Jeff012
3/17/2017 22:50 EST
Hello!
My wife and I are moving to Barranquilla in the fall and I'm hoping this forum can help answer some of our questions. My wife is Japanese and I'm an American. I have lived in Europe (Sevilla, Spain), the Middle East (Jerusalem and Cairo), and Asia (Tokyo and Singapore) so can adapt to various cultures. My wife and I lived in Hawaii for 15 years and are used to the slower pace of life and constant phrase of "tomorrow". We don't frequent expensive places and enjoy buying and cooking our own food. So we're probably a little below average when it comes to the type of life style the typical expat is used to. We enjoy a few perks here and there. A few questions we have are:
1) I'll have the only source of income, roughly 6 million pesos/month. Would this be enough to support two people? (a 2 bedroom apartment, roughly 900 sq. meters is plenty). We don't want to struggle with living and still be able to save some money for travel, etc. We do not have any expenses other than our living expenses.
2) Which part(s) of Barranquilla should we look at for housing?
3) Is there an expat Japanese community in Barranquilla?
4) Would I need a car or can we get around with public transportation? From what I read there are only buses and taxis, no rail service in Barranquilla. Is this correct?
I'm happy to hear there are some sports bars that play American football games as I love football. I really appreciate any information on this transition. Thanks!
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Andresen
3/18/2017 11:39 EST
In my opinion, 6 million COP should be enough for 2 but you should come with a few thousand dollars seed money. You may need to pay the first 6-12 months rent up front. And you may need to purchase things like a refrigerator and washing machine right away.
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cccmedia
3/18/2017 12:16 EST
Then, again, some folks live without washing machines and refrigerator.
There are lots of fluff-and-fold places in South America.
I know a teacher in Quindío who is not a foodie .. and she doesn't need a refrigerator. There's plenty of inexpensive food around.
The upfront payment of six-months rent is a Medellín thing, though there are way(s) around it for the skilled and the cunning.
cccmedia
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cccmedia
3/18/2017 12:18 EST
Going to the sports bar every week during NFL season is fun for some, gets old for others.
The major North American leagues including the NFL offer packages via DirecTV and the Internet. No blackouts!
cccmedia
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Visitando
3/18/2017 15:11 EST
I only spent a week in Hawaii, but I was definitely impressed by the high price of pretty much everything, so I´m sure you are looking forward to the lower cost of living in Colombia.
Barranquilla was on my list of must see places in Colombia, too, but I am wondering why you chose it for retirement? It´s hot, no beaches except an hour and half distant in either Santa Marta or Cartagena. No expat community. Has some decent restaurants, particularly the Mexican place in Buena Vista, and Archies.
It´s a city, with amenities, but I didn´t find it very friendly, and there are deuce and a halfs patrolling the streets at night with a full squad of heavily armed police in each truck and escort moto police, so apparently its a dangerous city to boot.
I stayed there four weeks and needed air conditioning every night to sleep, which really annoys me because I´m a light sleeper and every time the a/c would click on to cool it would wake me up. I didn´t get a full nights sleep the whole month I was there.
I was there in 2010 and rented a two bedroom two bath apartment in a gated community, fully furnished for about 800,000 pesos per month including utilities, wifi and the gate attendant/porteria. The same apartment sans furniture would have rented for about half that at that time, surely much more now. I found the apartment through the local classifieds, nowadays I´d look on airbnb for a place to stay.
I had to jog early in the morning and late afternoon/early evening because the daytime weather is just plain hot.
I was in cargo shorts and tee shirt sweating my asss off and I watched workmen pick axing or plastering or whatever and they were wearing long sleeve shirts over tee shirts. Wow, my comfort level is waaaay different from theirs.
In most Colombian cities it is routine to see guys with bad teeth out scavenging the trash drop offs each day on the sidewalk. They carry large canvas or cloth bags about the size of a baby elephant full of cans and bottles and anything worth salvaging. There was this one guy in Barranquilla though that was going one better than that. He had a tiny burro about the size of a full grown St. Bernard pulling a little flat bed card with a former refrigerator carton strapped upright on the bed and he was going along very carefully recycling whatever had value. The burro was well trained and moved around on voice commands, stopping when needed and turning as needed and generally looking pretty bored and slightly embarrassed at his predicament. I was impressed with the professionalism of it.
One day on my early morning jog I saw a 10 wheel truck broke down in the main road leading through the neighborhood. Traffic was backed up for blocks trying to squeeze two lanes into one. At noon I went to the Buena Vista indoor mall to go shopping, and the truck was jacked up, dual wheels laying to the side and the broken axle pieces were laying in the ditch and two guys were working hurriedly to install the new axle while two lanes of traffic passed at a snail´s pace.
On my evening jog the truck was gone and no trace of it ever having been there. I marveled at the self-sufficiency. In a US city this would have been a full court press with State Patrol, local police, one or possibly two tow trucks, to get the offending vehicle towed off the highway and free up traffic. Here, it was just another day in the hood.
One thing I will say for Barranquilla, and Please, I don´t mean this to be sexist in any way, but the number of attractive women in Barranquilla is astounding. Way off the charts compared to some of the other cities I´ve visited in Colombia. Since you already have a partner that´s not going to influence your thinking, I´m sure. but, for me, it was the highlight of my month there, and possibly the single reason I might choose to go there again.
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Visitando
3/18/2017 15:20 EST
jajajaja, sorry, I got gabby and didn´t answer your questions.
these are my opininons only, so others please feel free to prove me wrong.
No, there is not an expat Japanese community. In all my travels around various parts of Colombia I´ve met exactly one Japanese guy.
Yes, 6 million will enable you and your wife to live very comfortable middle class life here.
No, in my opinion you don´t need a car. Taxis are cheap, buses are cheap and they go everywhere. There isn´t any train, except in Medellin, but that´s okay, the buses are adequate. With a car, road tolls, lack of parking, horrible traffic with motos coming at you from all directions, streets poorly marked, highways poorly marked. I´ve only driven a few thousand miles here and I´m not eager to do it again. It was not particularly charming.
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NOLAJoe
3/20/2017 13:40 EST
For what its worth we passed through Barranquilla a couple of times this month. For transportation we used a taxi driver recommended by my Colombian sister in law who travels there on business. His name is Rodrigo and he uses WhatsApp to communicate. The app seems to be widely used in Colombia so if you don't have it already I would encourage you to download it. In any event, Rodrigo doesn't speak English but he seems to have no issues providing feedback as long as you give him the pick up point, time and destination. He met us at the airport and took us to Santa Marta and later on to Cartagena. I don't believe he's cheaper than anybody else but he's very reliable and is not going to cheat you. When not using him keep in mind that taxis on the Caribbean coast don't have meters so you always need to agree on the fare for the destination before getting into a taxi.
Rodrigo Traslaviña
Whats App number:
+57 301 7221001
As for the long term transportation issue, my wife and I are planning on only using taxis regardless of where we end up in Columbia. Keep in mind that a number of cities including Barranquilla have "pico y placa" defining which business hours / days you can drive your car based whether your license plate ends with an odd or even number.
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bigjailerman
3/20/2017 14:02 EST
That's how I do it is well for the most part. I use EasyTaxi application if my regular drivers aren't around. You get a record of who is picking you up. A picture, plate number and phone number is provided in advance. That pico y plata is only in some areas BTW.
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geoffbob
3/20/2017 17:52 EST
Ahem, 900 sq. meters? You would have a heap of a decorating job to trick out a 9,687 sq. ft. apartment.
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Traslaviña72
3/21/2017 10:36 EST
Buenos días señor Barranquilla tiene muchos sitios muy buenos para vivir sin tener q gastar mucho dinero
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SkyMan
3/21/2017 14:27 EST
Jeff, I have been to Barranquilla and spent a week there in 2015. To me, and I lived in SW Florida for 17 years(prior to becoming an expat).....it was HOT...I don't mean hot...I mean H-O-T. Transportation por taxista=sí definitely. You'll find a dependable driver and call him on his cell or WhatsApp, either one. Peases spend a few weeks or a month ther...to check out the weather & learn some spoken expañol, as you'll need it , anywhere in Latinaoamerica.
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