Surprising aspects of life in major Colombian cities (testimonials)

Hi everyone, I'm a content writer for Expat Magazine, and we're currently seeking testimonials for an upcoming article. If you are (or have ever been) an expat in a major Colombian city, what aspects of life there surprised you the most? Whether it’s the city's urban planning, traffic levels and parking spaces, public transport and use of technology, variety of cafés and restaurants, museums and art scene, green spaces/parks, how cosmopolitan (or not) the city felt, or anything else. Thank you in advance for sharing your experience with us, and we wish you a wonderful holiday season. - @Ameerah Arjanee

Are you only interested in hearing about infrastructure and systems, or the culture itself?

@ChineduOpara

Both infrastructure and culture, just any aspect that surprised you.

Moto drivers are loco.Watch out crossing the street

@ChineduOpara
Both infrastructure and culture, just any aspect that surprised you. - @Ameerah Arjanee

I live in Barranquilla, on the north coast. I've been "accused" or being overly negative and depressing when talking about my experiences here. So, for sake of keeping things balanced, I'll mention one negative surprise, AND two positive surprises.

👎🏾 I was surprised at just how bland the food is 😕

👍🏾 I was surprised at how inexpensive manual labor is 🤑

👍🏾 I was pleasantly surprised at how many pharmacies exist all over the place 🏥

Disclaimer: The country is quite regionalized, so some aspects of one region might not overlap 100% with the culture in other regions. For example, I heard that the cuisine a bit south of Cali - in and around Pasto - is a bit more interesting and flavorful. Maybe someone else in this forum can confirm...

@ChineduOpara

About the food, the further south you go, the less flavor you will find. Think German food or the Azore Islands, that is because most of the cooking culture was brought to Latin America from Northern Spain who were of German background (Celts, South of France Cathars. Visigoths who were either Roman or Sephardic people) a lot of poor man potatoes (boiled chestnuts replaced by potatoes in South America) bread, and seasoned potatoes or rice with meat or fish then breaded (corn meal) and fried, also fried items and sausages or blood puddin . The Moorish traditions of food did not stick in Spain. I bring my chili everywhere I go because the only seasonings used in general are Azafran ( color and not real flavor), onions, tomatoes, an cumin.

The most flavor you will find in South America is in Peru and Brazil.

@ChineduOpara
About the food, the further south you go, the less flavor you will find. Think German food or the Azore Islands, that is because most of the cooking culture was brought to Latin America from Northern Spain who were of German background (Celts, South of France Cathars. Visigoths who were either Roman or Sephardic people) a lot of poor man potatoes (boiled chestnuts replaced by potatoes in South America) bread, and seasoned potatoes or rice with meat or fish then breaded (corn meal) and fried, also fried items and sausages or blood puddin . The Moorish traditions of food did not stick in Spain. I bring my chili everywhere I go because the only seasonings used in general are Azafran ( color and not real flavor), onions, tomatoes, an cumin.
The most flavor you will find in South America is in Peru and Brazil. - @Medellin_bound

What you explained actually tracks. And yes - like several other foreigners I know - I too carry a small dropper-bottle of "Akabanga" - a very concentrated flavorful and spicy oil that's quite popular in West Africa, Europe, and parts of North America anywhere that food-lovers congregate. Funny enough, I was on a date last night at an Arabic restaurant here in Barranquilla... my date was tickled to laughter when I whipped out the bottle and put a few drops of Akabanga onto my food 😆

But back to Colombia... I have visited Cali several times, and I intentionally tried the local BBQs and stuff... and it seemed to have like 15% more flavor than the local food here on the north coast. That was confirmed by a few other travelers who have visited both here on the north, as well as Medellin area and Cali area. So I dunno... maybe if I went FAR south (near the Ecuadoran border) then I'd experience the blandness...

While it is true that Colombians in general seem to like only bland food, Cali is becoming known for its fusion of various cuisines and has any number of good restaurants for comida típica as well as more "foreign" offerings.

But among the best food I've had in Cali, is home cooking - comida casera.  Most of the "street food" can't hold a candle to it!

I was somewhat amazed to see that in local supermarkets I could buy a great hot sauce, the red habanero sauce made by Amazonas, a Colombian company based in Cartagena:  https://www.amazonpepper.com/

Do a search for

cali gastronomia

...and you can find many links, among them this one:

https://www.moradaancestral.com/turismo … or-caleno/

@ChineduOpara

I do the same at restaurants.  I take out my spicy chili and it helps.  Ecuadorian food is very similar to Colombian food to me a bit more taste at the beaches in Ecuador but that is because of the fish, cilantro and lemon.  Peru is tasty to me,  but that to me is because they do use chili (aji) like the Mexicann people do.  Nothing compares too the deliciousnesss of the Mexican food in Mexico to me.

Wishing you the best.