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Post by barrumundi on Nov 22, 2015 17:48:05 GMT -5
I have never been to 'Barren-kill-ya'..........and now I don't need to because Michael and Graciela have been there and told us all about it!
michaelandgraciela.com/blog/?p=5062
I always had the impression that Barranquilla was a big industrial/commercial city and wasn't really a tourist destination.......but it could be that it does have something to offer. Maybe three days is not enough?
It certainly has some interesting history.
The castle looks interesting.
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Post by caliconnection on Nov 22, 2015 19:14:15 GMT -5
I've been a couple of times, and I do think it's an industrial/commercial city. Great if you know a few locals though and hit the bars/clubs. There are also some decent beach parties fairly nearby sometimes.
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Post by gallito on Nov 22, 2015 19:42:48 GMT -5
I hated the place until one particular trip...I had a layover on one of my segments;met this Barranquero living in Jersey on the plane.Guy was the real deal and we partied like rock stars
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Post by Deleted on Nov 22, 2015 21:39:46 GMT -5
Three days is more than enough to visit Barranquilla. The shopping center 'Buena Vista' is impressive though. There isn't really anything else to write home about. Barranquilla has no tourist industry so it's anything but pristine. The huge castle is a restored ruin and is located outside the city in a coastal village called Salgar, halfway between Barranquilla and Puerto Colombia. Nearby beaches can not be recommended because big city beaches in tropical areas have contaminated water until you get a good distance away and Barranquilla in particular has no drainage system for rainwater run-off, so rainwater runs down the dirty streets until it finds it's way into the ocean, which makes for some exiting moments if caught in traffic during a sudden heavy rainfall.
Vacation time would be better spent in Cartagena or Santa Marta.
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Post by barrumundi on Nov 23, 2015 9:13:04 GMT -5
@costenogringo a good idea to leave your car at home when it looks like rain.......or maybe buy an old army amphibious vehicle.
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Post by juanmiguel on Nov 23, 2015 12:20:31 GMT -5
Barranquilla is not a tourist city. Those who show up then say, "Ok, I am here - entertain me," are more likely to gravitate to the bars, nightclubs and malls.
Barranquilla is a travelers city. One must be willing to put themselves out to discover what is there. What is it that makes the place and the people the way they are? Being a port city it has a long history. And part of the that history is the long pier and how the opening of the Magdalena river moved things. The people reflect the history in their religion, in their work. These are not the higher income Colombians who can afford Santa Marta and Cartagena. But the population of Barranquilla has been rising faster than those places. What does that say about who is coming to the area and why? Then there is the annual carnival bringing people from around the world.
I like it being more for travelers. There are not the peddlers and beggars around that you find in the gringolandia areas of Bogotá for instance. The people I found very friendly. The taxi drivers may try to hit you for the "gringo tax" as it says in the article, but no one I spoke with talked about them trying to cheat you with fake 20,000 and 50,000 peso bills as I have heard so very much about is happening in the capital.
Whether 3 days is too little or too many I guess depends upon your personality and whether you are more tourist or traveler.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 23, 2015 16:15:48 GMT -5
The pier of Puerto Colombia has a long history. Since 1888 steamships from Europe and other parts of the world disembarked passengers trying to find a new home in Colombia and some stayed in Barranquilla. The event of more economical air travel made most piers in Latin America obsolete, their luck of maintenance and storms with huge waves kept gnawing away on their foundations and a storm in 2012 took huge sections out of the once third longest pier in the world. Locals are hoping that one day their pier will be rebuilt but in my mind, the astronomical cost doesn't make economic sense and the government has more urgent and important projects on their mind like some day integrating 8000 useless FARC members into society and improving extreme poverty and the neglected infrastructure.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 23, 2015 17:31:16 GMT -5
While on the Subject of piers, if I'm forgiven, I would like to mention a pier in Panama that I actually walked on some eight years ago, it's very close to the Costa Rica border, a pier which is gradually coming apart and the surface structure is built with wood instead of concrete like in Puerto Colombia. This pier was built around 1927 along with the construction of a railroad network which brought Chiquita bananas from regional plantations to the port. The banana industry in Panamá suffered a serious set back though when plantation workers became seriously ill due to harmful pesticides used to combat the banana weevil borer. The pier was no longer needed and the railroad tracks were removed and used as fence posts. There is talk that the Chinese are interested in rebuilding the pier along with construction of a road to Paso Canoas, Costa Rica.
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