Well, it’s been awhile so I thought I would finally post a brief trip report about my visit to Manizales this past January. I had initially planned to get there in December but the girl I was seeing wasn’t available to get together during the day because of holiday work so I ended up hanging in Bogota with some friends. I did talk with EbonyPrince who was in Manizales at the time but we didn’t get a chance to meet in person.
I finally arrived in Manizales about the 3rd of January and met my girl at the airport. She looked slightly heavier since I last saw her 5 months earlier (tho it’s not such a bad thing because I like thicker women).
Anyway, we discussed plans for the next few days and I checked into a hotel and we caught up on things that night. The next day we went to
Ecoparque Los Yarumos. The address is: Calle 61B No. 15 A-01 tel: 8783430. This is a nice place to go on a date since there are lots of activities all in one location. They have a cable that you hook on that runs over the tree tops (canopy ride); a museum, ice rink, and horse back riding. We went on a horseback ride for 4km at 15,000 pesos each and took the canopy ride too. Later that night I met her folks and they said they were happy to finally meet me. We looked at some video I brought of my family and friends from the USA and talked about Colombia and what were my plans for the time I was going to be in Manizales. I felt totally comfortable talking with them and they welcomed me as if I was part of the family.
The next day we went to
Recinto del Pensamiento. The address is: Recinto del Pensamiento Jamie Restrepo Mejia. Tel: 8744157 ext. 456. This is an ecological park about 11km from the city. There is a great tour you can go on that seemed to last for 2 hours and there is a ski lift type ride you can take over the treetops. My girl started to seem like something was on her mind so I asked what was up. She said her mom is really dependent on her (which I observed), and wondered how she would adjust if she was not there. I told her I was glad we were having this conversation now and not at the Embassy waiting for a Visa interview. She agreed and said that is why she had to get extra work over the holidays despite the fact we had made previous plans several months earlier. I had wondered about this before but I see now how this could affect our future together.
A few notes:
The city is tougher to reach and it is a 30 or so minute plane ride from Bogota or if you take a bus from Cali, it is about 5 hours. I agree with EbonyPrince that the city is not for a newbie or someone uncomfortable speaking Spanish. There are about 4 Universities in there but don’t count on meeting a lot of women that speak English as they might in say Bogota.
The agency Colombiacupido is the only one in town and they have a decent database of ladies. Apart though of setting up your initial dates, the staff is generally uses a hands-off approach. So if you are interested in getting more info about a girl, you really have to be persistent. On my first trip there, I stayed in one of the apartments owned by Dick the agency owner. I recommend it on a first trip since they are close to the agency and quite comfortable. But on my second trip, I showed up last minute and stayed at a hotel. This worked out ok since it was decent, the staff were very friendly and it turned out to be much less $ a night.
