I had loads of questions about travelling to Colombia before I arrived, so here’s all the information you need if you’re considering a trip in late 2021 or 2022.
What COVID restrictions are in place in Colombia?
Colombia has been badly hit by COVID and the government imposed a strict lockdown for five months in 2020. Restrictions have gradually loosened since then and few rules remain in place. As of September 2021, even nightclubs are able to operate at full capacity. People are still wary and mask-wearing is ubiquitous in more populous cities. They are worn most of the time in Bogota and Medellin (including in the street) but people usually make exceptions for restaurants and bars. Things are more relaxed in smaller towns, although masks are still worn in shops and taxis. The reopening has been possible thanks to a relatively effective vaccination program, which has provided around half of Colombians with at least one dose of the vaccine. Cases and deaths have been declining through the summer, although regular testing is not widely available.
What are the travel rules for Colombia?
There are very few rules governing entry into Colombia, even from the UK. You have to sign a form before flying to declare that you don’t have COVID, and you may receive a check-up call from the department of health at some point after giving your contact details to the border office on arrival.
However, you must also show a return ticket to the airport clerk before boarding the plane. The ticket does not necessarily have to be to the same country you flew from and it doesn’t need to be a flight either. You just have to prove that you will leave the country within 90 days, which is the travel visa limit. You can extend this online by another 90 days, at which point you will have to leave the country for at least ten days before returning. We didn’t know about this system and almost missed our flight as we frantically searched for flights back out of Bogota, because we hadn’t bought a return ticket.
Returning to the UK
The UK recently simplified its ‘traffic light’ system for international travel into separate lists of ‘go’ and ‘no-go’ countries. Colombia is still on the ‘no-go’ list due to residual concerns about the Colombian variant, but this could always change. At the moment the rules require returning travellers pay around £2,300 to stay in a quarantine hotel for 10 days. A cheaper alternative would be to travel somewhere in Central America because most countries there are on the ‘go’ list, except Mexico. Restrictions in other countries vary but generally allow travel from Colombia. Check your government’s travel advice webpage for more information about returning from Colombia.
Is it safe?
The perception of Colombia outside Latin America is still coloured by its recent history. The country has only recently emerged from a long and violent civil war, which dominated the international news headlines for much of the 1990s and early 2000s. Things appear to have changed a lot since 2016, when the Peace Accords were signed and the FARC disbanded. I’m currently staying in San Carlos, which was previously under control of the guerrilla group and the site of violence for many years. Around two thirds of its residents were forced to leave in the early 2000s, but have gradually returned since then and made a concerted effort to move on from the town’s difficult past. It feels like a microcosm of the Colombia, where people have been trying to rebuild their country without forgetting the conflict.
Certain parts are still dangerous, and you’re advised not to visit particular regions without a guide. Cities are generally pretty safe, but you shouldn’t hang around certain areas at night (e.g. El Centro in Medellin) and should avoid some areas altogether (e.g. South Bogota). You will be told not to ‘dar papaya’ which means don’t go on your phone in the street or someone will snatch it off you, often from a motorbike. Some people carry burner phones in the event that it gets stolen.
I spoke to Mauricio, one of the teachers at the Spanish Adventure language school, about the risks of travelling in Colombia. ‘As a foreigner, the worst thing that can happen is that your phone will be stolen’, he told me. Mauricio grew up in Medellin, which was once the epicentre of civil violence in Colombia but has changed drastically over the past few years. While the main cities are now basically safe for tourists, he advised against walking around alone, especially at night, to avoid getting robbed. The only foreigner he had heard about getting into trouble was one who had chosen to get involved in narco-trafficking.
Here’s the list of places Mauricio recommended as completely safe for tourists in Colombia:
Santa Marta
Minca
Cartagena
Eje Cafetero
Jardin Antioquia
Salento
La Hacienda Napoles
Guatape
San Rafael
Regions to be wary of, according to Mauricio, are the East, the Choco region and certain parts of the coast, although all are beautiful.
I also spoke to Valentina , another teacher at the school. She told me that the best way to travel in Colombia is to get completely involved in local culture. ‘It’s better to visit smaller towns where you can get to know the people properly’, she said.
People here say that Colombia has both the best and the worst people of the world. From personal experience, people here are some of the kindest I have ever met. With a couple of rare exceptions, you can rely on the goodwill of strangers and ask for help if you’re in trouble. You can check out the rest of Spanish Adventure’s website for more information about travelling in Colombia and learning Spanish.
Miscellaneous advice
It’s really helpful to have access to mobile data, particularly to order cabs in larger cities. The main network offers unlimited everything for £8 a month as part of a sim-only deal for travellers. However as soon as you insert the sim card it sends an ID of your phone to the Claro database, which gives it the power to permanently block it from operating on Colombian networks. The sim installs its own operating system in the phone, which compels you to register with Claro to prevent your number from being permanently ‘BLOQUEADO’. The weird thing is that the option they tell you to select doesn’t exist; there is no number 7 to register. This forces you onto the web registration page, which demands a detailed product specification of your phone. You can avoid this by registering it under a Colombian’s name. Alternatively, you can just cycle through new sim cards few weeks although this means losing out on a week of paid data. In either case, make sure you act before the 23 days are up or you won’t be able to use your phone with any Colombian sim ever again. This is what happened to me.
And:
Buy a bottle with an inbuilt filter so you can avoid buying loads of water.
Use google maps to pre-download maps of cities and towns while you have Wi-Fi, but don’t rely on it for updated business listings. Often opening times etc. have not been changed since the pandemic.
Imported toiletries like sun cream and deodorant are relatively expensive so bring your own, but you can buy everything else there.
Pay by card wherever possible, because most banks don’t charge you for it. Cash withdrawals always charge a fee, as will your bank (depending on their policy).
Bring a vest.