General Info

[QUOTE=Droplet;2431944]Hi all,

I'm planning a possible Colombia trip. Been to Colombia back in 2006 to Bogota and Cartagena. Since then planned a trip to Medelllin / Cali numerous times. But life situations means I had to call it off.

All my previous notes now all useless LOL. I have been RTFF and started adding fb girls. I have also messaged some bms here for advice and many thanks in advance for those who are getting back to me.

I have a few questions if anyone can provide their two cents. I have temporarily booked 2 weeks off (28th March - 12th April). This coincides with the holy week. Is this a mad time to visit? Will it be quiet the week before the holy week? I have another two weeks end of June. I can delay the Colombia trip until then so I have more time to prepare my contacts (and learn Spanish!).

I have signed up to SA. Is the way to do it just to msg girls before I land and collect all the numbers? My spanish is nada (knows a little portuguese).

I have searched for "Lau Gomez" on fb. There are a few under that name. Can anyone offer any hints which one I need to contact?

Thanks![/QUOTE]Holy week things will be slow. It won't be impossible to find girls, but your options will be limited. I'd suggest taking the later trip.

I have a trip coming up at the end of Mar. Hoping to pick up some Spanish before that. Is there is any must know phrases / sentences etc. That will help in mongering.

How to ask for GFE, BBJ, CIM, negotiate time / rates etc.

Thanks.

I'm flying in tomorrow.

Maybe I should say "aay" a lot and say I'm from Canada. Wondering if they ask for your passport, etc. In the casas.

[QUOTE=Orgasmico;2431920]Pretty funny, on another site I read about an American complaining because he was being refused service in casas because of the virus LOL.

Colombias authorities said they will be scrutinizing all travelers from nine countries, including the United States, to reduce chances of an outbreak of the coronavirus in the country.

[URL]https://colombiareports.com/colombia-to-scrutinize-travelers-as-corona-virus-risk-level-raised-to-high/[/URL][/QUOTE]

[QUOTE=KetoAndKettle;2432020]I'm flying in tomorrow.

Maybe I should say "aay" a lot and say I'm from Canada. Wondering if they ask for your passport, etc. In the casas.[/QUOTE]They don't ask for your ID. By chance, you're not of Asian descent are you?

[QUOTE=Orgasmico;2431920]Pretty funny, on another site I read about an American complaining because he was being refused service in casas because of the virus LOL.

Colombias authorities said they will be scrutinizing all travelers from nine countries, including the United States, to reduce chances of an outbreak of the coronavirus in the country.

[URL]https://colombiareports.com/colombia-to-scrutinize-travelers-as-corona-virus-risk-level-raised-to-high/[/URL][/QUOTE]

[QUOTE]
Migration authorities in no case may impede entry to the country. Only in emergency cases in which health officials suspect a visitor of actually carrying the virus, they will be obliged to cooperate and be taken to a hospital for a check-up and possible treatment.[/QUOTE]Surprising. I am sure that the USA and Australia for example would refuse entry if they felt it appropriate based on travel patterns etc.

[QUOTE=Orgasmico;2432047]They don't ask for your ID. By chance, you're not of Asian descent are you?[/QUOTE]No, white living in FL.

[QUOTE=LeyenLouvain;2432053]Surprising. I am sure that the USA and Australia for example would refuse entry if they felt it appropriate based on travel patterns etc.[/QUOTE]They would still be allowed in the country but not allowed to roam the country freely. They would put them in quarantine. They wouldn't just refuse them and stick them on a plane with 200 healthy people to go back.

[QUOTE=Junior11;2432084]How important for you is not catching the virus?

I also planned to stay in Medellin, but now I am debating.

I have the following concerns:

1. I think it is much easier to catch it here than in Cali because I am switching girls here almost daily. That doesn't happen back home.

2. And if you catch it here, I don't know how well local healthcare can deal with it.

3. If it spreads here, I am not sure how badly it will affect daily consumables, food supply etc. I think USA supply chain will be affected less.

Why? What is it based on? Please elaborate.[/QUOTE]1. Assuming widespread contagion in both places, yes, you're more likely to be exposed in Medellin. Higher population density, more personal contact. Personally, it's not something I'm concerned about. That's just me personally. There's no way I can 100% protect myself. No matter what I do, the risk will never be zero. Which means ultimately it's not something I can control. I don't worry about what I can't control. I take the precautions available and deal with whatever happens.

2. I'm not certain the local healthcare anywhere is prepared to handle it. Assuming widespread contagion, anywhere will be quickly overwhelmed.

3. USA supply chain is something I do understand. Let's look back to 2005. First Hurricane Katrina hit, then just a few weeks later Hurricane Rita hit. This strained our ability to deliver relief and repair supplies to the limit. What made matters worse, much of the logistics support was wasted on self interest. Here's one example:

Hurricane Rita severely damaged the Coca-Cola bottling plant in Miami. In order to maintain their market presence Coca-Cola offered 3 times normal rates to deliver products from up to 1200 miles away. About 30 truckloads a day were wasted on making sure south Florida had plenty of Coke.

The USA supply chain is long. In Colombia it's relatively short. The USA supply chain is international. In Colombia, most food is grown locally. In the US corporate takeovers and mergers have created many food deserts. Many neighborhoods are already underserved. Supply chain disruptions will cause shortages quickly. Medellin still relies upon local markets. While there may be shortages, they will be more evenly distributed.

Why do I have more faith in Colombian healthcare?

Our system is focused on one thing above all else. Profit. Resources are allocated depending on profitability. Can we switch the priority to emergency response? I don't want to bet on it. We're talking about costs that could quickly exceed $500 billion. Imagine the argument over who's going to pay.

Healthcare in Colombia is a constitutional right. While the system may be overwhelmed, the first priority will be to provide care. Who pays for it is something that will be dealt with later.

In many ways, US healthcare is already overwhelmed. Five years ago, during a routine physical my doctor detected an anomaly in my heartbeat. Potentially, it was life threatening. I was immediately referred to a cardiologist. I called and explained the potentially life threatening problem. The earliest available appointment was in 7 months. I kept calling other cardiologists and found one I could see in 3 months. Finally, someone directed me to the cardiology clinic, where I only had to wait 3 weeks for an appointment. Fortunately, the problem isn't life threatening. I know others who have experienced similar issues for other specialists. For my rheumatoid arthritis I got lucky. Although the rheumatologist recommended had a 1 year waiting list to get in, I found a better one, with only a 2 month wait.

That's probably a lot more elaborate than you wanted.

[QUOTE=KetoAndKettle;2432020]I'm flying in tomorrow.

Maybe I should say "aay" a lot and say I'm from Canada. Wondering if they ask for your passport, etc. In the casas.[/QUOTE]I flew into Bogota a few days ago. All that happened was my temperature was taken. I went through customs in like 5 minutes and no one has mentioned the virus to me. Only difference I saw were masks on passengers, and I do not mean to be racist, but it seemed like almost everyone of Asian descent had on masks both in Colombia and in USA.

Shit, the COP went to 3800 to the dollar today. This is an amazing time to come.

[QUOTE=Elvis2008;2432308]I flew into Bogota a few days ago. All that happened was my temperature was taken. I went through customs in like 5 minutes and no one has mentioned the virus to me. [/QUOTE]Colombia got 2 new cases today and USA cases are expected to increase significantly so expect that to change. If cases increase in Colombia, I wouldn't be surprised to see mongering activity decrease on the supply side.

[QUOTE=Elvis2008;2432308]Shit, the COP went to 3800 to the dollar today.[/QUOTE]Not to the US dollar it did not.

[QUOTE=MrEnternational;2432313]Not to the US dollar it did not.[/QUOTE]He may be referring to this:

[URL]https://caracol.com.co/radio/2020/03/09/economia/1583759646_613612.html?fbclid=IwAR3x5XhsmOO7vYHrAHkTYcrnqVOYhPBBVTWL8KB2PdNa-Ecr0dS6NyS4Urw[/URL]

[QUOTE=MrEnternational;2432313]Not to the US dollar it did not.[/QUOTE]That Bloomberg has the most up to date information:

[URL]https://www.bloomberg.com/markets/currencies/americas[/URL]

It was at 3820, now at 3767. There was an unheard of 6% move against the dollar. Some cruise lines are down 20+% today.

[QUOTE=Orgasmico;2432312]Colombia got 2 new cases today and USA cases are expected to increase significantly so expect that to change. If cases increase in Colombia, I wouldn't be surprised to see mongering activity decrease on the supply side.[/QUOTE]Orgasmico, I have someone betting big that the virus does not spread well in warmer climates. Apparently, a Nigerian contracted COV from a high risk area. He came back to Nigeria and and came into contact with a lot of people in Nigeria and no one contracted the virus.

The virus has appeared to peak in South Korea: [URL]https://edition.cnn.com/2020/03/09/asia/south-korea-coronavirus-intl-hnk/index.html[/URL].

Here are the totals in S. Korea.

March 8: 367 new S. Korea corona cases.

March 7: 448.

March 6: 516.

March 4: 760.

March 3: 851.

I am not trying to downplay how serious COV is, but I am just saying that with the media blasting how huge COV is, there is some possible light at the end of the tunnel.

If you look at the pandemic of 1918, the second and much more deadly wave started in the fall when temperatures got cooler, [URL]https://www.history.com/news/spanish-flu-second-wave-resurgence[/URL].

This supports the notion that COV may not spread as well in warm weather places. Again, it is an alternative view that I heard that I am sharing with the forum. I am not saying it is right, but it is a theory that is out there.

FWIW, I had a family member die of the Spanish flu in 1918 so I know how devastating this virus could potentially be.

[QUOTE=Elvis2008;2432326]there is some possible light at the end of the tunnel.

[/QUOTE]We certainly hope so. There is no shortage of conjecture.