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Dear Catherine and Stan,

Welcome to the Colombia forums of expat.com ....

Cartagena is the safest metropolis in Colombia.  2,000 police officers patrol the old city.

You could look that up, as I did .. at the Lonely Planet website.

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The same write-up says to avoid the modern strip in La Matuna sector at night. 

And to say "no quiero nada" when a peddler annoys you.

My personal preference is the more polite "no, gracias."

  -- cccmedia in Depto. de Nariño

Catherine2018 wrote:

We are attracted to Cartagena  because it is on the coast (and) it is warm....

Cartagena "warm"?

That is an understatement.  "Hot and oppressive" year-round is the assessment posted at the WeatherSpark website for Cartagena .. with average highs of 88 degrees Fahrenheit, give or take one degree, in every month of the year, historically.

Some like it hot.  If you go to Cartagena, hopefully that's you.

cccmedia in the schvitz-free zone of Depto. de Nariño
        near the Ecuador border at 9.500' elevation

Cartagena is GORGEOUS! I have visited twice as my husband has family there. There are a lot of retired Americans and Europeans living there. I am not much help with your questions, but I just thought I would throw my 2 cents in.
We are looking into moving there for a year or so, so our kids can be near my husband's side of the family and learn Spanish. We are both fluent, but are doing a sad job at teaching it to the kids.
The heat is bad in Colombia, but like any southern US state you can find things to do inside during the heat of the day, and find apartments that have a/c in at least the sleeping areas.

ColMart79 wrote:

The heat is bad in Colombia, but like any southern US state you can find things to do inside during the heat of the day, and find apartments that have a/c in at least the sleeping areas.

No, ColMart, it's not bad heat everywhere in Colombia.  Not everybody in Colombia has to stay indoors with the air conditioner on during midday hours as Expat transplants to Cartagena must.


Three ranges of the Andes mountains run north to south in Colombia .. and folks living there at altitude have it much better than those in the steamy lowland/coastal cities.

Medellín at 5000 feet elevation has much milder weather than overheated Cartagena.  Highs are usually in the low to mid 80's F.


Here at 9500 feet altitude near the Ecuadorian border, high temps year round are about 65 Fahrenheit .. and you better have your jacket with you if you are out and around after dark even though it doesn't get below about 50 degrees all night long, as a rule.

cccmedia in Ipiales, Nariño

cccmedia wrote:

ColMart79 wrote:

The heat is bad in Colombia, but like any southern US state you can find things to do inside during the heat of the day, and find apartments that have a/c in at least the sleeping areas.

No, ColMart, it's not bad heat everywhere in Colombia.  Not everybody in Colombia has to stay indoors with the air conditioner on during midday hours as Expat transplants to Cartagena must.


Three ranges of the Andes mountains run north to south in Colombia .. and folks living there at altitude have it much better than those in the steamy lowland/coastal cities.

Medellín at 5000 feet elevation has much milder weather than overheated Cartagena.  Highs are usually in the low to mid 80's F.


Here at 9500 feet altitude near the Ecuadorian border, high temps year round are about 65 Fahrenheit .. and you better have your jacket with you if you are out and around after dark even though it doesn't get below about 50 degrees all night long, as a rule.

cccmedia in Ipiales, Nariño

My apologies, I meant Cartagena.