Exploring Bogotá: Colombia’s Capital City

Welcome to my Bogotá, Colombia review! Now I know what you’re thinking. You may be wondering, why is he sitting there with a hoodie on? Well, I’ll tell you why, because this look is representative of how I’ve had to get by in my time in Colombia. I took a solo trip here from the beginning of October to the end of October, roughly a month. And let me tell you, the weather has been quite chilly. Sure, there are some brief sunny days, some moments, some hints of sun every now and then. But for the most part, it’s been chilly.

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Okay, I’ve heard that Bogotá is cold, and I understand what they’re saying. It’s not as cold as I thought, but when the sun goes down, it does get chilly. So basically, this has been my look here in Bogotá. You’ve got to have a hoodie, you gotta have a jacket or something, or you will be chilly. Unless you just like the cold weather—I don’t. Also, even in the house, a lot of the houses I’m finding out don’t have heat. So, a lot of the Airbnbs don’t have any heat. So yeah, just never felt that warm, cozy, comfortable feeling in Bogotá like I would like to have experienced. So even in the house, sometimes I’m sitting up like this just to keep warm. Plus, I don’t have any hair up there, so it gets chilly up there, you know? So yeah, that’s it.

Background of Bogotá

Let me give you a little brief background of Bogotá in case you’re not privy to it. Bogotá is the capital of Colombia. The population is roughly 8 million people in Bogotá itself, and if you count the metro area, it’s close to around 13 million people. Now, these stats come from Wikipedia, also it’s in line with what the locals have told me. So, that’s the rough population of Bogotá. It is the largest city in Colombia. Also, it has an international airport called El Dorado International Airport. So that’s just a little background of Bogotá.

First Impressions of Bogotá

My first impressions of Bogotá—again, it was chilly. Once I got off the plane and started walking around, I felt that cold hit me. The first thing I did was search for a store to buy me a jacket. And this is what I bought. I bought this jacket. It was hard to find one because I had to get my bearings right. It wasn’t as easy to find a jacket, and because I didn’t know what stores to go to and a lot of the stores were closing, I didn’t know where to get it from. But I just found this store and I bought this jacket, and this jacket has kept me warm. This jacket has come in handy many a day. So that was one of my first impressions of Bogotá.

Also, another one of my first impressions of Bogotá was the big mountain, it’s called the Monserrate. The Monserrate mountain is huge. It’s like a huge giant mountain just overshadowing the whole city of Bogotá. You can’t miss it when you’re driving from the airport. It’s just hitting you in the face, and you’re just looking up, and it’s just like a giant monument of a species, you know? So, Bogotá is big anyway, so that just gave us this monumental grand monster of a presence.

Also, the rain. It rained. I noticed the rain, the rainy and the gray skies, noticed that right away. First day, second day, third day, it rained darn near every day I was here, every single day, like clockwork. And it usually rained in the afternoon. That’s the MO. It usually rained in the afternoon. You may be able to catch it in the mornings or something, but it usually rained in the afternoon. So those are some of my first impressions of Bogotá. Oh, one more thing—it was surprisingly calm. Surprisingly calm city.

You know, I heard so many things about Bogotá. “Bogotá is scary”, “Bogotá is dangerous”, “watch out in Bogotá”, this and that, and this and that. And I’m sure some of those things are true because I know Bogotá has a mean history and some skeletons in the closet. But I’m gonna tell you, it was surprisingly calm. There was a surprisingly calm and secure feeling in Bogotá. Everybody just seemed to be going about their business, having a direct route to where they’re going, and that’s it. It was kind of quiet, calm. It was a presence of security, and I didn’t feel threatened at all. It actually was calmer than some of the other cities, more touristy cities I’ve gone to. So, that was really surprising to me. So, those were some of my first impressions of Bogotá.

Safety in Bogotá

Now, let’s talk about safety in Bogotá. You’ve got to be safe in Bogotá. Bogotá is a mega city, like I said, millions of people, close to 8 million people in Bogotá alone, and if you’re counting the metro area, it’s darn near 13 million people. So, you can get lost and sucked into this city real quick. So, don’t underestimate Bogotá. Like I said, Bogotá does have a surprisingly calm feel, but still, you need to stay on swivel, you need to be aware of your surroundings, always practice general safety practices.

There’s a saying here, “No dar papaya,” meaning don’t give papaya, meaning don’t give people a reason to target you out there.

Like a tourist waving your new iPhone, looking like a tourist, taking videos and stuff like that. Look, you’re a target like that. So, you’ve got to stay low-key. You can’t just be out there like that. Or if you do, just be aware that you’re really red-flagging yourself as a target. So, I don’t really recommend putting yourself out there like that.

Okay, also, be careful going out at night. Matter of fact, if you don’t have to go out at night, don’t go out at night. But if you do, choose your places wisely and be extra vigilant of your surroundings and who you’re dealing with, especially at those party spots, the discotecas. You know, don’t be out there just getting all effed up drunk and stuff like that, and you think nothing’s gonna happen to you. Because that’s the breeding ground where a lot of tourists get targeted, and you get got, and you might wake up in the alley somewhere. Or, unfortunately, you may not wake up at all. I mean, things have happened to tourists, so you have to be careful. It’s no joke out here.

Also, I would not recommend flagging random taxis. Again, like in my other videos, I’ll talk about this. There’s a lot of fake stuff going on in the taxis. Yes, some of them are good, some of them are legit, but the thing is, you don’t know. It’s like, what’s behind door number one, what’s behind door number two. You don’t know. It could be a fake, they could be having organized crime to rob you.

My advice, stay away from flagging random taxis on the street where you can’t track. Use the rideshare apps. You can use Uber if you want, but I recommend other alternative rideshare apps that are more economical, like inDriver, Cabify.

The reason I don’t really deal with Uber in Colombia is because you’re, whether you know it or not, you are signing a rental agreement. And you’re renting that car and you’re renting that driver. So, if something goes wrong, you are held responsible, you are partly responsible or responsible in full for accidents or anything that goes wrong with that trip because you’re renting a car and you’re renting that driver. And that’s a big responsibility, rather than just getting a regular ride from an app that you can with inDriver and Cabify, without all that red tape. So, again, don’t flag random taxis. It’s just not safe, especially at night.

Things to Do in Bogotá

Now, let’s talk about some things to do in Bogotá. Again, Bogotá is a huge city, so there’s no shortage of things to do. You’re gonna find something to do in Bogotá. And what I’ve noticed, just like I said, it’s surprisingly calm in Bogotá, and the calmness extends during the week. Really, the city doesn’t come alive, from what I’ve noticed, not even on Thursday. The city starts coming alive really on Fridays. Fridays, Saturdays, and maybe Sundays. That’s the poppin’ time of the city, where the city livens up and turns from a business city to a party party and fun vibe. That’s what I’ve noticed.

Yeah, there’s some bars and some establishments may be open during the week, but you peek in there and it’s like dead, maybe a couple of people or maybe a handful of people or maybe a couple or something. So really dry from what I’ve seen. But on Fridays, that’s when it starts waking up, and that’s when it starts getting live. And again, there’s no shortage of places you go to. You can go to bars, there’s a lot of bars, a lot of clubs. Everywhere you turn, whatever your flavor is. They have the salsa, the reggaeton, the party bars, the laid-back bars, the lounges, whatever you want, whatever your groove is, you can find it here in Bogotá. Okay, so you will have fun. You will have fun. If you’re bored in Bogotá, it’s not because Bogotá is boring, it’s because you’re boring.

Also, I recommend going on the free walking tours. A lot of tours out here. I love those free walking tours. There’s a lot of companies out here that can give you the free walking tours. You can find them on sites like Viator, Civitatis, and GuruWalk. Those are some good sites where I find a lot of affordable tours. I went on a free walking tour, free city tour. That’s a real good way to get you familiarized with the history of Bogotá, the scenery of Bogotá, and the graffiti here.

I call it graffiti art because a lot of it is just so much great art, and a lot of it is commissioned art now, and it is just beautiful, beautiful artwork, and it’s amazing because a lot of that graffiti years ago used to be representative of gangs and gang violence, but Bogotá has since transformed that negative image into something beautiful and something artsy to see all over the city. You will see beautiful, beautiful graffiti art.

So yes, go on those graffiti tours, go on the city tours, and the free walking tours, and yeah, they expect a tip at the end. You’re not obligated to give them a tip, but hey, if they did a good job, give them a tip, let them know you appreciate them. You know, they don’t make a lot of money or anything like that, so it’s good to support the locals like that.

Also, there’s a lot of great restaurants, a lot of cuisine in Bogotá. Bogotá is so big, you can find any type of food you want. You can find Colombian food, you can find Chinese food, Japanese food, Italian restaurants. It’s just all types of cuisine here. So, as far as your taste buds are concerned, you will be satisfied. Everywhere you turn, there’s some delicious foods. Again, I love if you know anything about me, I love that the fish, the fried fish with arroz con coco, a lot of the good fish here, mojarra, bagre, trucha. There’s so many different types of fish here, and I recommend with that side of arroz con coco.

Also, they have white rice with a lot of it, and then they also have the rice with mariscos, which is the seafood rice that goes along with that fried fish or baked fish or what have you, salmon, everything. And also, you can find good Mexican restaurants here too. So just the different types of cuisine here, Bogotá is a conglomerate, a mega city, so you won’t have to worry about feeding your tummy. You will be satisfied.

Now another thing you need to check out are the malls, the centros comerciales. There are no shortage of shopping centers, malls, plazas here. Any way you turn, you’ll find a place to spend your money. They will take your money, and they will be happy to do so. Now, some of the great malls to check out are Centro Mayor, you’ve got Mall Plaza NQS, you have San Martín Centro Comercial, so those are just to name a few. I don’t think I even scratched the surface of going to a lot of them because a lot of my plans were flat-lined.

A lot of times it rained, I’d be getting ready to go somewhere, and then it rained or the weather changed or something like that. So, and everything is just so spread out too. You might have a mall miles away over here and a mall miles away over here, then a mall right here. So, I don’t know if I touched all of it. I think Centro Mayor is the biggest mall. I don’t even think I made it to that. But I made it to a few good malls, and I recommend that you just go on a mall tour and check out what you can.

So, there are some things to do. So like I said, you won’t be bored in Bogotá. The only thing that may slow you down is the changing weather because a lot of that weather really rained out a lot of the activities and tours that I really wanted to go on. So although I was here for a month, I really didn’t feel like I could really take advantage of everything I would normally do on these kinds of trips because just so many things were canceled, and the rain just washed away the plans. So I really just had to pivot and just play it by ear and just duck and dodge and get out when I could when the weather would permit me to.

Also, make sure you visit Casa Bolívar. This is another major landmark, another major monument that you need to walk through. There’s just so much to see in Bogotá. Another thing, make sure you go on the Monserrate tour. You want to ascend to the top of that mountain in those cable cars because you want to stand at the top of the Monserrate. You don’t wanna leave Bogotá without doing that. It’s like another world up there. So, be sure you go on that Monserrate tour.

One more thing, make sure you go on the Emerald Tour. Bogotá is a major hub for emeralds. I didn’t know that. So, go on the emerald tour, and you’ll see some nice stones, some exquisite stones that come out of Bogotá. Okay, and make sure you squeeze that in. It’s just beautiful, beautiful, beautiful, beautiful. So, there’s just so much to do in Bogotá. This post only scratches the surface. Just squeeze in as much time as much experience as you can while you’re in Bogotá, and I’m sure you’ll love it!

Best Time to Visit Bogotá

The best time to visit Bogotá? I’d say avoid the rainy seasons at all cost, and basically, it can rain anytime even outside of the rainy season in Bogotá, as far as what I’ve heard. But the official rainy seasons, based on my research, are between March and May and October and November. So, my advice, avoid those months visiting Bogotá unless you want to be walking around like a wet cat, a wet dog, you know, sloshing in puddles and rain and gray skies and gloomy, unless you like that type of life, which I don’t. But if you like that type of life, then you come during those rainy seasons. But if you don’t, stay the hell away from Bogotá in the rainy seasons.

There you go, a lot of things to do in Bogotá. I urge you to come to this city and not just treat it as a transient city where you’re just getting in and getting out and catching your plane like a lot of people do. Look, take some time to explore this city. Bogotá has a lot of things to offer, just as much as more or more as those touristy cities like Medellín, Cartagena, and Cali, and other places. But the image of it, Bogotá is not a tourist city, but I urge you, based on my experience, hey, it’s a lot to see, and I will be back. I will be back. I don’t know when, but I will come back to Bogotá and explore more of what this great city, this great capital of Colombia, has to offer.