Are you preparing to travel to Colombia?If planning to travel to Colombia, what preparations will help make the trip as enjoyable as can be? ClothingFirst of all, it helps if you know where you to plan to go for the simple reason that the climate varies considerably depending on the altitude. If going to the capital Bogota for example, a lot of people underestimate how cold it can get, especially during the morning and night and if it´s during the rainy season. You should bring warm clothing and be prepared for heavy rain.If you´re trekking in the mountains, you need to prepare for temperatures down to and even below freezing. For the rest of the country, expect anything from warm and temperate to very hot and rather humid. The coast is like any trpoical destination and the major cities such as Medellin and Cali are warm and very pleasant. You may need a jacket at night, but generally, it´s fairly comfortable. Should you visit Colombia if traveling in South America?I´m biased of course, but in my opinion, absolutely! It depends on what you´re looking for and budget, but Colombia has some attractions that in my opinion are something of a must-see. Although a typical destination, Cartagena is spectacular and charming for its Colonial architecture and nightlife. The coffee region is one of the most beautiful areas I´ve seen, so if you enjoy nature, it´s certainly worth a visit. If visiting Bogota, the Gold Museum is a must in order to develop a greater understanding of ancient Colombian history before being colonized by the Spanish.Parque Tayrona is the best beach area in the country and not far from both Cartagena and Santa Marta. If you´re up for it, you can even trek up to the Lost City or up the Sierra Nevada mountains that are covered by glaciers. The one thing about traveling between South American countries that I don´t like is that flights are still very expensive so this is a factor to take into consideration. You should also remember that the distances are large and that flying from Buenos Aires to Bogota for example, is an almost 7 hour long flight. Advantages of travel to ColombiaThe best aspects of travel to Colombia, is how friendly people are, the beauty of nature and near-perfect climate, particularly in the higher regions and that it has not been inundated with tourists – yet. You´re still off the beaten track to some extent but not so far that you have no infrastructure, hotels, Internet etc.Of course, if you want to really go for it, there are plenty of places to visit in Colombia where you are most definitely far from the rest of the world. The only thing about venturing too far is that you need to do serious research and know what you´re doing. Not saying that it can´t be done, just that you need to know what you´re doing. SpanishIf you travel to Colombia, there is no doubt that knowing some Spanish will help make your trip more interesting and practical. In the cities especially, you will get by without knowing any – but with some difficulty – but in the rural areas, you can forget people speaking English.During recent years, there has been a big push for people to learn English and this is noticeable in the bigger cities.
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