Barranquillas latinas, marriage and dating

Barranquilla Colombia was not my cup of tea, or coffee or even a tepid diet coke
This industrial city is huge, dirty and full of beggars. They are everywhere. Plus, it is very hot and humid. And there is lots of theft of opportunity. Hold onto everything. I spent almost two weeks bumping around and went to Cartagena and Santa Marta - both also hot, humid and lots of squalor outside the touristy places. And to be honest, i did not feel at all comfortable or safe. For example two Italian tourists were murdered by robbers in Cartagena recently.
I mean i saw some rats as big as dogs in the streets. There was lots of trash. My hotel room had cockroaches in it. The taxis tried to rip me off. The food choices were limited. I got an intestinal bug. The cost was higher than anticipated. I was disappointed.
Even more disappointing to me was the fact that the women, supposedly Colombia’s finest, were not all that great. I saw a few spicy Latinas, but on balance the girls were short, squat, heavy and too dark for my tastes. They did not seem too friendly either.
One guy i met hanging out in a club was from Germany and he told me that there were much better areas in the interior of Colombia, particularly Medellin and Manizales. I had never even heard of Manizales and Medellin has a sinister dark fame. But i hopped a plane up to Manizales through Bogota. Hey, am i glad i did, because first of all, no beggars to speak of. And second, the variety of lovely women was great and i ended up having a nice time there with a few lovely ladies who i found through a local Manizales dating and marriage agency. I stayed in a great apartment (apart hotel) close to everything and never looked over my shoulder.  I walked around day and night, i always felt safe.
My next trip to Colombia will be pure Manizales, maybe a side trip to Medellin. Better climate, prettier women, safer and cleaner by far. Why wallow in a pig sty when you can bask in a lazyboy?

Last edited by BMERRIMAN (2007-04-25 16:15:58)