Post: #1

Hey Guys,

I'm gearing up for a Brazil/Columbia trip over December and January, and was concerned about how safe it is to travel by bus from Bogota to the northern Columbian coast (Barranquilla/Santa Marta area). Reason being I'm flying into Bogota from Rio, and the cheapest way home is to fly JetBlue from Bogota to Florida then Florida to my home state of Virginia. I just don't want to pay the extra money to fly roundtrip for Bogota to Barranquill or Santa Marta if I don't have to. I definitely want to see the coast, but I have to start and finish in Bogota.

Would any of you guys recommend flying up to the coastal towns over taking a bus, or vice versa. Money isn't a huge issue, but if I can save some money by not having to fly, I'm all about it.

Some things to consider: I'm American military (don't know if that makes me a "sweeter" target, so to speak, though I will definitely be on the DL with the whole military thing) and I speak Spanish fairly well (don't know if that makes it less likely that someone will try to mess with me).

Any advice is appreciated! Thanks in advance guys.

Post: #2

You will be fine. You might wanna break that bus trip up though. Santa Marta is like 24 or 28 hours from Bogota , only 14 hours from Medellin. Check out San Gil too , for some grade 4-5 river rafting.

Post: #3

Colombia is arguably less dangerous than brazil

I took the 15 hour bus from Santa Marta to Medellin without problems. Just use common sense at night.

Post: #4

I think its also important to remember that most of the trouble in Colombia is in the south. Colombia is starting to become a lot safer though, and if you can stay away from the deep South (that seems to be universal eh?) and keep your wits about you, you wont have any probs.

Cali is a bit more dangerous than Medellin, but the women are smoking hot

Post: #5

Colombia (Bogota, Cartagena) was freaking safe as far as I'm concerned.

I wouldn't worry about it.