... in response to To JunFan about Cartagena . . ., posted by yc on Jan 14, 2002

I got serious about finding a wife in Colombia about two and half years ago.  My first trip to Colombia in January 2000 was to Bogota.  

Since that trip, I've been to Cartagena 5 times.  

My first time in Cartagena was in August 2000.  I arranged in advance to deal with the agency Latin Destination, run by Gloria Blakely.  I met about 6 or 7 ladies thru LD, one of whom became my fiance.  I also walked into AFA, managed by Rafael, and paid for one intro.  I used my subsequent trips to Cartagena in order to get to know my fiance before I proposed to her.

I've stayed at four different hotels in Cartagena.  I've eaten in somewhere between 15 to 20 different restaurants.  I've probably seen everything there is to see for the tourist in Cartagena.

The "touristy" parts of Cartagena are definitely not dirty:  the Bocagrande (hotels, clubs, shops, and restaurants), and the old town, an old historical area with very beautiful architecture, museums, churches, etc.

The areas of Cartagena outside of the Bocagrande and the old town are similar to what you would see just about everywhere else in Colombia:  poverty, streets run down, etc.

I went to Cartagena primarily for safety reasons.  Cartagena is considered the safest area in Colombia.  And it has more "touristy" things to do than any other city in Colombia.  It was those two things that sold me on finding a wife in Cartagena.

I have never been to Cali.  I have heard that Cali has more beautiful women, proportionately, than any other city in Colombia.  A few others have said Medellin has more beautiful women than Cali.  I have heard from more than one guy that there are too many Gringos going to Cali, and that some of the girls in Cali have become jaded due to sour experiences with Gringos.

My advice is to go to Bogota.  Bogota is the largest city, the U.S. embassy is located there, and so is the agency with the best reputation in Colombia - Latin American Intro, or LAI, run by Nelson Grisales.  I am not a shill for LAI - never had anything to do with them.  After reading the posts of guys for more than two years, I remember reading more good things said about LAI than any other agency.

Generally speaking, you will find more women with darker complexions in Cartagena than you will in Bogota.  With Bogota's size, you will find more women and agencies to choose from.  The women of Bogota tend to be more educated than in Cartagena or Cali.

... in response to Re: To JunFan about Cartagena . . ., posted by JunFanTX on Jan 14, 2002

Mike,
My friend was in Santa Marta in August.He loved it.The beach was beautifull,the prices were great,no problems.He flew in.I would advise anyone to check out the drive situation carefully before taking a highway.
The downside,I don't think there are any agencies there.Maybe some girls are listed on Cartegena or Barranquilla sites.
Its more of a Colombian holiday resort area I think.

Pete

... in response to Re: Re: To JunFan about Cartagena . . ., posted by james2 on Jan 14, 2002

I can't remember exactly where I bought all the addy's.  I suspect it was on many of the agency sites that all of us have hit at one point or another.  I bought addy's from 3-4 different sources and remember that some sources yielded good results while others yielded none. I think I bought some from Int'l Lady, and Amigo's Intl.  I will admit, I went more by looks, than anything else.  I was not sure where I was going when I bought the addresses.  If I had it to do all over again, I would certainly focus on women from just the city that I was planning on visiting.

I didn't use any online personals, but it sounds like it would be a longshot, but worth trying out...

Mike

... in response to Re: letter writing..., posted by james2 on Jan 14, 2002

Most of the addys I bought had just the regular mail address on it.  Some of them had email, but it often looked as though the email address was that of an agencies.  I wrote them a letter in Spanish, about a page long.  I included two photos also, but they were pictures that I printed with a color printer at my office. I was able to put two pics on one page, rather than try to make 40 copies of each photo.  I did tell them in the letter, that I would like to correspond by email.  That is the only way to go, and most of the girls are used to going to an internet cafe to pic up emails.

I think it took about 2 weeks before I got my first response.  Make sure you keep good track of who you send your letters to...it sure is easy to get them confused if you aren't careful.

Good Luck,
Mike

... in response to Re: Re: Re: letter writing..., posted by james2 on Jan 14, 2002

Junfan said:

"Make sure you keep good track of who you send your letters to...it sure is easy to get them confused if you aren't careful."

Sounds to me like he sent letters to quite a few women.  That's the way to go because not all (and probably not even a majority) are going to respond.  I'd say a 20% response rate is about average.  Some guys do better, some do worse.  I knew one guy who got incredible results (6 out of 7 ladies he wrote to responded).  I've seen another guy write to ten women and get no replies.  You have to remember that the women are doing at least as much choosing as the men are.  Older guys with little going for them who write to the ravishing young beauties are wasting their time and money.

When only a few of the ladies write back, you've got to try contacting a lot to get a decent sized pool to get to know better.

... in response to One thing you should notice, posted by Patrick on Jan 14, 2002

I think I sent about 40 letters down, and ended up with 7-10 responses I think.

... in response to Re: Re: Re: letter writing..., posted by james2 on Jan 14, 2002

I got responses from all over it seemed.  Cali, Bogota, Medellin, Bucamaranga, Barranquilla, and even Caracas...no pattern really.

Mike