Colombia (Lonely Planet, 5th Edition) - Jens Porup [265]
There is another reasonably popular border crossing at Paraguachón, on the Maracaibo (Venezuela) to Maicao (Colombia) road. Take this if you plan to head from Venezuela straight to Colombia’s Caribbean coast. Buses and shared taxis run between Maracaibo and Maicao, and direct buses between Caracas/Maracaibo and Santa Marta/Cartagena. Your passport will be stamped by both Colombian and Venezuelan officials at the border. Click here and Click here for details.
Not so popular is the border crossing between Colombia’s Puerto Carreño and either Puerto Páez or Puerto Ayacucho (both in Venezuela). Still less useful is the crossing from El Amparo de Apure (Venezuela) to Arauca (Colombia), a guerrilla-ridden region.
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ORGANIZED TOURS
Some overland South America companies do visit Colombia, but not many. They are often constrained by their insurance coverage, which is void in any area deemed unsafe by the overly-cautious US State Department or UK Foreign Office. You might try:
Dragoman ( 1728 861 133; www.dragoman.co.uk)
Exodus Travels ( 020 8673 0859; www.exodus.co.uk)
Intrepid Travel ( 1 866 360 1151; www.intrepidtravel.com)
Last Frontiers ( 01296 653 000; www.lastfrontiers.co.uk)
Wild Frontiers ( 44 20 7736 3968; www.wildfrontiers.co.uk)
For a comprehensive listing of tour operators in Colombia, see the Latin American Travel Association’s website at www.lata.org.
GETTING AROUND
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AIR
Colombia’s two principal domestic carriers are Avianca and AeroRepública. The government-owned airline, Satena, provides service to many small towns and villages across the country. A number of smaller airlines and charter airlines compete on some of the more popular routes.
Prices are usually fixed between the airlines, but it can be worthwhile checking out their websites just in case. Ticket prices to some destinations drop the last week or two before the date; for some other destinations, they may rise significantly.
While you can reserve domestic airline tickets online you will not be able to pay online with a foreign credit card. You’ll have to take the booking reference and go to a licensed travel agent and pay in cash or credit card (plus a few thousand pesos for the in-person booking service.)
Some airlines offer packages to major tourist destinations (for example, Cartagena and San Andrés), which can cost not much more than you’d pay for air tickets only. If purchasing these package deals from overseas you are exempt from the 10% IVA (sales tax) – be sure to ask for this discount, as many Colombians are unaware of it.
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Airlines in Colombia
Colombia has more than half a dozen main passenger airlines and another dozen smaller carriers. The on-board service of the major carriers is OK. As flight time is usually not much longer than an hour, don’t expect any gastronomic treats; on most flights you get no more than a snack. The following fly a variety of routes:
ADA ( 2 444 4232; www.ada-aero.com) This Medellín-based carrier offers regional flights.
AeroRepública ( 1 320 9090; www.aerorepublica.com.co) The second-biggest airline covers much the same domestic territory as Avianca.
Aexpa (1 800 011 6288; www.aexpa.com) Offers charter services to the Pacific coast.
Aires ( 1 336 6039; www.aires.com.co) This smaller operation uses mostly turbo planes and travels to smaller localities.
Avianca/SAM ( 1 404 7862; www.avianca.com) Longtime principal domestic airline, with the widest network of both domestic and international routes. Avianca has merged with the Medellín-based SAM.
EasyFly ( 1 800 012 3279; www.easyfly.com.co) A budget carrier offering regional flights.
Satena ( 1 281 7071; www.satena.com) This is the commercial carrier of the FAC (Colombian Air Force) and services flights to the vast areas of the Amazon, Los Llanos and the Pacific coast Click here; it lands at 50 small towns