[fab]

Hi guys,

I was planning in going to santa marta in colombia but some people are telling me its not worth it.
I'm looking for a ok beach, good party... for one month mid june to mid july.
I would like to go to south america. any recomendations ?
I speak perfect spanish so this is not a problem for me.

Thanks a lot guys !

[AlphaTravel]

I enjoyed my time in Mancora, Northern Peru. It's a small place and there's no clubs as such, just bars and beach shacks playing reggaeton and stuff but you get a mix of travellers, locals, Peruvians on holiday and a lot of Chileans too. Non stop drinking, cocaine and sex when I was there. Everyone was getting laid, people would come back from partying all night at the beach and then just start drinking at the poolside bar again. I didn't sleep for 3 or 4 days I was having so much fun, was banging this sketchy as anything Peruana chicka who lived in a shanty house. Was great fun but maybe a month is too much. Think if you like surfing it could be OK, lots of surfers around.

[Deb Auchery]

Is it safe in Peru alpha?

[fab]

(05-18-2012 02:13 PM)AlphaTravel Wrote:  

I enjoyed my time in Mancora, Northern Peru. It's a small place and there's no clubs as such, just bars and beach shacks playing reggaeton and stuff but you get a mix of travellers, locals, Peruvians on holiday and a lot of Chileans too. Non stop drinking, cocaine and sex when I was there. Everyone was getting laid, people would come back from partying all night at the beach and then just start drinking at the poolside bar again. I didn't sleep for 3 or 4 days I was having so much fun, was banging this sketchy as anything Peruana chicka who lived in a shanty house. Was great fun but maybe a month is too much. Think if you like surfing it could be OK, lots of surfers around.

thanks for the info alpha,
When did you go ? Because I tought mancora was better in the summer month of peru and in june its pretty dead no ?

[AlphaTravel]

It's not unsafe Deb. I don't recall ever feeling in danger or threatened though there is crime but it's not like there's a mugger behind every lamppost. You get warned in some cities to avoid certain streets or areas and make sure the taxi your taking is actually a taxi (it's pot luck really because none of them are really official or at least it's hard to tell) because it's not uncommon people to kidnapped and their money extorted from them by fake drivers. Just typical shit that can happen anywhere really. Never got into any trouble anywhere in South America and I did some silly things, hanging about in favellas at night buying drugs, going to shanty towns with sketchy girls who I'd just met to fuck them in their family home, walking around in areas you're told not to walk in where hold ups at gunpoint are common at night drunk as fuck and the list goes on. Probably got very lucky but overall I didn't feel Peru was dangerous, not worth worrying about.

I can't remember when I went actually fab, it was a few years ago. Maybe the time of year is no good for you, double check before you decide to make it your destination.

[Capitán Peligroso]

Mancora is at 4 degrees South, so there probably isn't much temperature variance between summer and winter, like Colombia probably.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M%C3%A1ncora

[johnw28]

I stayed south of Mancora in Huanchaco Peru. It is a 15 minute cab ride into Trujillo with gives you a great place to pull talent. Well peruvian that is. I was the only white guy I would see out at night and I speak good spanish. A lot of good restruants in Huanchaco but no nightlife for that you need to go to Trujillo. The say it is dangerous but it isnt. Best place to be in Peru IMO.

[AlphaTravel]

Yeah I spent a few nights in Huanchaco too. Decent place and there are plenty bars. Or am I getting confused with somewhere else with a similar name maybe. I went to so many little towns and places along that coast, stopping whenever I felt like it and spending a night or two, that it's all a bit blurred.

[scotian]

Fab, even though I gave a shitty review of Santa Marta, I wouldn't write off the Caribbean coast of Colombia entirely, there's good times to be had there, I just wouldn't stay in one place for an entire month.

If I had to do the coast again (which I may in the future as I did it ass backwards last time) I would do it like this:

Cartagena: 2-3 days to check out the old city, its nice. Then I'd take a boat from there to Playa Blanca (about 25K), I was only there for an afternoon but its a really nice, white sand beach (unlike those in Cartagena). I ran into a few back backers there and you can rent hammocks on the beach for 10K/night, its rustic but laid back and chill.

From Cartagena I'd then go to Santa Marta for a couple of days, like I said in your other thread, nothing special but worth a visit. I stayed at Dreamer's hostel, a nice place but a bit over priced (75K, no a/c) and far from the beach, then I stayed at hotel Caribe which is downtown near the beach (and has a/c!).

You could also check out Minca for a day or two, its a small town in the Sierra Nevada mountains overlooking Santa Marta, I spent a day there doing some hiking and bird watching, which was actually a lot funner than it sounds. Again, its rustic but you can rent some cool cabins up there.

Then I'd just hang out in Tagnonga/Tayrona for a couple of weeks, maybe do some diving, hiking and lots of partying.

You could also hit up Barranquilla for a couple of days, nothing special there to see but it would be a decent place to find a Costena and take her with you up to Santa Marta area. Like all of Colombia, it shouldn't be too hard to scoop up a honey from one of the cities and take her with you to a tourist destination for a few days.

You can get to all of these cities using this company, its 20K from Quilla to Santa Marta and 40K from Cartagena to Santa Marta:
http://www.marsolsa.com/home.html