Colombia Recap 7/8/12 - 8/9/12

Recap of Colombia:

Time in country:  33 days
Money spent:  $1400 USD each (excludes flight)
Currency:  Colombian Pesos (COP)  
Conversion Rate:  approximately 1770 COP to 1 USD

Food:
A typical local lunch consists of a soup, plate with rice, beans, salad, plantane, and choice of chicken/pork/beef, and juice.

Arepa con Queso which was a corn and potato type snack cooked over a grill or on a griddle with cheese inside. Our favorite arepa was one that had butter and honey on top!

Also from street side grills were meat sticks, corn, and sausages.

Tons of fruit sold from street vendors and in stores, and all had the option of making a Jugo which is basically a fruit smoothie either in water or milk.

Places Visited (in order):  Cartagena, Taganga, Tayarona, Palomino, Santa Marta, San Gil, Bogota, Salento, Santa Rosa de Cabal, Medellin, Popayan, Ipiales.

Random Thoughts:  
Coastal cities of Cartagena and Santa Marta were very humid, hot, and muggy; it reminded us of Houston in the summer, but we had no a/c to relieve us. In other parts, weather was nice.

There were lots and lots of dogs in the streets of Colombia. 

Safety was never a real concern, but we did use all precautions necessary in Bogota.


The people of Colombia were VERY nice, friendly, and helpful.