Ive been here on RVF for a few years now, without much life experience worth sharing here, so finally its my turn to give back to this forum. Currently chilling in southern Peru. Been in south america exploring, bustin cheeks and having the adventure of a lifetime. I arrived in Colombia in November, bought a motorcycle and explored many lesser traveled regions/cities. Heres my info on colombia, later ill start another thread for my info on smaller peruvian cities!
Colombia is a country that so many of us have come to love. My time in this country was nothing short of amazing. Sadly I know for a fact that the magic of this part of the trip is a feeling I will never feel again.
TRIP IN NUMBERS
-Almost 3 months so far (7 weeks in colombia)
-3 Flags, 8 bangs
-about $7000 spent so far (Incl 2 grand for moto)
-8000km covered by bike
ABOUT ME
19 years old-look about 25-30 (behave around 30 as well)
American, white
Medium game
Speak spanish conversationally
5’10”
180lbs low body fat, muscular
Cartagena
Landed here, spent a night here, which was one night too much. I hate this place, why do so many people visit here? Its dirty, shitty beaches overrun with tourists, and I had 5 locals try to rip me off the first day. The entire day only saw a handful of girls who were bangable. Not a good first impression of the country. I stayed in a hostel in the Marbella neighborhood. Cannot recommend, pretty dangerous and shady, far from everything. Nearly impossible to find somewhere to eat. Honestly take my input on this place with a grain of salt, I hardly spent any time here so check some of the other datasheets that will come from someone who experienced this city a bit more.
Santa Marta
So I arrived here with the impression that this city is a tourist city with nice beaches, but doesnt really warrant a stay longer than a few days. I ended up absolutely loving this city! I booked an airbnb in the Rodadero neighborhood. Killer view
I really liked Rodadero, its a small tourist district about 15 minutes from the rest of Santa Marta. I saw only 4 gringos my entire week here. Most of the tourists come from other Colombian cities and neighboring countries. The beach is good for daygame, many groups of just girls who are on vacation here. The nightlife in this district is a bit lacking, only a couple of bars/clubs, but they're not too bad. Problem is that groups of tourists come and only go out with their friends, so nightlife isnt too fruitful here. Buuuuut, if you dance vallenato or salsa well, you can definitely get some. Other nightlife options include drinking out on the boardwalk or go on a chiva (party bus). Thats how I got my first bang, met a group of sisters on a chiva. These They were all in their 40’s from Bucaramanga, they were all marathon runners and had some sexy tight bods that were on par with a 20 year old. so I told them I was 30 and they bought it! Went out with them to a bar the next night and took one back to my airbnb and we smashed. Not exactly what I had in mind when I was planning this trip but she was FREAKY. Fun night.
My next bang was from a girl I met at the tattoo shop (btw got a fantastic half sleeve done for $300, super cheap here!). Talked a bit, she came over in the night to “check out the view”. Boned a few times.
Pretty good first week! But here is where the real adventure begins
So I bought my motorcycle the day I first arrived, towards the end of my stay here It was ready to be picked up! There was a big problem though: I had NEVER rode a motorcycle in my life! So its about 9pm and im struggling to try and learn for myself how to drive this thing. The security guard of the mall comes up to me and tells me that I would be an idiot if I tried driving back to Rodadero late and stalling out every 10 feet. He tells me to leave it in the parking lot overnight and we could meet there tomorrow morning and he would teach me how to ride it. I take down his number and we part ways.
We meet up the next day and he tells me we’ll go over to his house and he will teach me. So I hop on the back of my bike and he starts driving it. Halfway there I realize Im a fucking idiot for letting this random dude drive my motorcycle. We get into Gaira, some slums along the outside of Santa Marta. At this point im certain this dude has some friends waiting and they’re gonna rob me and my bike. Right at that moment we pull up to this house party in the slums where theres about 20 colombians downing aguardiente and aguilas, blasting reggaeton! This was at 10 in the morning, definetly wasnt ready for this! Its was his little sisters birthday, the whole family greets me and starts handing me shots. I had to oblige, I knew this day would be fucking memorable. He introduces me to his cousin, shes this exotic native/black mix. Stunning body. She teaches me how to dance, her father makes fun of me because I wasnt being sexual enough dancing with her, and proceeds to start humping her and says “like your making love”. Talk about culture shock. The way these cousins were dancing with their cousins would make american strippers cringe!!! Crazy party all day, late that night we (about 5 of us) went to some grimey ghetto club in Gaira. Danced, made out with the girl, had great time. They let me crash in their tiny little shack. We got back at about 4am. The mother called me over and said “you sleep in this bed”, a tiny twin bed shared with this girl ive been trying to fuck all day. Wing-woman of the century! We start groping, but then her male cousin gets in the bed too! Fuuuuckkkkk. I really dont know why they were trying to have three people on a twin bed, the couch was empty! so off to the couch i went
The next day we all (the ENTIRE family, 20 people) head to one of the aunt’s houses near Palomino. Spend the day on the river hanging out, we get back to the house. This place was dirt floor, tin roof, no running water. I sneak off with the girl and we bone in one of the tiny bedrooms. We come back to the living room and the whole family is there, dead-silent, they look at us and one of them asks “what will you name the baby?” everyone starts dying laughing even my girl. Had a great time with this family, they showed me some amazing hospitality, cool spots that dont see any gringos, and taught me how to drive my fucking motorcycle! The family went back to Santa Marta, my and my girl went to Palomino and got a hostel room for a couple nights.We returned to Santa Marta I spent like a week with them staying in one of the aunts house in Santa Marta. But then one of the cousins went thru my shit and stole about 70mil pesos ($25). Noticed at about 8 at night, by 10 I took off on my motorcycle for Riohacha on my own.
I do recommend you check out Minca and parque tayrona. Even though they are expensive gringo magnets, theyre still really cool spots to spend a day at.
Overall I love Santa Marta, had an awesome time here. With that being said, what made it awesome was the locals I met. A week in Rodadero would be fine, as traveling latinas come to this spot and are down to hook up.
Palomino
Scotian recommended I hit Palomino, it was a pretty nice place to spend a couple of nights. Its a small beach town with many backpackers. The beaches are nice, theres a good amount of bars, but me and my girl didnt really feel like meeting some of the gringo chumps that we saw out and about so I dont have any info on that. But if thats your scene, then go along the beach and youll find some places to meet loose travelers. Theres water sports, as well excursions like being able to rent a jeep. My girl’s family had a shack in Don Diego, about half an hour before palomino. This place was cool, its a small town with a giant river that you could spend a day on. You can kayak, bridge jump or go for a boat ride out to the ocean.
If you’re in the area Palomino is a nice spot to visit, maybe bring a girl or bang backpackers. But I would spend no more than 3 nights in this area.
Riohacha
Straight up, dont waste your time even considering this place, its really that bad. Its about 4 hours away from Santa marta, 2 from Palomino. Its a city along the caribbean, so I was hoping this place was a beach paradise unknown to gringos. This city is hands down the ugliest city ive ever been to. Very boring as well. The caribbean beaches are a murky brown. Unsafe as well. Terribly laid out.
What also put a damper on my experience was the hostel I stayed in. I booked four nights at some random hostel because I wanted to see this city before i committed a decent amount of time here. Turns out this hostel was some sort of socialist group think hostel, I kid you not. It was straight up bizzare. The moment I walked in the hostel owner started explaining how the hostel had a “fair trade model”. What the fuck does that even mean??? The hostel had only one key, so you cant just come and go as you want. All of the guests stayed in all day using the white board and brainstorming social justice ideas. One morning I wake up groggy and walk to the kitchen and they all turned to me and asked “Cortes, what do you think of Trans Rights?”. That one threw me off, still being half asleep I said “I dont really think about it at all”. That pissed them off. I had only spent two nights in the city and I hated it so I left that day anyways. One of the nights I went out to a bar near the beach and met an interesting spanish dude in his 60's. We were winging for each other for a while. Later that night when I finally had a solid set going on he ended up cockblocking me when he called me out for telling two girls that I was 25. Thanks buddy.
About 40 minutes from Riohacha is Mayapo, a small beach village. Not bad, I liked it, nice and quiet. If you like windsurfing you would enjoy it here. But honestly as nice as this beach is its not worth visiting this area for it.
Fuck Riohacha
Bucaramanga
In this picture you can see floridablanca in the foreground and BManga way in the back if you look close, the view was better in person haha.
Not a bad city overall. The women here are sexy. But Santandereanas have fiery personalities, so be warned. The city is large in both terms of population and size. Its got some really modern districts. This city is pretty spread out, and the nightlife/day game spots can be far between. I didnt hit the clubs here, I was pretty sick at the start of my stay here. The one girl I had pipelined before my arrival lives in bucaramanga so I spent time smashing her and spent christmas with her family. I stayed in the centro neighborhood which was a dump. Every other part of the city would have been a better spot to stay. I would recommend these neighborhoods: Provenza, Diamante II, and Mejoras Publicas. Theres plenty of parks here to run day game, such as Parque de Los Ninos. Also many malls such as El Cacique.
I owe this city a return visit at some point, it definetly has potential. Keep in mind though, aside from game there isnt much to do.
MANIZALES/EJE CAFETERIA
I had very high hopes for this area even before I got to south america, only heard good things about it. Its very true that this area has incredible landscapes, gorgeous women and a lot of things to do. Manizales has a huge student population.
My personal experience though, it sucked! Why? Because I felt like I was in the twilight zone. So much random shit went wrong in the week I spent in this area. First day I was riding to Manizales, My bike stopped working in the mountains. I had to walk this thing up the mountain for about 2 hours. Something about the altitude affecting the oxygen intake. Okay whatever. I get into Manizales and I go to a coffee shop and I happen to meet an english group of local students. They tell me theyre throwing a small party later and that i should come. I go later and half of the party is drug dealers and prostitutes. I was trying to make moves on the english student girls but the prostitutes kept trying to get me to rent them for an hour so I told them to fuck off, then one of them went around telling everyone that I tried to put my hands down her pants. And just like that most of the party turned on me. That sucked. One of the students believed me and still wanted to hang, but I felt pissed off that some whore just ruined my night so i just left.
Spent a few nights outside of the city on a farm. Really beautiful country side.
During my time in the country side, my motorcycles spark plug just straight up stopped working. Had to walk an hour to fix it. Then I went to Armenia and some jackass hit my bike from behind and I ate shit. Shit went wrong almost everyday i spent here, felt like god was trying to tell me to gtfo of the coffee region.
This area is really beautiful and Its got everything! University aged girls, delicious coffee, and lots of shit to see. Maybe you guys will have better luck here than me.
Popayan
I like this city! Its in the south, maybe 2 hours from cali. Its more easy going than most other colombian cities, even though its a decently sized city, it can feel smaller and less noisy etc. Not really a night game city. Your best bet is to do approaches in the main plaza day time and night time. I met a venezuelan girl here at the restaurant she worked at. We spent a week fucking and chilling at my airbnb. Problem was that it was only a private room! The owner was some old lady who was very nosy! So i kept my girl on the low for a bit, but towards the end of my stay the owner saw my girl coming in and yelled at me for bringing in a prostitute! I told her it was just a friend but she wasnt having it, she left a terrible review on my airbnb account saying something like “brings prostitutes into the apartment”. Im still pissed about it cause all the other hosts left stellar reviews.
Not a whole lot to do in this city. Theres the Coconuco thermal springs about 45 minutes outside the city, its a cool day trip. I would reccomend this city, its cheap and there are college girls walking around here all the time.
Conclusion
So you guys probably noticed I didn’t hit Medellin/Cali/Bogota. My goal for the trip was to visit some less traveled cities and find a hidden gem if you will. Also to do reconnaissance and find where i will want to spend my time in future travels. However in all honesty I do regret not hitting the bigger cities. Some of these smaller cities there isnt shit to do except fuck. Im still not a huge daygamer (Im working on it!) so I wasnt pulling in crazy amounts of notches, but im pretty happy with this, considering most people on the forum generally say that it can be difficult for younger guys to pull. All in all this trip went so much better than i ever could have planned. The motorcycle was both the best and the worst part of this trip simultaneously. If you guys are interested, I can post a datasheet for motorcycle travel. I hope the photos made this more interesting to read. Repped members who want to see some of the best photos ive got from my trip pm me!
I also have some info on ecuador and peru, if you guys are interested i can drop that data as well