM frequency is used in Colombia?

Get a quad band and you will have no trouble with frequencies.

[Cachorro]

Can anyone help me with a basic issue?

I've always hated cell phones, I still hate cell phones and I always will hate cell phones.

As a pragmatist, however, I finally admit and recognize that a cell phone is nearly a necessity in Colombia.

Amazon.com now offers unlocked cell phones with a 90-day warranty. I want to buy an unlocked cell phone for usage in Colombia.

What type of unlocked cell phone should I buy for usage in Colombia?

What GSM frequency is used in Colombia?

Just buy the phone in Colombia.

All you need is to bring a passport and make one photocopy of it for them to keep. Go to any shopping mall, choose a phone and get it activated on the spot. $50 will get you a good brand, low end phone, complete with a phone number and some call credit.

Even if you brought the phone with you, you'd have to go through this same process to get a local Colombian phone number.

[Jericho10]

Thanks LocoGringo and Tom,

I have a timeshare that I exchange to go to various places. I used it to take my novia and her kids to Santa Marta this past summer. (Yes, I had fun w/ her even w/ the kids along.) I plan to use to to try and go to San Andreas, Cartegena, Panama, and maybe some of these other places.

Colombians do not need a Visa to go to Brazil, only certain innoculations required if you have been in Colombia recently. Avianca has flights, use your ff miles and it is nice to have a openminded girlfriend in Brazil. I do not believe that Argentina, Peru or most of the South American countries require a Visa. Barbados also does not require one. Unless you are a diver not a lot to do in San Andres, imho.

[LocoGringo]

Colombians do not need a Visa to go to Brazil, only certain innoculations required if you have been in Colombia recently. Avianca has flights, use your ff miles and it is nice to have a openminded girlfriend in Brazil. I do not believe that Argentina, Peru or most of the South American countries require a Visa. Barbados also does not require one. Unless you are a diver not a lot to do in San Andres, imho.

[Tom 33]

Can anyone provide any info on what countries can Colombians go without a formal Visa, e. G, Panama? By a formal Visa, I mean one that has to be submitted months in advance. I've read that Colombians can go to Panama and purchase something like a tourist visa at the airport. I would like to take my novia on vacation to some nice resort area, or maybe on a cruise. She already has her passport. Thanks for any info.

Go to San Andreas Island. It is just off the coast of Nicaragua, but it is part of Colombia.

[Ted Nugent]

Can anyone help me with a basic issue?

I've always hated cell phones, I still hate cell phones and I always will hate cell phones.

As a pragmatist, however, I finally admit and recognize that a cell phone is nearly a necessity in Colombia.

Amazon.com now offers unlocked cell phones with a 90-day warranty. I want to buy an unlocked cell phone for usage in Colombia.

What type of unlocked cell phone should I buy for usage in Colombia?

What GSM frequency is used in Colombia?

[Jericho10]

Can anyone provide any info on what countries can Colombians go without a formal Visa, e. G, Panama? By a formal Visa, I mean one that has to be submitted months in advance. I've read that Colombians can go to Panama and purchase something like a tourist visa at the airport. I would like to take my novia on vacation to some nice resort area, or maybe on a cruise. She already has her passport. Thanks for any info.

[Kukulkan]

The ATM sets the amount per transaction. However, when there is no cost, the amount per transaction is irrelevant. I can withdraw up to US$500 per day.

Thank's One more time, tom, I gat the same from my bank, I use one time my Mexican Account, ATM, and I get fuck big time, someone, gat the number and password, and they drain about 5 G USD 50, 000. 00 mexican pesos, Thats was 5 years a go, I stick whit the USA Acount, no problem since that F*****G day

Kukulkan

I did get my money back From Banamex

[Bango Cheito]

IMHO you'd have to be crazy to want to drive down there PERIOD. Stick to taxis and public transport.

[SpiderMonkey]

Taxis and buses are cheap. Shipping a car is not. And hassling with aduana is a nightmare. The import tax is punishing.

And Colombia is not yet safe enough for you to be driving all over between cities. How much is your ass worth?

However, there is a bill pending in the Colombian legislature that would eliminate the import tax in your situation. When or if the bill will pass is anyone's guess.

Tom,

Lets not forget that most warrantys are voided when exiting a country. Something to ckeck into gents.

Spider

[Tom 33]

Im thinking about spending next summer in COLOMBIA between MDE and CLO, Is it worth trying to ship my SUV down there? I mean fly to SANTA MARTA or CTG or Baranquilla and pick it up, then drive it from there. Im thinking ALL the $$$ i will be spending on TAXIS and flights or buses will be recouped on the shipping process.. Of course there will be some kind of contract that I will be sending it back upon my departure.. Ive never seen this brought-up here in the forums and if anybody has any link or info, it would be much abliged. Or if its just NOT worth it.. regards!

Taxis and buses are cheap. Shipping a car is not. And hassling with aduana is a nightmare. The import tax is punishing.

And Colombia is not yet safe enough for you to be driving all over between cities. How much is your ass worth?

However, there is a bill pending in the Colombian legislature that would eliminate the import tax in your situation. When or if the bill will pass is anyone's guess.

[Hoof Hunter]

Not worth it. Not much of a decision.

Stick with the basics (taxis/buses/planes). If determined to drive, you can rent there at astronomical rates. Combined, however, still would be a small fraction of what you'll pay trying to ship it to Colombia THEN trying to claim it from customs, both ways. Not even close. Then there's the insurance deal.

It's been discussed many times on the non-monger boards.

Im thinking about spending next summer in COLOMBIA between MDE and CLO, Is it worth trying to ship my SUV down there? I mean fly to SANTA MARTA or CTG or Baranquilla and pick it up, then drive it from there. Im thinking ALL the $$$ i will be spending on TAXIS and flights or buses will be recouped on the shipping process.. Of course there will be some kind of contract that I will be sending it back upon my departure.. Ive never seen this brought-up here in the forums and if anybody has any link or info, it would be much abliged. Or if its just NOT worth it.. regards!