A Colombia Vacation, The Beginning

Over the coming two weeks we’re going to have a couple of guest bloggers featuring for us: Linda and Bernie from Sheffield, England. Linda and Bernie are quite accustomed to beach resort holidays in fairly established holiday destinations: Menorca, Greece, the Caribbean… Therefore their expedition to Colombia is something fairly new for them and we at Colombia Travel Blog thought it would be good to give their perspective of their trip around Colombia with See Colombia Travel.

As of yesterday evening they’ve been in Bogotá, but their itinerary will cover a great deal of the country, including the Cartagena, Tayrona, the Coffee Region and more. Right now, over to Linda for her first impressions.

Linda, 13/05/2011

Coming to Colombia wasn’t an easy decision for me. I grew up in a generation where Colombia was associated with kidnappings, crime and trouble. So for me, thinking to come to this country at first just wasn’t on the agenda. However, since my son is living here and I’ve done a great deal of research (a great deal of research) I decided I should give it a try – after all, any bad reports I heard tended to be from people who themselves hadn’t visited. Those who had enthused endlessly about the country’s merits.

I stepped out into Bogotá’s El Dorado airport to a smiling See Colombia Travel team. They’d come to pick Bernie and I up and take us to our hotel. We found the whole team to be really polite and welcoming (something we’ve now found to be typical of Colombians in general). At first what struck me about Bogotá was the traffic, but then we were arriving at peak time so I should have expected it really.

After an hour driving through the city we reached BH Retiro Hotel, a surprisingly cutting-edge hotel that easily competes with the best international standards. We walked to a nearby Italian restaurant for some delicious pasta and incredible tempura prawns before heading to the infamous Bogotá Beer Company for some tasty beers.

We’ve only been here a few hours but I’m already impressed by Bogotá and Colombia in general. The people seem really nice and the city, though busy, seems very modern and welcoming.

So far, so good!

If you want to read the rest of Linda and Bernie’s adventures in Colombia, follow the links below:

Part One – Arriving in Colombia / Bogotá

Part Two – Bogotá / Bogotá Bike Tour

Part Three – The Coffee Triangle / Cocora Valley / Colombian Coffee Farm

Part Four – Tayrona National Park / Colombian Caribbean / Colombian beaches

Part Five – Cartagena / Cartagena Nights / Cartagena Restaurants