Colombian Coffee Triangle

Image: CIAT/Flickr

I’m not a huge fan of the old bucket list. I’m not the kind of traveller who likes to cross things off my to-do list when I visit a new part of the world. I like to take things slow. I like to meet people and learn about a places in time, rather than just pass through with a camera to take photos of all the local landmarks.

Travel, for me, is about learning and appreciating difference: in landscapes, in people, in local customs and in food. Next month I’ll be heading back to Colombia and there are so many things I want to do while I’m there. Rather than being a bucket list, though, I guess this is more just a personal reminder of some of the things I’d like to do while in the country. What do you think? What else should I add to the list?

Here goes, here’s my Colombia bucket list:

1. Climb the 659 steps to the top of El Penol, Guatape

Colombia Bucket List

Image: Angie Carvajal/Flickr

2. Brew my own cup of coffee in the Coffee Region and meet the people who make that possible

Colombia bucket list

Image: CIAT/Flickr

3. Visit Salento and cycle through the old town

Colombia bucketlist

Image: Triangulo de Cafe Travel/Flickr

4. Do the Bogota Graffiti Tour and learn about the local artists who bring colour, vibrancy and political history to the streets of the city

Bogota Graffiti Tour

Image: McKay Savage/Flickr

5. Have a chocolate completo at La Puerta Falsa

Colombia Bucket List

Image: William Neuheisel/Flickr

6. Visit Lake Guatavita, where the story about El Dorado originates

Colombia Bucket List

Image: “LagunaDeGuatavita” by MasanalvOwn work. Licensed under CC BY 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons.

7. Visit the Paloquemao Markets in Bogota

Colombia Bucket List

Image: Jack Zalium/Flickr

8. Meet up with some of fellow bloggers in Colombia

Bucket List Colombia

9. Hike through the Wax Palm landscapes in Quindio

Colombia Bucket List

10. Take a trip on the cable carts of Medellin and learn about the outskirts of this growing city

Places-to-Visit-Colombia-Metrocable-medellin

11. Explore the old city of Cartagena

Things to do in Cartagena

12. Do a tour of the mangroves in Cartagena

Colombia Bucket List

Image: Ealmagro/Wikimedia

13. Visit the Rosario Islands and Baru

Bucket List Colombia

Image: Randal Sheppard/Flickr

14. Learn more about the history of Santa Marta

Places to visit in Colombia - Simon Bolivar Memorial Monument

15. Visit Playa Cristal

Colombia Bucket List

Image: Ben Bowes/Flickr

16. Walk to the top of Monserrate

Monserrate-bogota

17. Buy myself a ruana (a Colombian poncho)

Colombia Bucket List

Image: Momentcaptured1/Flickr

18. Eat as many different types of arepas as humanly possible

Colombia Bucket List

19. Drink as many tropical fruit juices as humanly possible

Colombia Bucket List

Image: Rosipaw/flickr

20. Visit the Cristobal Colon theatre in Bogota

Colombia Bucket List

Image: “Interior Teatro Colon Bogota” by Originally uploaded by Ricardoinbaviera (Transferred by Grashoofd) – Wikimedia

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Colombian bucket list

What else should be added to my Colombia bucket list? Share your tips and ideas with me in the comments section below. I’d love to hear what you think I should add.