Identifying (Colombian) child's service area? Cancel Se requiere un título

Is there a way to tell what service area your kid belongs to?  Mine is in Colombia, but I don't see anything more specific on MyCI.  I've been doing some initial research for the feasibility of a visit, and I've noticed that flights to Barranquilla are about twice as much and a lot less convenient compared to Cartagena.  I'm curious if there's a way to get a better idea of where I'd be going and a ​decent estimate of costs without actually starting the process.   

Hi Dallas. It's exciting to hear you're thinking of visiting. It's such a great experience. Reach out to out Care team via chat, email or phone and they'd be happy to confirm which city. 

Barranquilla and Cartagena are about 2 hours apart by bus, so it may be worth considering flying into Cartagena and then taking a bus to Barranquilla if that's where your sponsored child lives. The bus costs 20,000 pesos - or about 6.30 USD -  one way according to Copetran's website, which seems to be the main bus company between the two cities. 

(For the record, I haven't been to Colombia yet, so this information is from a few minutes of searching on google, not from personal experience.)

Incidentally, I sponsor a child who lives in Santa Marta who used to be listed as belonging to the Barranquilla service area before it all became "CI Colombia", so it's also possible that your child lives in Santa Marta and not in Cartagena or Barranquilla.

Do you correspond with your child at all? Asking her in a letter to tell you about her city (and telling her about yours) is another option.

Hey Gabor2019, thanks for the reply!  I followed ramfam's advice and discovered my kiddo is in Cartagena.  I'm still in the very early stages of planning, but I will update everyone with what I learn along the way!

Hey Dallas_c5853: Don't forget to check out "Visit Your Child" on our website, under the heading "Make A Difference" to get more info on the cost, background check, etc.  And of course, our Care Team is the best source of exact info about visiting your child.  I'm excited for you!

Hi Dallas_c5853,

I have visited Colombia several times including last summer. I always take a flight to Cartagena and stay there as my home base. I took Jet Blue the last time because it was cheaper this time than Spirit Airlines which I usually take. Cartagena has many reasonable hotels inside the Old City as well as in the New City of Bocagrande. I have only stayed in the Old City and it is fun because you can visit many tourist spots while you are there. I have children in Barranquilla and Santa Marta but all visits are arranged in Barranquilla. I had to set up my visit to Barranquilla first, and took a van from Cartagena to Barranquilla. It cost about $30-$40 so a bus would be cheaper. I have just always taken a van. I took the van to the station and then caught a taxi to the CI center in Barranquilla. Taxi's are very cheap, $12 is what I paid and I believe that is the set rate for anywhere you go. Then I spent the night at a beautiful and inexpensive hotel in Barranquilla and took the CI van to Santa Marta the next morning. If you have a child in Santa Marta, you have to pay for the toll I believe. Things have changed from year to year but I believe it was included in my fee this time.  Then after my visit to Santa Marta, I took a van back to my home base in Cartagena.  Hope this helps.