5 reasons to fall in love with Colombia

BY ONEIKA RAYMOND

Five (among many!) reasons to fall in love with Colombia.  Such an awesome country!

Last month I visited Colombia for the second time. While I only had around 10 days to explore, I travelled from Salento to Medellin to Cartagena to Bogota and the country really made an impression on me.

If you follow me on Facebook or Instagram, you’ll know that I shared loads of pictures and reflections from my trip.  You’ll also know that I had an exceptional time.

I’ll say it again, Colombia is glorious and it is changing. Don’t let what you’ve seen on “Narcos” or (outdated, erroneous) news reports about how dangerous the country is dissuade you from coming.

I rarely have good luck with weather when I travel. I went to the Philippines during a typhoon, was snowed in in Berlin, and had torrential downpour nearly every day of my honeymoon in Austria. So, I wasn’t surprised when it ended up being rainy and grey 2 out of the 3 days we were in Cartagena. It’s tradition…? Not to mention that the roads were flooded due to the time of year– locals told us that in November the tide of the Caribbean Sea gets super high and the sewer and drainage system in the city simply can’t keep up. D’oh! Still, despite the soggy and dull weather putting a kibosh on our plans for the beach, Cartagena is vibrant (especially outside the touristy historic center), so we had a great time! After all, the views from the San Felipe Fort, one of the largest and complex ever built by the Spanish, were even more impressive and mysterious under grey skies… Or at least that’s what I kept telling myself! ? Have you ever had a rainy or bad weather vacay? What did you do to cope?

A photo posted by Oneika Raymond (@oneikatraveller) on

 

Colombia is safer now than it was even 5 years ago, and the FARC’s signing of a peace agreement with the Colombian government just last month means that more positive changes are on the horizon.

Colombia as a tourist destination is enchanting, it’s extremely budget-friendly, and the people…oh the people! Colombians are SO friendly and warm and happy that you decided to spend your time and money in their country, despite the bad rap it gets worldwide.

While there are so many reasons to fall in love with Colombia, here are my top 5.

If you’ve ever been, what would you add to the list? What are your reasons to fall in love with Colombia? And for those who haven’t been, would you consider going?

SHARING IS CARING

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