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Colombia: double taxation ?:
HOW DOES COLOMBIA KNOW HOW LONG YOU ARE IN THE COUNTRY?? I have dual citizenship and I breezed in July 5 and I'm cruising out Dec. 9, so I'm under the 183 days, but who is checking this sh*t? If you need a visa or a work permit or are earning money in Colombia, I can see the problem, but I can't imagine how they could ascertain how long I have been here.
Look forward to your response.
Colombia: PayPal:
Pay Pal is the worst system I have ever used for transferring money. 70% of the time the website does not work and it is so frustrating to try and use. If you do decide to use Pay Pal, make sure you tell them you will be going to a foreign country -- by phone -- because Colombia is not one of the countries listed on their alternate country drop down.
BTW I got a Citibank (US) account and can transfer $ from my other US bank accounts to Citi and withdraw here in Colombia with no problem other than the foreign transaction fee.
Colombia: Moving to Bogata in January 2016:
You are in for a surprise. Bogota is huge. If you don't speak the language it is really difficult to get around, figure out the transport system, rent an apt,. grocery shop, etc. I've been doing the same thing as you since Oct. last year and I'm still very far out of my comfort zone, with more than 1 year studying Spanish, knowing 1 or 2 people in Bogota and already having citizenship because I was born here (but lived in the US since age 4). I will still be here in Oct. and would like to hear your impressions once you settle in.
Colombia: Best place for young semi retired single:
Hi. I am also a soon-to be retired, single, professional from Hawaii with the same idea. If you don't speak much Spanish it is really hard to get around. After a total of 3 months in Bogota, attending language school for most of the time, I recently rented a "casa de campo" to check out homes and lots for sale. First of all, bus transportation is the major way of getting out of Bogota and it is quite arduous. My host picked me up at the station in Tunja and we drove about another 1/2 hour to an isolated spot called Licata. There is a bus that passes the house on the hour every day and it takes you to kiosks where you wait for other busses to areas like Paipa, Tota, Raquira, Villa de Leyva. For me, asking directions and getting on and off at the proper stops is very challenging. Half the time the locals have no idea what I'm saying when I do speak Spanish. There is no Multiple Listing Service, nor Real Estate agents for country properties -- you have to walk around the village and write down phone number of lots or casa available, then figure out where they are and talk to the owners, then figure out how to find a bus to get you to the vicinity...I'm overwhelmed and think I'm just not ready to buy property and bring my 3 cats from Hawaii here along with some furniture. It is a HUGE move. Hope you have better language skills, more contacts and a lot more money than me. I think those are the keys to success.
Colombia: TIGRILLO LANUDO – WOOLY TIGER-CAT, ALMOST EXTINCT, FOUND IN HILLS ABOVE BOGOTA:
Fantastic news!
The Tigrillo Lanudo (wooly tiger-cat) has been found in the hills in the north eastern part of Bogota, according to an article in El Espectador on August 3, 2015.
I have a special attachment to a certain Tigrillo, named “Tica”, that was my very first pet. Born in Bogota to a flight attendant mother and geologist father, exotic pets wouldn’t have surprised any of our family members back in the EEUU. Therefore, this is my interpretation and translation of a story and an issue that is close to my heart.
Photo above: Flickr/MarcioMotta
The discovery of the Tigrillo lanudo in the hills above Bogota is especially important to me because my father and his work group, who were geologists for Integrol petroleum, Colombia, in the early 1950s, had a tigrillo for a pet. I always felt sad that the kitten had been taken from it’s mother and hoped that they had enough sense to return it to the jungle to live a normal life. I have since been interested in volunteering for an organization that monitors and helps to save these beautiful wildcats. And now, I have found it: ProCAT Colombia.
(Article website: http://elespectador.com/noticias/bogota/asi-encontraron-al-tigrillo-lanudo-bogota-articulo-576403)
My translation of the article:
Some type of nocturnal hunting animal was discovered by a neighbor in the residential área of Bosques de Torca, a Northern suburb of Bogota, when some chickens and other corral birds disappeared near the farm house. The man reporting the story knew something about the local fauna, and made note that is seemed there were some Tigrillos in the area and contacted investigators at ProCAT Colombia, an entity dedicated to investigation and conservation of ecosystems and species.
Photos from El Espectador article by Flickr/Marcio Motta, and ProCAT ColombiaPhoto above courtesy of ProCAT Colombia.
The story was told to Mauricio Vela Vargas, one of the investigators of the ProCAT organization. He knew that this neighborhood was a forest zone, partially in the Andean forest, where wild species could possibly exist.
ProCAT staff presented a proposal to the local inhabitants who were encouraged to invite neighbors, and other groups, like La Floresta de Sabana to join in the effort to track and monitor possible Tigrillo sightings. ProCAT got support from two universities – Mississippi and Arizona – and kicked off the search as part of the project Bogota Biodiversia. Over two months they installed camera traps at the base of trees where there were footprints and other signs of small animals passing through.
At the end of 6 months, they removed the cameras, and after reviewing thousands of photographs, they found what they were hoping for: records of a mamal called the “Tigrillo Lanudo” , or wooly small tiger, Colombia’s smallest feline. Previously, there had been no data collected or reported of its presence in the hills of Bogota.
While extemely elusive and shy, this particular species of “tiger cat” has been traced from Costa Rica to the Amazon jungle of Brazil. After this shocking discovery, ProCAT focused intensive interest in this particular mamal because it appears that the ones sighted near Bogota may be of a different species than those in other locations, including Brazil. In order to know for sure, however, they will need to to do a genetic analysis.
Tigrillo IMG_1155
Photos from my family album: My dad holding the Integrol petroleum company’s camp mascot — a Tigrillo — in 1952, somewhere in the Colombian outback.
Another challenge for scientists is to obtain the best quality of data on the animal. This species of feline is classified by scientists as a species with deficient data.
“So we are generating this information in order to know what it eats, how it moves, what are their patterns of activity both day and night for publication,” said one of the investigators.
The projectBogota Biodiversiahas achieved identification of other species like the common fox, squirrels, rabbits and serpents.
ProCat members say that their idea is to leave a constant documentary of what is happening with wild fauna in Bogota. And for this they hope to implement strategies similar to which have been initiated in urban zones like Central Park. These interventions take place over a weekend or a couple of days, in which technologists and investigators invite the community to learn to monitor the flora and fauna of their area.
The goal is “Acercar” – To move closer or approach local residents to scientific work.
“In order to have a certain quality of life, we have to conserve the hills,” said Vela. “They serve as the production of oxygen and as the frontier of water. There are many species that the people believe don’t exist but within a kilometer, we have Tigrillos and species we never would have imagined.”
“This type of knowledge, other than to generate scientific data, also permits citizens interested in conservation and biodiversity to approach these scientific fields that are sometimes distant and unobtinable. The monitoring project is also to show the people that biology topics are not strange or unusual to pursue: they won’t make you want to live in the forest tied to a tree, but that this type of collaboration can summon the whole population and supply them with concrete actions that can lead to preservation of our natural resources and prevention of species extinction. It is a subject, that we — as a big part of the food chain — should be concerned about.”
Colombia: Riding Bogota's TransMilineo:
Bogota’s famous TransMilineo is the largest Bus Rapid Transit system in the world. Opened in 2000 the system has 144 stations and serves an average of 2.2 million passengers, who cram into approximately 1000 busses, each day.
I am one of them.
Passengers reach the stations, which are located in the middle of the city’s large avenues, via a bridge over the street. Four lanes down the center of the street are dedicated to bus traffic only. There are both express and local buses, the latter stopping at every station to pick up passengers. The outer lanes allow express buses to bypass buses stopped at a station, and to playfully race the slower busses that are trying to make up for lost time between the local stops.
The bus drivers receive their training at the Isle of Man TT Training Center on the Snafell Mountain Course, and they demonstrate their skills – especially at braking and accelerating -- every day on the streets of Bogota.
Users pay at the station entrance using a smart card (a nominal fee of about 55 cents US), pass through a turnstile, and wait for buses inside the station, which is about 16 feet wide. The bus and station doors open simultaneously, and passengers board by simply (?) walking across the threshold.
At rush hour, any given station contains at least 1500 people. At each stop, when the automated doors open at the platform, no less than 30 people struggle to insert themselves into the bus. At the same time, no less than 25 people are trying to exit the bus, which is only about 6 feet wide. Those who wish to exit are forcefully impeded by those who were not able to board that bus, for no particular reason other than the fact that they are not happy about having to wait for the next bus.
On the bus one is treated to street performers playing music, school kids, vendors selling questionable packets of home-made food, the disabled and homeless, soda and agua vendors, grandpas, business executives, robbers, tourists, moms with babies and security guards, on their way to somewhere.
While official literature states that the capacity of an entire TransMilineo bus is 160 souls, my bus holds no less than 730 people, at any given time, in just one of the articulated sections.
Bogota’s cool weather is rapidly remedied by boarding a TransMilineo bus. Windows and skylights can be opened to provide ventilation, but rarely relieve the body heat of hundreds of heavily clothed Bogotanos. Those who ride the bus frequently, and have survived numerous communicable diseases, are given notarized Certificados of Bueno Salud by the Mayor’s office.
Special classes are offered at various Cuidadanos Avoiding Desperación (CAD) locations around the city to teach the bus-riding public the proper etiquette and body alignment needed to maximize the experience of riding the TransMilineo.
Participants are first shown how to achieve a stance that ensures the traveler doesn’t fall during a sudden stop. Exercises that strengthen the thighs and biceps are especially important to those who must hang on for dear life between stops. (An optional course offers pole-dancing techniques, which supplement basic strength training exercises). Courses in Motivational Pushing and Shoving are the most popular, with lessons on How to Manage and Safeguard your Possessions while Clutching Handrails and Stanchions, are Segundo in popularity. Hygiene courses, such as How to Keep your Hands Clean (or use gloves), Coughing into a Sleeve, Scarf or Someone Else’s Hair (or use a mask), and How to Sneeze Vertically (instead of horizontally) are optional.
At Universidad Naciónal, Universidad de los Andes, and Universidad Militar Nueva Grenada, advanced courses in reading bus route maps are offered to Masters Degree and Ph.D. students, or those holding degrees in advanced linguistics, physics or math.
For more information, or to obtain a TransMilineo pre-paid credit card, go to the cashier at any Transmilineo station, call (+57) 310 243-7098, or email TransMilineo at ¿howf-*/#?ingmanypeoplecanyoupossiblycramontoabus?.com
Colombia: Citizenship for Colombian born to US parents:
I recently found out I was entitled to Colombian citizenship because I was born in Bogota ( more than 50 years ago!!). I went to Bogota and it was quite easy to apply for the Cedula and only 24 hours to get the Colombian passport. I'd be happy to share with anyone who is in a similar situation. I plan to retire somewhere in the countryside, within a several hour drive from Bogota. I need info on renting or buying property, bringing my cats to CO, opening a bank account, transferring money from my Hawaii bank, and potential PT job ops for a retiree. In my past life I was a Registered Nurse, a journalist ( news, radio, tv, film comission for Kauai, PR agent) and operated a Bed and Breakfast.
PS I think this forum is great. Keep it vcoming!
Global Expat Forum: American Re-locating to Colombia: Things I Must Know.:
Hi! I was born in Bogota more than 60 years ago to American Parents who were working in the country for several years. I was told by a consulate that I can apply for Colombian nationality because I was born on Colombian soil -- at the Marly Clinic in Bogota no less-- and I am getting reday to visit Bogota and try to recupe my nationality. Any hits, tips or assistance would be greatly appreciated. I might go so far as to hire someone who if fluent in Colombian Spanish to assist me in the process.
Can anyone help?
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