Tips for Solo Female Travel in Colombia

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Is it safe for a woman to travel alone in Colombia? I wanted to discover it myself. One of the main reasons I traveled alone in Colombia was for you, dear readers, to tell what it was like to experience the country as a woman traveling alone.

I visited Colombia for just under three weeks and explored Cartagena, Medellin, Guatapé, El Peñol, Salento, Valle de Cocora, Bogota, and Zipaquirá. In one trip, I met most of the country’s major tourist destinations.

Tell your family that you are going to Colombia, and they will probably panic. “It’s not safe! is usually the first thing from people’s mouths. And it’s understandable that you say it—ffor many people, medicine, kidnappings, and Pablo Escobar are the first things that come to mind when you talk about Colombia.

But this is no longer the matter. Colombia is now exponentially safer than in the 1990s.

I have many friends who are hardcore travelers, and almost everyone I know who has been to Colombia considers it one of their favorite countries. That’s huge. I cannot imagine another country worthy of such universal praise. Maybe Japan.

So I went to Colombia alone and had a great time. Most importantly, I stayed safe. I don’t consider Colombia one of my favorite countries, but I had a wonderful time there, and I encourage travelers to look at it.

First, it is no longer the 1990s.

In the mid-90s, Pablo Escobar was king, and Medellín had one of the highest homicide rates in the world. Today, digital nomads from all over the world flock to Medellín to enjoy the year-round spring weather and vibrant nightlife.

Conflict casts a shadow. I have found that the conflicts of the 90s, in particular, are more likely to be addressed today. Many of the people I spoke to about my travels feared that the Khmer Rouge were still in action in Cambodia, that bombs were falling in Bosnia, or that South Africa was still in chaos after Apartheid. These are all major conflicts that took place in the 90s but are no longer problems today.

Cable News doesn’t report anything if things are good. And it is for this reason that many people still associate Colombia today with medicine, cartels, executions, and kidnappings.

Today, things are different. Year after year, Colombia has become more peaceful. Abductions decreased by 90%. Now Peru produces more medicine than Colombia. Armed roughness in Colombian cities is much lower than in many American cities. And in 2016, the Colombian government ratified a peace agreement with the FARC, the country’s largest rebel group and the group behind many kidnappings. It was an important step towards creating a lasting peace.

Something to note is that the 1990s were 20 years ago. Where were you 20 years ago? The world has changed a lot since then, and so has Colombia.

Is Colombia safe for women traveling alone today??

There, things get a little more complicated. I made a safe solo trip to Colombia—nothing bad happened to me. I was also very cautious and maybe a little happy.

If you are traveling a woman alone in Colombia, you will hear a lot of anecdotes from other travelers. There are women who have had a safe moment and will say, “Do not worry, it’s okay; nothing happened to me! And then you’ll hear other women say, “I know so many people who have been robbed there.”

Think about reviews such as Yelp reviews. People who have had a bad experience will assume that everyone else’s experience has been terrible. And people will rave about thinking that anyone who had a less than perfect experience was foolish. The task is to sift through the reviews and find a common narrative.

Here’s the story: even experienced travelers can be victims of crimes in Colombia, and they often do. And for this reason, I will not say that Colombia is completely safe, because I had an absolutely safe trip there. It’s more nuanced than that. Colombia requires additional precautions, and this article describes in detail the precautions to be taken.

Most of the guides I have read for women traveling alone in Colombia support the peril in surprising ways. I think that’s wrong.

My mission is to teach women how to stay safe when traveling around the world. I take this responsibility seriously. I understand the temptation to tell women that Colombia is much safer than people think — and it is-but this should not come at the expense of the fact that the realities of travel are not mentioned here.

Solo travel to Colombia requires extra precautions

I will in a few lines quote Travel.State.gov, the U.S. Government Guide for Travelers:

Roughness: The National Liberation Army (ELN) and dissident groups of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) continue to plan and carry out strike in Colombia.

Crime: crime and fraud against unsuspecting tourists are common in urban areas. Firearms are widespread in Colombia and raids or robberies can quickly turn harsh…Thefts of motorcyclists are frequent in all major cities. AMERICAN citizens were robbed by individuals posing as police officers. U.S. citizens have reported venereal action in different cities in Colombia.

ATMs: People are sometimes robbed after using ATMs on the street. Use ATMs in shopping centers or other protected places.

Taxis: US citizens have been finished in Taxi robberies, most recently in Medellin in September 2015. If possible, use telephone or Internet shipping services.

Disable medicine: delinquent can use medicine to temporarily neutralize unsuspecting victims and then rob or strike them.

While the majority of travelers visit Colombia without incident, there are still many crimes that occur. Despite this, most crimes against tourists are small crimes (such as pickpocketing and theft) from which they can protect themselves.

One thing that is scary is The use of debilitating tipsy like scopolamine. Scopolamine, also known as devil’s breath, is a powdered medicine that disorients you when you inhale it. (Yes, it’s the same Name as the Motion Sickness Patch.)

Delinquents turn you away, blow up the medicine, or put it in your drink; then they rob you, convince you to empty your bank accounts, and you will have no memory of it the next day. Vice made a documentary about scopolamine here.

Kidnappings are much rarer today than in the 90s, but it still happens. Most of the time this happens in areas where tourists are advised not to leave — such as the Darién Ditch.

You can reduce your risk by following the beaten path in Colombia and piloting Viva Colombia for longer land trips (see Colombia Travel and Safety Tips for more information).)

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