Life in Bogotá

Cost of Living in Bogota

November 17, 2014 // 9 Comments

This post was updated in July 2016. Due to fluctuating exchange rates, I have changed the amounts to reflect the current cost of living in Bogota in Colombian pesos. Please note that these figures are based on living in an estrato 4 building, and will increase significantly for estratos 5 and 6. For more information on estratos, have a look at my post on Where to [more]

Sundays and Ciclovía: The Calm Between the Storms

November 3, 2014 // 0 Comments

Sundays are something that Bogota does really REALLY well. I love Sunday in Bogota. I live close to 7th Avenue, near the mountains, and this is closed to traffic on Sundays and bank holidays. This means a brief escape from the noise and pollution, and opens the road for walkers, cyclists, skaters and skateboarders: From where we live, we can either walk north towards [more]

Colombian greetings

October 30, 2014 // 0 Comments

Some useful Colombian greetings from vocabat.com. I can say that I have heard all of these a number of times since I’ve been in Colombia…and I wish I’d read this post before I arrived! [more]

The Bogota Transmilenio bus system: problems and solutions

October 29, 2014 // 0 Comments

It’s rush-hour. I’m on a Transmilenio bus and it’s busy. People are standing elbow to elbow and as usual the driver is driving like a maniac over pot-holes and cracks in the road; the standing passengers are swung from side to side, trying to grab onto anything they can as they fight to keep their balance; the seated passengers hold on tightly to [more]

10 Smartphone apps I couldn’t live without in Bogota

October 27, 2014 // 5 Comments

When people move to a new country, they’ll often buy a cheap phone with a local SIM card to use while they’re there. This is fine if you’re just visiting for a short time, but if you’re in Colombia for the long-haul, a smartphone will be a really useful tool. Here are the (Android) smartphone apps that I use regularly, which I really [more]

The 5 Stages of Culture Shock in Bogota

October 26, 2014 // 6 Comments

Reading through my blog, I feel conscious of a generally negative undertone as I’ve been writing about my experience in Bogota. I initially assumed that this was due to my general dislike of Bogota as a city. I often feel that if I were given the opportunity, I’d leave Bogota for somewhere else in a heart-beat. Then the other day, I was looking for [more]

Women’s issues in Bogota

September 1, 2014 // 4 Comments

Women’s rights is currently a hot issue in Colombia, and campaigns are actively trying to put an end to domestic violence and abuse against women. This isn’t just a problem which exists behind closed doors; it has branched out to public transport, and particularly the Transmilenio system, with women being harassed and molested as they travel on packed [more]

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