Practical Information

Visa

Colombia

Citizens of the USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and most European countries do not require a visa and will be granted a 90-day entry permit on arrival. Please ensure you have at least three blank pages in your passport.

An online “Check-Mig” form needs to be completed between 72 and 1 hr before your flight: Check-mig – Migración Colombia (migracioncolombia.gov.co)

Some local governments provide guidance on what visas their citizens need. To help, we’ve gathered a selection of useful links below.

• Australia: www.smartraveller.gov.au/destinations/americas/colombia 
• Canada: www.travel.gc.ca/destinations/colombia
• United Kingdom: www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/colombia/entry-requirements
• USA: www.travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/international-travel/International-Travel-Country-Information-Pages/Colombia.html

If you are travelling via the USA and are eligible to transit under the Visa Waiver Program, you are required to register in advance for an ESTA (Electronic System for Travel Authorization). There is a US$21 charge, which is only payable online. Please see our website www.exodus.co.uk/usvisa for further information.

Please note, not all nationalities have the same eligibility for travel to or transit via the USA, and you may not be covered by the visa waiver program. Regulations stipulate that any person who has travelled to Iran, Iraq, Libya, North Korea, Somalia, Sudan, Syria or Yemen since March 2011, or have dual nationalities of these countries, may no longer qualify. In addition, if you have travelled to Cuba since 12 January 2021 you will not be eligible for the visa waiver program and should instead apply for a visa.

If you are in doubt of your eligibility, please check the visa requirements with your local US embassy.

Vaccinations and Health

Colombia

There are no mandatory vaccination requirements. Recommended vaccinations are: polio, tetanus, diphtheria, typhoid, hepatitis A and yellow fever. The risk of malaria is slight but you may wish to consult your doctor or travel clinic for further advice.

Zika fever is a mosquito‐borne viral disease and a known risk in places visited on this trip. There is currently no vaccine or prophylaxis available, we therefore strongly recommend you take the usual precautions to avoid mosquito bites.

Local Time

Colombia’s Time Zone: Bogotá (UTC−05:00)

Electricity

Colombia's electricity: Plug types A (two flat pins) and B (three pins: two flat, one round) – 110V, 60Hz

Money

Colombia's currency: Colombian pesos (COP)

ATM Availability

Most shops and restaurants only accept Colombian pesos. If bringing foreign currency to exchange, we recommend you take US dollars as they are much easier to change into local currency and attract more favourable rates than other currencies. We also recommend you take a credit or debit card (ideally both) to withdraw local currency from ATMs.

There are plenty of ATMs in Medellín and Cartagena.

In Medellín and Cartagena, credit cards will be accepted in more upmarket bars, restaurants and shops and many tourist shops also accept credit cards.

Extra expenses and spending money

A set lunch in a local restaurant will cost about 35,000 pesos (US$8). Soft drinks and bottled water cost approximately 4,200 pesos (US$1) and beers in a medium-scale bar or restaurant around 21,000 pesos (US$5). In many restaurants, a sales tax can be added to the bill on top of menu prices, tips are also sometimes added to bills. Doublecheck before you pay.

Extra Expenses & Spending Money

Optional tours

If you leave on an evening flight from Cartagena on the final day (or add extra nights), there may be time to add an optional tour to the village of La Boquilla, where you can canoe and fish with the local people. This three-hour tour with lunch costs around 670,000 pesos (US$160) per person based on a minimum of two people, the price reduces if more people take the tour.

Optional tours can usually be arranged during your trip, a few days in advance, and paid for in cash, US dollars or Colombian pesos, or by credit card.

Tipping

Tipping is an optional but customary practice in Colombia and forms part of their service culture. To show appreciation to the leader, a tip of around 100,000 to 200,000 Colombian pesos (approximately US$25 to US$50) for the duration of the tour is about right.

In most restaurants, bars and nightclubs, a 10 percent tip is common. In many cases, this tip is automatically included, while in others, they will ask if you want to include it. Be sure to check. This tip is voluntary and can be declined if service was poor.

At hotels, a small tip for carrying bags to your room is not always expected but is a nice gesture. In these cases, 5,000-10,000 pesos (US$1.25-US$2.50) is a reasonable tip.

The tour leader can arrange an optional tipping kitty at the beginning of the trip to facilitate tipping local guides and drivers. If you would like to contribute, we advise bringing 110,000 Colombian pesos in cash (approximately US$28) to cover tips for local guides and drivers, which equates to 25,000 pesos (US$6.30) for each guide and 15,000 pesos (US$3.75) for each driver.

People, Places & Planet

We work hard to create trips that improve life for the people and places we visit and look after the planet we explore. Find out more about our sustainable travel ethos and practice here, and find out about the work of the Exodus Travels Foundation here.

Some sustainable travel highlights of this trip include:

People

How this trip helps improve life for local communities.

• The use of a local leader means our customers will be well informed about local traditions, and cultural-social sensitivities.
• This trip brings income and opportunity to the destination community through the inclusion of locally owned hotels and restaurants, the emphasis on eating locally produced food, including street food, and support of other local enterprise.
• We visit San Basilio de Palenque, a local guide will teach us about the history and culture of the Afro-Colombian town.

Places

How this trip helps protect and conserve local landscapes and nature.

• By travelling in a small group, led by a local guide, we ‘tread lightly’ to minimise our impact on local resources and the environment.
• We work with our partners on the ground to proactively eliminate or reduce waste, for example eliminating all single-use plastic water bottles and instead providing refills for reusable bottles.
• We visit Tayrona National Natural Park, the entrance fee contributes towards conservation efforts in this area.
• Our Animal Welfare Policy ensures all our trips adhere to ABTA’s industry-leading animal welfare guidelines to ensure the best possible practices with regards to working animals and wildlife viewing.

Planet

How we seek to keep the carbon footprint of this trip low.

• Through our Planet Promise, we have pledged to halve the carbon footprint of our trips by 2030 and made rewilding and carbon compensation commitments for every customer who travels.

Tips for sustainable travel on this trip

• Leave no trace: We do all we can to ensure we leave no rubbish behind in the wild and beautiful places we visit; we ask that you do the same. If there are no recycling facilities in-country, we’d ask you to consider bringing recyclable materials home with you.
• Plastic waste reduction: Please bring your own reusable water bottle on this trip; filtered water will be provided on our vehicle where tap water is not drinkable.

Important Information

Water safety

This trip includes time by a lake, river or sea, where there may be opportunities to swim. You should always seek local advice before deciding whether to swim. Open-water or wild swim spots should be treated with extreme caution. Information on how to keep yourself safe while swimming is shown here.