TOP COLOMBIA TIPS

5 Foods you have to eat in Bogotá, Colombia: When people are traveling, the best recommendation a travel expert can give, is to have local food. That way, by tasting the flavors that locals eat, the travelers can better perceive the culture and get further understanding of the people. At Bogotá, Colombia , you have to go for this exquisite dishes, recommended by generations of bogotanos and tested positively, by many foreigners. These are my top 5 foods for Bogotá, and a bonus : 1-)       AJIACO The ajiaco is a chicken and three kinds of native potatoes, (sabanera, pastusa criolla) soup, that is just a chicken and potatoes soup until a miracle happens. That miracle grows in the Sabana, the extended plain up in the Andes mountains at 2.640 meters above sea level ( 8.661 ft) where Bogotá is located. The secret herb that makes the soup an ajiaco is the Guasca , it radically changes the flavor of the mixed potatoes and chicken ...

5 COMIDAS QUE USTED TIENE QUE COMER EN… CARTAGENA, COLOMBIA: Por: Néstor Meléndez Hola, si usted es un buen viajero, sabe por experiencia que una parte del viaje consiste del descubrimiento gastronómico, que se hace de los sitios que se visitan. Probar los platos locales lo hacen sentirse más cercano al lugar y a la gente que lo habita. Es por eso que   hice esta lista, con las 5 comidas que tiene que comer, si visita a Cartagena de Indias, Colombia. 1-      Arepa de huevo. La arepa de huevo es una arepa de masa de maíz en forma de disco, que se frita y en un instánte de inspiración, de verdadero realismo mágico, es rellenada por un huequito que se abre para que pase un huevo . Luego se reinserta en el aceite y se logra la deliciosa unión del maíz con el huevo.  Las nuevas versiones le añaden otras proteínas, como carne, pollo, cerdo, chorizo, chicharrón…son un desayuno perfecto, que no va a encontrar en Mac Donalds . Y no solo es pa...

5 FOODS YOU HAVE TO EAT IN… CARTAGENA, COLOMBIA: By: Néstor Meléndez Hey, if you are a traveler it means you have to go for the local food to be more in touch with the destination and the people of the place you are visiting. So you have to learn a little so you don´t be get caught out of base, that’s why, here you have the top five foods you got to have at: Cartagena, Colombia. 1-     Arepa de huevo . The arepa de huevo is a corn flour arepa (disc shaped) filled with an egg and if you like with other proteins like meat, pork or chicken. It is quintessential to Cartagena , if you come to this wonderful place on earth you will be magically delighted with the arepa de huevo. Make way egg macmuffin, after you have the arepa de huevo you maybe would like to take the recipe back home. 2-     Coctél de camarones . It is a shrimp cocktail made in the Colombian style with very small diced red onion, ketchup, mayonnaise, sh...

Is #Cartagena in #Colombia the new touristic trend in LatinAmerica? Some people say yes. Cartagena is coming to be one of the most relevant destinations for tourists in LatinAmerica. You may ask, why? I can give you many reasons. Since the signing of the peace treaty with the FARC guerrilla the visitors to Colombia have been increasing at very high rates. This year alone, it in the positive side more than 46% for the first 6 months, and it is expected to go higher. Cartagena and Bogotá are the main attractions to a country that has many other appealing destinations on the tourism map. But lets talk about Cartagena; it is a wonderful place to visit and enjoy top of the line vacations. It seems to have it all, nice tropical weather, great beaches, nearby islands and coral reefs, natural places, good hotels, great airport and many routes to travel from all over the world easily. But it has something else that separates Cartagena from many other destina...

Jump on the GPS Tour. By: Néstor Meléndez Bogotá, the capital of Colombia , is a wonderful city to walk, the temperature, not too cold or not too hot makes it a perfect place to go around on a tour. Technology has made now available the self guided tours, using mobile devices and GPS features on them. A new route in Bogotá has just been published on Voicemap, an APP that offers tours made by local storytellers that make the traditional tours a thing of the past. The just released tour is the, TRADITIONAL BOGOTÁ, in which the tourist goes from the colonial part of the city to the modern part of it, cruising thru years of history. There are places that only a local can recommend, like the Café Pasaje, an old coffee shop, where the bogotanos have had their coffee since many years ago. Or the Pastelería Florida, where you can get a delicious chocolate and tamál, a mixture that has been sold in that place for decades. The GPS tours, are a new trend in the...

GPS AUDIO-TOURS: A NEW WAY TO DISCOVER BOGOTÁ AND COLOMBIA. By: Néstor Meléndez When you travel you have many ways to better know and understand the city or place you are visiting. Usually, people has some options to do this, one of them is the traditional tour, you do it with some other tourists, and you have to go following a tour conductor that gives you general description of the places you are visiting. The stops or breaks are predetermined, and you have to deal with hanging out with people, that the only thing they have in common, is that they are tourists. Usually, this  tours are in budget, but they are not cheap, and for some people can be boring, or they just don’t like them.    The other option is to take a personal tour, but it is an expensive option. You can also study the location you will visit, and read the brochures, reviews and other literature and then adventure yourself into a city or place you don’t know, with no local l...

TOURS COLOMBIA THE PLAZA DE BOLÍVAR A MUST SEE LOCATION IN BOGOTÁ: By: Néstor Meléndez Long ago, before the Spanish conquistadores came to the new world, this was the land of the Muiscas. They lived in this area and practiced salt mining, agriculture, hunting and fishing. This is the place that Gonzalo Jiménez de Quezada , chose to found Santafe de Bogotá in 1538. It had plenty of water and vegetation and was an extended plain guarded by the mountains. For Spanish standards it was a perfect location to found a settlement. The Cathedral of Bogotá, La Catedral Primada was designed by Domingo de Petrés and built between 1807 and 1823. It was built on the grounds of 3 other churches that also served as cathedrals. The last one was brought down by an earthquake that shook the city on 1785. The actual construction has a neoclassical style. This is the most important church of Colombia and is where the most significant Catholic celebrations of the country are held.There w...