5 lessons from my trip to…Colombia!

After a lot of planning we set out on a weeklong trip to Colombia. During our trip we visited two cities Cartagena & Medellin. The choice of the city was to get a balanced opinion between the most visited city with a tourist-y flair; Cartagena and the other one which has been vital in building a lot of historical foundation for this country ; Medellin.

1. Food & Drinks: Food is a quintessential part of any vacation. We ate in a number of restaurants in both of these cities. We tried to cover the entire gamut of traditional meals, street foods and fusion meals. The food here is remarkable and diverse. For visitors, it is important to make reservations in advance as getting a walk-in table is rare at some of these restaurants. Some of my favorite restaurants that are worth going to are: Don Juan , Carmen & La Cevicheria . Your visit to Cartagena would be incomplete without witnessing the sunset sky at Cafe Del Mar (Cartagena) & Panorama (Medellin). These are popular destinations for both locals and tourists . People of Medellin are called paisa,(‘Paisas’ are believed to be good in doing business). While you are at Medellin it is good to try the traditional paisa meal and for this you should go to Hatoviejo. The street food in Cartagena are a favorite among locals. Arepa, Mamones (local fruit) , sweet and salty cheese that you get from the local street vendors is a must as well.

2. Culture & Music: Having spent a week in Colombia, I witnessed the weekday and weekend life here. Culturally, this country seems to have an appetite to party and have a late night. People here love to go out and salsa is an integral part of the culture. The night ends in either a popular dance Club like Cafe Havana (in Cartagena) with live music or in local city square with drinks and dance. Champeta, Cumbia and Reggatone are the genres of music popular among the locals. Heat and humidity of the region lends itself to making beach a favorite day time hang out for the locals. It was interesting to see that the country takes pride in Miss Colombia’s it has produced over the years. They have a dedicated sidewalk in Cartagena with all the head shots similar to LA’s walk of fame with a special shout out to the ones who won Miss Universe.

Biking is an important part of the culture in Medellin and on weekends streets are partially closed to let the residents bike freely. They have a huge culture of fincas (country estate) as well. A weekend finca getaway is usual. An interesting tit-bit about old homes in Cartagena they have symbols on their door, which are symbolic of family lineage they professed to have. A hand on the door shows highest status.

3. Fashion & Art: Colombia is an up and coming destination where most fashion houses are looking to expand. Most of this retail chain expansion is taking place in the capital city of Bogota. The local fashion here is comfortable, elegant and sexy. Linen is the fabric of choice, mainly because of the hot and humid conditions during the daytime. Medellin is considered as the fashion capital of Colombia. Colombiamoda held later in July is a must see if you like fashion and textile. As Collette is to Paris, St.Dom is to Cartagena. This design concept store houses all local artists. It is a great place to get anything from local fashion (macrame is big here) to local artisanal products. Few designers worth checking out are: Camilo Alvarez, Natalia Londoño, Mai Petit, Orozco, La libertad and Monica Ramirez.

Art has a power to create temporary urbanism, which can bring long term change. In that spirit a local artist Fernando Botero is a name you need to know. He has a unique way of representing mundane items and figurines in a voluminous manner. He looks at beauty differently. Some believe that his art represents the opulent society that could be seen in Colombia in the 90’s.

4. People: People of Colombia are friendly, hopeful and fun loving. They are aware that most of the outsiders think of Colombians to be like Shakira or Sofia Vergara. An interesting trivia I learnt was that they both are from Barranquilla region. Locally, they joke that costero (coastal) people are more extrovert and talented then the inland ones.

One of my favorite parts about my trip was a visit to Communa 13 ; a local favela which was known for drugs and immense violence. We were a bit hesitant to go there as we could not find much written about how to go there as well as got mixed signals from locals when we asked about that area. On going there, we met with a local Communa dweller who not only showed us the recent installation of the escalators , which have uplifted and been overly useful in the neighborhood but also narrated the endless attacks and cross-fires that the people here were involved with. This community is a small sample but echoes the resilience that can be seen in the Colombian society today. The deep rooted interest is to move away from Escobar’s past, entropy and usher into a more promising future.

5. Commerce: We cannot talk about Colombia and not mention coffee. “Fragrance first, Aroma second” is the common mantra that differentiates good coffee from the others. Coffee export is definitely one of the big businesses here. We were fortunate to make a trip to a local coffee plantation — Concordia Coffee farm to take a closer look at the coffee making process. We took a one day coffee tour with Landventure travel. I cannot emphasize how worth it this tour was. We drove all the way on the top of the plantation picked all the red berries (red berries are ripe). We could only collect a quarter of a bucket. We then carried this bucket to the factory, where we separated the good from the bad berries. After drying it (either electrically or air dry) they are roasted. Most of the coffee you get from Colombia is that of the Robusta style. The operation chain for coffee is from farm- to- co-op- to- foreign markets.

It was shocking to hear how the farmers don’t even get a substantial fraction of your $4.50 latte. It is good to know that a Fair trade union exists in the coffee trade business. Several popular coffee chains such as Starbucks are locally known for not involving in fair trade. I am glad to hear some other coffee shops are working towards changing this dynamic and ensuring farmers get what they deserve. As most of the good quality coffee is exported, locals do not get a good idea regarding what good coffee tastes like. It was great to learn that local coffee shop such as Pergamino ( in Medellin) is changing this by establishing local coffee shops with premium quality of coffee.

Other than Coffee, Colombia is leading exporter of flowers exporting about $1 billion a year. Chocolates and Emeralds also bring sizable amount of business to Colombia.

This trip was my introduction to South America. It was a great experience that I will not forget. I would end this by throwing some light on what is preoccupying the local population:

• Local citizens are grappling with the negotiations taking place between the government and the FARC
• They are hopeful and looking forward to more development and tourism, which will help Colombia to be seen more than a country synonymous with drugs.
• They are concerned with all that is happening with there closest ally Venezuela.

Hope this helped you get an idea about Colombia and you plan a trip there soon.