9 Travel Musts on Your Adventures Through Colombia
As a young traveler I enjoy the thrill of throwing myself into situation where my true travel animal emerges. Unfamiliar languages, unique cultures, strange foods (even ones Andrew Zimmerman from the travel channel would question) is what traveling is all about for me. While I enjoy not having a plan its important to get and give advice while your traveling to minimize trouble and maximize experience . Most blogs and posts will talk about general tips for traveling but here are 10 specific tips that will save you time, money and headaches while traveling through Colombia.
1. Be prepared to freeze your butt off on Colombia’s buses. Dont worry here is a simple fix for this problem, bring or buy a blanket for those long bus rides. Most people think of Colombia as a tropical place with great weather, yes it has amazing weather, just not on the busses. I traveled through Colombia for a month and every single bus had the AC blasting. Blankets are a must.
2. Haggle, dont take prices as absolutes. Like many South American countries prices for most things are negotiable. Food, services, and buses, can be expensive if you take the face price. Remember the buyer has the power, haggle.
3. The best advice is from other travelers. I know this one sounds obvious but believe me, the best places to eat, see, experience are from those who just did them. I booked a la Ciudad Perdida tour last minute from the advice of a Irish traveler who did it a few days before ( by the way DO the lost city tour! its about 200 dollars for a 5 day trip but its worth every penny).
4. Agree on a taxi price before you step in the taxi. Again i know this one is obvious but you may get into trouble if you use a taxi’s service and the driver decides to spring a wild price on you. Be safe and agree on a price or a rate before.
5.Save $ $ $ on bottled water by drinking tap water in hostels. I know it sounds crazy, dont drink the water right? Wrong. Colombia’s water system is very safe. I drank water at most hostels i stayed at and never had a problem.
6. Making your own food is not always cheaper. I found that costs were about the same for going out vs. making food in hostels. There are cheap alternatives, at most restaurants ask for the lunch or dinner of the day. It will ALWAYS be cheap, delicious and will let you experience more of the local cuisine plus save you money in the long haul.
For travelers in the Northern Parts of Colombia: Santa Marta area…Tyrona Park for example these tips are for you.
7. Save 75% of the entrance fee for Tyrona National Park by bringing your student card. I was the only one with one out of a group of 8 or so people who had to pay full price for entry which is expensive.
8. Bring loads of cash into Tyrona National Park. I know it sounds like a bad idea but here’s why, for one there are no atm’s near by. In fact the closest one is a 1.5 hour walk from the beach to a bus (which costs like ) for a 20 minute ride out of the park, then another 1.5 hour bus ride into the nearest town Santa Marta. Dont make the same mistake i did and plan to stay for 4-5 days at the hostels then run out of money and barely have enough to get back to town.
9. Bring your own food and water inside Tyrona park. Food and drinks are rediculously expensive because you dont have a choice but to buy the food they sell. I bought 2 liters of water on the way to the park and drank all of it before the first day inside. Bring as much water as you can carry, it will save you $ $ $ !
Written by Eric Evans
Student, World Traveler
More Best Place To Get Travel Money Articles
Comments
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.