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I wouldn´t let my dog swim there.

The Aussie.



[QUOTE=Surfer]No offense Tom, but me thinks you have never seen a World Class beach if you consider ANYTHING in Cartagena city acceptable and consider Islas Rosario "superb". Colom,bia has tremendous beaches BUT most are in areas with serious security issues and NOT places where most mongers would tred. San Andres and Provedencia have the best beaches in areas that are safe. Also, the other beach areas have NOBODY who speaks English and no creature comforts or LDV style places to find chicas.[/QUOTE]

At least I don't have to share the water with Aussie's dog.

Be it ever so humble, there's no place like home.

Is Rodadero in Santa M. worth visiting?
Is Curry correct about the friendliness of Cartegena.
Which city is the cheapest but offers the best slection of chicas, BUT most friendly people?

I too am coming off of BRASIL (not RIO) but the Northeast.
People wer so friendly and further form RIO, the cheaper the garotas.


Thanks Peter & Surfer

[QUOTE=Liucio]Is Rodadero in Santa M. worth visiting? [/QUOTE]
To me EL RODADERO is just a touristic resort, and Santa Marta a small city. I don`t know what the impression of other mongers is about these two places, but for me is good to spend a day or two , but that is about it.
And about friendliness,we are warm hearted people always willing to help, you will find that in any city in Colombia.

I apologize in advance for this post not being directly related to Colombia, but I am planning a trip to Colombia this spring and was interested in visitting Brazil and Argentina as well. Unfortunately, I have never been able to log onto argentinaprivate.com since Jackson first set it up. I have tried of and on again, but I always get:

"The page cannot be displayed"

Does anyone have a suggestion as to what's going on?

[blue]Hi Mr Matt,

The Argentina site has been experiencing an intermittent DNS problem that prevents it from being "found" by a very small number of potential visitors. I'm aware of the problem, but it's been difficult to identify.

Thanks,

Jackson[/blur]

The best beaches are WAY past Rodadero/SAnta Marta/Taganga where Yellow Fever joins FARC as a real risk. That keeps the numbers of gringos to a real minimum (which is good IMHO). Even in the most developed area between Barranquilla and the Venezuelan border, Rodadero, there is no McDonald's, no shopping centers, no movie theaters NO Riquisimo or Yogurt shops, no cruise ships, nor are there ANY US style businesses. There are no gringo apartment blocks like Laguito, nor is there an old city with the charm of Cartagena's Ciudad Vieja.

The plushest resorts South of town by the airport, Zuana & Irotama, have good but expensive food options and nice (but not great) beaches. Neither of the two discos in town are good pick up spots at all (NOTHING even remotely like LDV), nor are there Pleyboy style casas. There are no beach touts hawking hookers (like Tony at Las Velas beach). They hawk trhe usual useless junk and overpriced trips or jetski rentals, but NOT chicas. Rodadero is a family oriented beach resort frequented by conservative Colombian families on weekends-during the week it is deserted. It is also notorious for paras (right wing death squads).

I quote Robert Young Pelton's "the World's Most Dangerous Places", page 463: "Santa Marta. The North end of town and the Rodadero Beach areas are extremely dangerous. Do not travel alone into these areas. Daylight armed robberies of tourists are commonplace. Thieves will often relieve their victims of their clothes as well as all other valuables." And Pelton is NOT a paranoid like the US State Department (whose website states that the only places in Colombia deemed sufficiently safe for US visitors are Cartagena and SAn Andres island).

Try the Puerto Colombia or Galerazamba area beaches (between Cartagena and Barranquilla) first before venturing uyp to the Upper Magdalena or the even more sketchy La Guajira beyond.

Laguito and Bocagrande are crap beaches.

Laguito and Bocagrande with a few Colombian babes in bikinis on them are superb beaches.

I look forward to seeing them and any fellow mongers on about Jan. 21 to 26. Also Medellin Jan. 16 to 21.

[QUOTE=Surfer]The best beaches are WAY past Rodadero/SAnta Marta/Taganga where Yellow Fever joins FARC as a real risk. That keeps the numbers of gringos to a real minimum (which is good IMHO). Even in the most developed area between Barranquilla and the Venezuelan border, Rodadero, there is no McDonald's, no shopping centers, no movie theaters NO Riquisimo or Yogurt shops, no cruise ships, nor are there ANY US style businesses. There are no gringo apartment blocks like Laguito, nor is there an old city with the charm of Cartagena's Ciudad Vieja.

The plushest resorts South of town by the airport, Zuana & Irotama, have good but expensive food options and nice (but not great) beaches. Neither of the two discos in town are good pick up spots at all (NOTHING even remotely like LDV), nor are there Pleyboy style casas. There are no beach touts hawking hookers (like Tony at Las Velas beach). They hawk trhe usual useless junk and overpriced trips or jetski rentals, but NOT chicas. Rodadero is a family oriented beach resort frequented by conservative Colombian families on weekends-during the week it is deserted. It is also notorious for paras (right wing death squads).

I quote Robert Young Pelton's "the World's Most Dangerous Places", page 463: "Santa Marta. The North end of town and the Rodadero Beach areas are extremely dangerous. Do not travel alone into these areas. Daylight armed robberies of tourists are commonplace. Thieves will often relieve their victims of their clothes as well as all other valuables." And Pelton is NOT a paranoid like the US State Department (whose website states that the only places in Colombia deemed sufficiently safe for US visitors are Cartagena and SAn Andres island).

Try the Puerto Colombia or Galerazamba area beaches (between Cartagena and Barranquilla) first before venturing uyp to the Upper Magdalena or the even more sketchy La Guajira beyond.[/QUOTE]
I have to hand it to you Surfer, you really know what you are talking about, I agree with you in almost everything, except, El RODADERO being THAT dangerous, and the Irotama area not having great peaceful beaches,expensive place to eat and stay yes.Cheers, Peter.

This is not a report but a request for advice.

In the past few years I've taken four 3-week trips to Brazil, seen most of the Brazilean coast, and learned a bit of the language. The women there are fabulous but I thought I might try something new this year. I have about 3 weeks available from late November to early December and my Spanish skills are quite poor - I'm sure I will constantly confuse it with Portuguese.

One option I'm considering is 1 week in Ecuador followed by 2 weeks in Columbia (if I can get open-jaw flights to support this). I would take the bus in between and, based on the reports I've read, would certainly want to stop in Cali & Medellin as well as some nice beach area (Cartagena?).

Another option is to spend 10 days in Columbia and then 10 days in Brazil. Local (within-country) travel would be by bus but I would fly between the countries to save time. [Some future trip I would like to try international travel in the region by bus and boat.] Again, this depends upon getting appropriate flights to support this.

I travel alone and typically like to spend about 3 days in one place before moving on. Which of these itineraries would you recommend? (Or would you recommend something else?) Are there specific cities, clubs/brothels, beaches, or hotels you recommend? Any particular tips/warnings? Should I consider a side trip to the Galapagos (and is there any mongering there)?

Finally, as I'm nearly 52 I thought I might try Vitamin V (or similar) for the first time. Should I try to get that here in the US before traveling or is it available (and cheaper) en route?

Thanks for your time!

Peter: About safety in Rodadero, I was quoting from a famous book NOT from personal observations. I have never had a problem there, but the police DO warn you (especially at night). The police claim there is frequent guerilla (and criminal) activity just South of Rodadero The sand at Irotama/Zuana beaches is white, and they are reasonably clean. WAY better than ANYTHING in Cartagena city, but not better than Playa Blanca (30 minutes or so outside Cartagena) but they are quite plain and nothing spactacular like in Tayrona and Guajira.

Yankee: 1. it is spelled ColOmbia and 2. taking buses between cities (or traveling by land at all!) is NOT advised in Colombia. 3. Viagra is available for a fraction of US prices without prescription. Try it (you'll like it). But if you have a heart condition or take other meds DO ask you doctor FIRST!

[QUOTE=Surfer]Peter: About safety in Rodadero, I was quoting from a famous book NOT from personal observations. I have never had a problem there, but the police DO warn you (especially at night). The police claim there is frequent guerilla (and criminal) activity just South of Rodadero The sand at Irotama/Zuana beaches is white, and they are reasonably clean. WAY better than ANYTHING in Cartagena city, but not better than Playa Blanca (30 minutes or so outside Cartagena) but they are quite plain and nothing spactacular like in Tayrona and Guajira.

Yankee: 1. it is spelled ColOmbia and 2. taking buses between cities (or traveling by land at all!) is NOT advised in Colombia. 3. Viagra is available for a fraction of US prices without prescription. Try it (you'll like it). But if you have a heart condition or take other meds DO ask you doctor FIRST![/QUOTE]
I hate you already Surfer, you are starting to get on my nerves, :) I can not seem to disagree with you on anything. LOL.
Yes, it gets kind of heavy on the beach especially late at night.
About the Viagra, make sure you buy it at a reputable pharmacy like OLIMPICA, or you will buy a boggus pill.Peter.

[QUOTE]Yankee: 1. it is spelled ColOmbia and 2. taking buses between cities (or traveling by land at all!) is NOT advised in Colombia. 3. Viagra is available for a fraction of US prices without prescription. Try it (you'll like it). But if you have a heart condition or take other meds DO ask you doctor FIRST![/QUOTE]Surfer,

Sorry about the spelling. Would you please elaborate on your misgivings about bus/land travel between cities in Colombia? While I am aware of the violence there, and have been concerned about this, I have also read stories of people bicycling and taking buses/taxis without significant problems. On my first trip to Brazil, I was very concerned for my safety but have since become comfortable taking overnight buses and walking around most (not all) urban areas. In Colombia, I thought I would stick to the daytime buses on main routes (Cali-Medellin-Bogota-Cartegena) and not venture into the interior jungles toward the Brazilean border. I do not dress in any flashy way (no jewelry at all, sneakers, jeans or shorts, t-shirt, rather beat-up luggage) and generally do not attract attention. This has served me well as I traveled by buses many times on the whole coast of Brazil (from Floripa to Jericoacoara). Is Colombia that different?

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is not necessarily bad. But you must know where you are going and what is safe. It's probably not a good idea to travel after dark. I took a bus from Medellin to Cali in Jan. of this year with no problem. Busses between Cartagena and Santa Marta are pretty safe.

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i asked a lawyer, and he said "yes, technically"

but if the police catches you, you go to jail while they investigate, and this applies to us colombians, so i am sure it can be a lot worse for a non spanish speaking person coming from a foreign country.

so my honest advise to you is, take a vacation from it all, and enjoy the women, as far as i know there is no penalty for pussy.
unless it is ****, don`t get me wrong.lol

and to tom 33, yes, you are right. not long ago i took a bus at night from cartagena to barranquilla, and we had no problems whatsoever. knowing what you are doing at all times is the key. cheers to all, peter.