What to take

What you take on your trip to Colombia really depends on your travel plans. It can get cold in the mountains, so don't just take flipflops unless you're landing in Cartagena. As for money, credit cards are the easiest.

Clothes.

Colombia can be very cold or it can be very hot: the climate depends mostly on altitude. In the Andes mountains it can get cold, at the coast it's hot.

Bogota is the highest major city at 2600 meters (you might feel out of breath when walking uphill the first days), so it can be chilly (+- 14 degrees C). Medellin has lovely springtime weather, Cali gets warm (24 degrees C), and Cartagena and the coast can be really hot (28 degrees C).

Because it is close to the equator, temperatures in any specific place tend to be about the same all year round, for example, Medellin always has beautiful weather. Also, generally, the higher you get, the bigger the difference between night and day temperature. So in Cartagena daytime and night are similar, in Bogota it can be nice during the day but cold at night.

Take something warm. For Bogota, you'll need a sweater or a light jacket (or both). A t-shirt won't cut it. If you plan to spend a while in Bogota, take a few things for the cold. It gets chilly, never really cold, the average temperature is 14 degrees C, dropping to 9 degrees at night. Sometimes it's a bit rainy. A sweater is also useful for long busrides - the buses often turn on the airco and get really really cold. You can buy some really nice warm clothes locally in Villa de Leyva and such. A scarf can be good and adds some style. You'll want socks and shoes in Bogota.

A laundry bag can come in handy, and it doesn't take up any space in your backpack. Many hotels provide laundry service, and it's easier to keep your dirty laundry of a week in a laundry bag within your backpack.

Some people like to take a light sleeping bag (you can just sew a cotton sheet closed, or you can buy them in travel stores). It helps when you're in a hotel where you don't really trust the sheets.

At the coast, a long-sleeved light t-shirt and long, light pants are great during the evening to keep the mosquitos from biting you. A wrap (a light piece of cloth) is great too: you can use it to sit on on the beach, to wrap around you, as a scarf when it's cold, and so on.

So in short, take a little bit of everything for all kinds of weather: some t-shirts, shorts, a sweater, some walking shoes and some flipflops. A piece of thin strong cord can be useful to string up your washed underwear in your hotelroom, for example.

Other stuff.

I find earplugs essential. They are lightweight, don't take up any room and are cheap. So best to take them even if you never use them.

You can easily buy toothpaste, mouthwash, shampoo and such anywhere, so no need to take a lot. Almost all hotels provide towels but some people still prefer to take their own.

If you take prescription medication, take enough for the trip and take your doctors prescription.

English books are not widely available, but a lot of the hostels have book swaps, so just take 1 or 2 and swap them as you go.

Travel guides are very useful on the road, Lonely Planet (http://lonelyplanet.com) has a decent Colombia guide. You can print out the guides on this site as well, of course.

Money.

The best way to take money is to take a debit or credit card and a small amount of cash in US dollars (or perhaps Euros) - a few hundred dollars should do.

There are ATMs in most cities and towns, and your debit/credit card usually gets you the best exchange rate. So just take money out of the wall. Do check with your bank about fees and such. VISA is the most useful credit card.

A small amount of cash in dollars is handy for emergencies - if you get stuck without money and without access to an ATM, or if you have a problem with your credit card. Let your bank know you're travelling because if they see a bunch of withdrawals from Colombia all of the sudden they might block your card.

There is a lot of fake money (US dollars) circulating in South America, a lot of it coming from Cali in fact, so be careful accepting 100 dollar bills and such. The fakes are very good, but when you get back home, your bank will probably notice.

Budget hotels and most of the cheaper shops and restuarants only take cash.

If you need someone at home to send you money, use Western Union. They have offices in most cities. Your mom (or whoever) can just go online, and send you the cash, and you go to the local Western Union office to receive it. http://www.westernunion.com

Use a moneybelt to keep your valuables (passport, visa, money) while traveling on buses and such. While in hotels and hostels, it's usually best to keep your valuables in the hotel safe if available. When going out at night, leave your valuables in the hotel: your passport is safer there than on you.

Electronics and laptops.

Elecricity is 110V, 60 cycles AC. Your laptop will work (laptops take 110/220 volt), your shaving machine from Europe might not (it takes 220V only).

You can plug in US-style, flat two-pin plugs. If you carry a laptop, it will probably have 3 pins (2 flat ones and a round one), and you'll need a simple adaptor. If your electrical tools use another plug, you should get a simple convertor plug.

Some hotels and hostels in the cities have wireless these days, but on the road and in the smaller towns there isn't much wireless available. Regular internet cafes however are available everywhere, so you don't really need to take your laptop for internet access.

Remember that iPods and digital cameras are tempting targets for thieves. Also be very careful with cameras on the beach: a few grains of sand can destroy the moving parts of your camera.

First posted by Peter on May 27, 2008, 20:28. Last edit by Peter on Nov 18, 2008, 11:04. Edit this | History.

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