Colombia Local Customs

  men are most colorful too
by richiecdisc
 
  • men are most colorful too
      men are most colorful too
    by richiecdisc
  • Phone booth in the central square
      Phone booth in the central square
    by grandmaR
  • Bathrooms along the beach front
      Bathrooms along the beach front
    by grandmaR
  • life music at one of Cartagena's plazas
      life music at one of Cartagena's plazas
    by mircaskirca
  • bon appetit!
      bon appetit!
    by mircaskirca
 

Reviews from VirtualTourist Members

just fruit

by richiecdisc

Colombia is renowned for its variety and quality of fruit for very good reason. While South America as a continent is noted for fruit I never found it to be on a par with Asia but it seems I had been to the wrong countries before venturing to Colombia. Along with the ubiquitous papaya and watermelon came a plethora of fruit many of which I had never even heard of let along seen before. Perhaps the most exotic was the lulo, a very tart fruit found only in Colombia and a few neighboring areas of adjacent countries like Venezuela. Even within Colombia, it was not an easy find. In the area around Cali it was abundant but still not as popular as we had anticipated. It is not a fruit that is consumed as it but rather best lends itself to fruit shakes, the lulada the prime example. The fruit's very sour flavor plays off well against the added dulce de leche and/or condensed milk. It's an odd...

Tip Photo
Water from bags

by tampa_shawn

the water here comes in plastic bags and without a knife it is quite interesting getting into them. You bite off the corner and the water sprays all over you and then there is no way to re-close it (hence the note to pack a binder clip next time) However, you will get the hang of it over time and if you ask many of the vendors have scissors and sometimes even a straw ready. I brought a wide opening water bottle and found it quite useful just to dump the contents of the entire bag into that. The good news it that bagged water is dirt cheap (25 cents US) and often delightfully cold. Bottles are available but are quite a bit more. The water in Colombia is potable in most of the country. Talk to the traveler where you are to find out for sure. I was totally on tap water in about a week and a half and had no issues (but I do have an iron stomach) even in the smaller towns.

Con Gusto...another ex of the wonderful people

by tampa_shawn

I am totally in love with the Colombian people. They are so wonderfully friendly and helpful.It is also a very polite and even formal culture. I think this example may say it best.When ever you say thank you to someone they always reply with ¨con gusto¨ which means with pleasure. I just love that. Never your welcome...always with pleasure...what a sweet thing to say.

Stopping the voilence with motercycle laws...

by tampa_shawn

Another interesting thing here is the motorcycle laws. Motorcycles are a primary means of transportation for many here but during the periods of violence that have overtaken the country in the past...motorcycle drivers regularly were the ones who carried out the murders, kidnappings and initiated the violence that haunted the country. So for many years it was actually illegal to wear a helmet. This allowed people to identify the killers since the killers before that time always wore full face masks and were almost impossible to id. The killers also blacked out their license plates. Now you are allowed to wear a helmet but you must have your license plate # on your helmet and on an orange vest to allow the police to ID you and to help stop the violence. Pretty smart isn't.?

SUNDAY SPORTS

by swesn

I noticed that on Sundays, the various town councils would close several avenues and streets, or at least reduce several lanes of a major avenue and open up these free roads to cyclists, joggers and sports enthusiasts.Once in Bogota, I actually saw a whole stage being set up with a huge group of people working out aerobics routines.And the nicest thing is to observe many locals take advantage of this and spend a few hours keeping fit every Sunday.

SHOPS WITH GRILLES AT THEIR ENTRANCES

by swesn

My friend's mother runs an internet cabin-cum-photocopy services and she keeps herself locked inside, transacting through the grilles and admitting internet users who presumably look OK.I also noticed many mom-and-pop shops have grilles at their entrances. People buy sweets, cigarettes, snacks, etc... through the grilles as well.I guess this is due to the high crime rates in the cities.

A LA ORDEN

by swesn

A common phrase used here is ‘A la orden’, which means ‘At your service’. Everytime I walked into a store, or thanked someone as I departed the store or restaurant, they would smile and say “A la orden.” Colombians indeed offer the most smiley and sincere services. Bravo!!

Colombian Culture

by PeopleofColombia

Literature Gabriel Garcia Marquez has been the most important writer. He has known as “Gabo”. He was born in Aracataca near the Caribbean Sea. He began working for regional newspapers and he was reporter. After he moved to Bogotá and he worked for “El Espectador” and after he was corresponds in Europe. He has written very much stories about the thing’s Colombian. His books describe the life diary, the politics conflicts socials and families and the characteristics typical of my country with the best power the imagination, mystery and real and the unreal of the human. He invented the “World”s Garcia Marquez”. The most importants books are The story of a Shipwrecked, Chronic of a Death Foretold and the best masterpieces is One Hundred Years of Solitude, Love in the Time of Cholera. The book has been translate in much languages. On the 1982 he won the Nobel Prize for literature and today he...

No 'Tu' in Santander

by jungles

In the Department of Santander, which includes Barichara and San Gil, the locals always use the formal 'usted' to address someone rather than the informal 'tu.' This applies even to family members and to boyfriends/girlfriends. So if you try to befriend the locals and they keep referring to you as 'usted,' don't think that they are being distant; it's just their manner of speaking.

Donkey Love

by jungles

Warning! This tip is for adults only.I wasn't sure whether to include this and I'm sorry if it's inappropriate, but it genuinely is a local custom, and I think it would be helpful for travellers to know about it. As I was told by several Colombians in Santa Marta, it is common practice in the north of the country for adolescent boys to have sex with donkeys. This is not just a one-time affair, like a rite of passage that a boy has to pass to become a man. Rather, it's more like a substitute for masturbation. Young boys are expected to do this, and they are told by their fathers when they reach a certain age that they should not have sex with the dogs because they could catch a disease, and they must not do it with the chickens because the chicken will die afterwards, but with the donkeys it's just fine. At first I wasn't sure if the guys who told me this were just joking, but a few days...

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Questions and Answers

jswnn profile photo

Q:  Hola Travelers - I'm planning a three week trip to Colombia. What is the cheapest way to fly from Bogota to Cali, from Cali to... 

xaver profile photo

A: bookmarking 

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