Colombia

Colombia seems to still hold such a bad reputation with most people. Many people back home and in Costa Rica had questioned why i would want to go there... yet as soon as you get reading about the country in travel guides and speaking to people who have been there, a different story emerges. For people who have been there (typically having traveled around this part of the world) it seems frequently considered as a major highlight if not THE highlight of South America. Yes there are obviously still drugs and violence but the cities are safe these days and its a world away from its past. The people are supposed to be the most welcoming and friendly of all South American countries. For these reasons this country was always going to be way up on my list of countries to invest a significant proportion of my time in. I like the idea it wasn't on everyone's itineraries and therefore tourism is a still in its infancy. I just hope it can live up to the positive things that i've read and heard about it!

I decided i was going to settle into Medellin first, the second biggest city, and use this as my initial base for learning Spanish (thanks for the advice Ash !)

My flight from San Jose to Bogota was uneventful but by the time I landed in the capital, getting my connection to Medellin was a real challenge as there was only a short space of time between flights. I was flying with Avianca, the Columbian airline who I hadn't heard of before and therefore straight away decided they'd be dodgy! In fact they were the complete opposite and i was very impressed. The Avianca people did everything they could to chaperone me hurriedly through immigration and across Bogota's huge airport. With a final sprint I made it to the plane with seconds to spare.

The plane was brand-spanking new which the pilot announced before take off... so it had things like usb sockets and an awesome entertainment system. It was a shame it was only a half hour flight so didn't get chance to play with the toys!!

I'd babbled some shit Spanish at one of the guys who had battled to get to the connecting flight with me. Luckily he spoke English and I quickly found out he was spending most of his year in Bournemouth at an English school. I'd spent 5 years living in Bournemouth and went to university there so we became instant friends and I had my first offer of being shown around over a few cervezas! I then sat next to this hot chica on the plane who again was able to converse in some English (phew). She was so nice and friendly and gave me an intro to Medellin on the way and kept saying I'd made the right choice in terms of places to base myself. She works for Bancolumbia – the main Colombian bank and gave me her business card offering to meet up and show me around. Both my new traveling friends went out of their way to help translate things and make sure I got my bag and taxi transfer ok before leaving the airport. What a start!! It was midnight by the time I got to the hostel so hadn't seen anything of the city but was feeling very relaxed and happy. I've got a great feeling about this place.....