Hi folks:

On the road to Argentina just about 7 months; and I think I'd like to settle down a bit and live and work on my software business somewhere for a month. Or perhaps two places for a month each. Then I'll start moving south again.

My requirements are that I can find something affordable on a monthly basis, reliable wifi Internet access, and most importantly access to the outdoors. I'm really interested in surfing/kitesurfing/hiking/trekking/mountaineering.

Surfing doesn't seem to be that great in Colombia, but kite surfing is. Spots include:
La Boquilla (outside) Cartagena, Cabo de la Vela (p181), Tolú (p184), and Lago Calima.

For all the other stuff (hiking etc), Medellin seems like a good bet. It's got thermals, jungles, valle de cocora, and tall volcanic peaks to climb. That being said, it's *HUGE* 3.5Million people and I'm not loving the idea of traffic in order to get around there. Plus it seems to have some safety issues.

I'm also curious how I would go about renting a place for a month as well, as I've never dealt with that before in S. America (or Latin America for that matter).

Thanks in advance!

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Hi I'm David; headed to South America via a Suzuki V-Strom 650.
http://www.davidparkinson.com

Hello Arooni.

I know a perfect place for you...but a lot more south.

On your way to Argentina, if you feel like stopping for a while, el Valle del Vino, 20 km south of Tarija (Bolivia), has everything you are looking for :

Renting a room a few meters away from the free high speed wimax antenna cost me 30 Euros a month, with spectacular views over the mountains and a few kilometers away from the Quadalquivir river, all you can drink local wine and all you can handle local friendship. And Tarija is a modern thriving town with international restaurants and bars, active nightlife and prepaid 3G plans...and excellent motorcycle parts handcrafters.

Sorry for the off topic, but i thought this could be of interest for you and other travellers...

Not off topic at all! In fact I'd love to hear other great chillout spots in South America that meet my criteria. I think a month there sounds *great*. And did you say only $30 for the room? That's ridiculous; how did you find it?

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Hi I'm David; headed to South America via a Suzuki V-Strom 650.
http://www.davidparkinson.com

30 euros is about $38.93 Canadian, $39.23 US, super cheap. That places is going in my little hand book for touring Bolivia.

Cheers Growler

Hi David,
I'm no longer in Sucre but if you wanted to I could probably set you up with the Bolivian family I stayed with where you'd get your own apartment behind their beautiful colonial house very close to the plaza 25 de mayo. It's a great place in a very beautiful city with tons to do like awesome mountain trails, thermal pools not too far away, incredible hiking, para gliding, pretty much anything you can think of (except for surfing but Arica is only a few days away). Great place to learn Spanish too if that's something you're pursuing.

As mentioned above, Tarija is also very nice but personally I preferred Sucre because there was better bars there (in my opinion). Actually I liked it so much I spent 2 years there and still want to return! There is nothing like drinking a and watching the sun set on that city...... or enjoying the drama which unfolds there everyday.

Back to Arica... perhaps a bit boring for 2 months but it's a pretty cool place with some good waves. People say the water there is cold but I found it to be the opposite (in March). End of the Trail hostel there is awesome and run by the old nam vet Frank who can tell a great story.

If you want to chill out in Colombia then Medellín is nice but I actually preferred Bogóta, Medellín felt very 'miami' to me. Also I don't really understand the big attraction to Cali but then again I don't dance Salsa! Perhaps you do.... cool stuff to do in the area though, make sure to ask in a hostel when you're there. Note that in Colombia I think there is a maximum on 2 months on a tourist visa before you have to border hop, maybe you can extend this at immigration I'm not sure.

Stayed there for 3 month last year at the village "hosteria" (great place with wineyard, you can even stay for free if you work a few hours (working volunteers), to escape Asuncion summer hellish heat. Talked with people in the village, stayed in contact thru facebook, they found the place for me at local prices.