Pica Rosso Pizzeria is a popular restaurant in Sabaneta with good Italian food and pizzas that hasn’t been discovered by many foreigners.
Several Medellin Guru readers asked if there is a good Italian restaurant in Sabaneta. This pizzeria/Italian restaurant is located about six blocks from Parque Sabaneta but hasn’t yet been discovered by many foreigners.
IThis Italian restaurant was recommended by a Medellin Guru reader and I recently tried it and found that it has good food. This is a small restaurant with only five table but they have a big menu.
Many Medellin Guru readers have asked about restaurants in Sabaneta. So, we are increasing our coverage of restaurants in Sabaneta.
The popular Medellin Guru blog in Colombia has now been under attack four months in a row with millions of DDoS attacks, SPAM, fake comments and fake emails.
The attacks started with a DDoS attack: on April 24. And the Medellin Guru site was attacked by a denial of service attack which shut the site down briefly in the afternoon.
The attack of fake emails has increased so we have a new policy. If you are not a Patreon subscriber or a subscriber to our free email, we will not answer your question but will send an email challenge asking for proof you are a real person before answering.
Las Lajas Sanctuary (Santuario de Las Lajas) is arguably considered the most beautiful church in Colombia. It’s also considered by many to be one of the most beautiful churches in the world.
Las Lajas Sanctuary is a minor basilica church located in Ipiales, which is located in the southern Colombian Department of Nariño. The church sits on a 130 feet tall bridge over the Guáitara river. In addition, it’s located less than seven miles from the Ecuadorian border.
This beautiful and breathtaking church has remained off the radar for most foreign tourists to Colombia. This is due to it being located a long way from the major cities in Colombia. So, it’s still an off the beaten path destination.
El Poblado vs Sabaneta. We comprehensively compare two neighborhoods popular with expats in the Medellín metro area to see which is a better place to live. We compare the two neighborhoods in eight categories.
El Poblado is the most popular neighborhood for foreigners living in or visiting Medellín. Also, El Poblado is considered the most upscale neighborhood in the city of Medellín. In addition, El Poblado is where the most hotels and furnished apartments catering to foreigners are located.
But no neighborhood is perfect and there are downsides to El Poblado. Also, Sabaneta is a municipality that is quickly growing in popularity for foreigners living in the city or visiting.
In addition, we surveyed readers in April and found that Sabaneta has become the most popular neighborhood for new expats here less than two years.
The Medellin Guru visa services was launched in March 2019. And in 29 months, a total of 432 visas have been successfully received by Medellin Guru readers:
In addition, this visa service renewed 55 American passports in Bogotá and provided visa stamping services to 10 clients. In addition, 28 clients extended tourist visas using this visa service.
So, in total we had 525 clients of the Medellin Guru visa service in 28 months, which is an average of 18 clients per month.
Many Medellin Guru readers have asked about health insurance and other types of insurance. So, we partnered to offer Colombian insurance services to readers, which has now helped over 135 Medellin Guru readers obtain insurance in Colombia.
Features of this Colombian insurance service include:
Bilingual – English and Spanish.
Email quotes.
Free consultations.
Offers health insurance, travel insurance, auto insurance, homeowners’ insurance, life insurance.
Moving to a city in a foreign country is complicated. Medellin Guru offers services for expats in Colombia. In 29 months we helped over 1,010 clients.
Medellin Guru starting offering services in March 2019. Since that time with our partners we have helped over 1,010 clients with visas, insurance, expat consultations, apartment rentals, real estate services and Spanish classes and expat consultations.
We helped over 115 new clients in December, January and February! In March, April and May 2021 we helped over 110 new clients. And since March 2019, we helped over 1,010 Clients in 28 months.
We partnered to offer visa, health insurance, real estate, furnished rentals and Spanish school services to foreigners to help with relocation:
Our partnerships are affiliate relationships (like the Amazon affiliate program).
If you use our partner services, Medellin Guru receives a small commission and you support the website. This is at no additional cost to you. The price remains the same, whether you use a button or affiliate link for these services on this website or not.
In addition, we offer a popular Expat Consultation Service to answer all your questions about visas, renting apartments, neighborhoods, health insurance, buying property starting a business and many other topics. We have done over 310 Expat Consultation calls or in-person meetings in less than two years.
We want to thank our partners and clients and subscribers! We now have a total of over 1,900 clients and paying subscribers.
Medellin Guru uses a partial subscription model with premium content locked for paying subscribers. Starting in January 2020, Medellin Guru starting moving to a partial subscription model.
We already published 83 premium content articles on Patreon in FULL. That means about 12 percent of the best content on Medellin Guru is premium content, which is the most comprehensive series of articles about moving to Colombia available.
Over the next three months, we plan that about 15 percent of the over 670 articles on Medellin Guru will be locked for Patreon subscribers and available on Patreon.
By asking for help from our readers to remain ad free, we already have over 910 paying subscribers (patrons). Thanks everyone!
Popular Premium Articles About Visiting and Moving to Colombia
We plan to publish any new premium locked articles and updated locked articles in full on the Patreon website. So, you can now think of Patreon as the new home for Medellin Guru’s premium content.
Subscribe nowto Medellin Guru's premium content for as little as $3 per month.
Medellin Guru is the only blog in Colombia that has a policy of not letting articles on our website become out-of-date.
Some articles have been updated multiple times, as things change constantly in Colombia. Things are now changing so fast due to coronavirus in Colombia.
We are trying our best to keep up and we continue to update more articles than ever before!
In the past 133 weeks we updated a total of 1,928 articles. Here are 9 of the 18 updated articles from the past week:
Colombia is an up-and coming travel destination in the world with tourism increasing each year until the coronavirus pandemic hit. We look at 15 top mistakes tourists make when visiting Colombia.
If you are planning a trip to Colombia, congratulations, Colombia is travel destination growing in popularity for a very good reason with an amazing diversity of beaches on two coasts, mountains, the Amazon and much more.
When I first visited Colombia as a tourist in 2006, I never imagined I would be living in Colombia. Over the past several years I have seen several mistakes tourists make when visiting Colombia. Also, several Medellin Guru readers asked about common mistakes that tourists make.
Planning a trip to Colombia can be daunting, especially if you don’t speak Spanish. We recommend trying not to fit too much into one trip, learn some Spanish and take some safety precautions. Follow our tips in the above article, and you will avoid the most common mistakes tourists make when visiting Colombia.
You must be a Medellin Guru Patreon subscriber to read this premium content.
This article was updated with updates to several sections and added one mistake.
Medellín vs Mazatlán, Mexico, which is really the better place to live?
In our Medellín vs Mazatlán comparison, we comprehensively compare the two cities in 20 categories to see which is the better place to live in for expats.
In our Medellín vs Puerto Vallarta comparison, we comprehensively compare the two cities in 19 categories to see which is the better place to live in for expats.
The Live and Invest Overseas retirement publication chose Mazatlán, Mexico as the second best place in the world to retire in 2021 and ranked Medellín as #10.
If having a lower cost of living, better climate and better healthcare are your most important categories, then Medellín would win for you.
And if having beaches, less pollution and less traffic are your most important categories, then Mazatlán would win for you.
You must be a Medellin Guru Patreon subscriber to read this premium content.
This article was updated with updates to several sections.
Medellín vs Belize, which is really the better place to live? Both places have been rated as two of the top foreign retirement locations. So, which is really better?
In our Medellín vs Belize comparison, we comprehensively compare the two places in in 19 categories to see which is the better place to live in for expats.
ILive and Invest Overseas in 2021 ranked Ambergris Caye, Belize as #9 and Medellín #10 in its list of the best foreign retirement locations.
But Medellín in our comparison of 19 categories is arguably a better place to live than Belize with Medellín easy winning in 12 of 19 categories.
If having a lower cost of living, better healthcare and having good public transportation were your most important categories, then Medellín would win for you.
And if having less pollution, less traffic, an English-speaking country and being more of a tax haven are more important, then Belize would win for you.
You must be a Medellin Guru Patreon subscriber to read this premium content.
This article was updated with current updates to several sections
Medellín vs Buenos Aires, Argentina, which is really the better place to live?
In our Medellín vs Buenos Aires comparison, we comprehensively compare the two places in 21 categories to see which is the better place to live in for expats.
Medellín vs Buenos Aires comparison of 21 categories, Medellín edges out Buenos Aires if you equally weigh the categories by winning 10 of 21 categories. Buenos Aires wins in 8 categories due to being a bigger city.
If having a lower cost of living, better climate, better healthcare and proximity to the U.S. are your most important categories, then Medellín would win for you.
But Medellín in our comparison of 19 categories is arguably a better place to live than Belize with Medellín easy winning in 12 of 19 categories.
And if having more job opportunities, more things to do and more restaurant choices, less pollution and more English spoken are your most important categories, then Buenos Aires would win for you.
You must be a Medellin Guru Patreon subscriber to read this premium content.
This article was updated with current updates to several sections
Colombia plans to vaccinate 35 million in Colombia for COVID19 this year. To meet this goal, Colombia needs to ramp up COVID-19 vaccinations.
If Colombia wants to vaccinate 35 million people this year, the country needs to ramp up the vaccination rate, which it is doing.
As of August 23, Colombia had administered a total of 33,405,365 COVID-19 doses.
In 84 days from June 1 to August 22, Colombia administered 23,323,243 doses, which is an average of 277,658 doses per day in the 84 days from June 1 to August 22. So, the vaccination rate in Colombia starting in June, July and August has increased over the rate over the prior few months.
You must be a Medellin Guru Patreon subscriber to read this premium content.
This article was updated with vaccination data for Colombia from August 22.
We look at 28 of the best restaurants in Sabaneta, Colombia. Sabaneta is the smallest municipality in Colombia and is located south of Medellín and Envigado in the Aburrá Valley.
Sabaneta has been growing rapidly and is adding restaurants at a fast pace. For example, when Mayorca mall in Sabaneta was expanded in late 2015, it added many new restaurants
TripAdvisor for Sabaneta is missing many of the best restaurants in Sabaneta. So, be careful with TripAdvisor restaurant ratings for Sabaneta.
With my Colombian wife’s help, we both collaborated to select and order our list of the 28 best restaurants in Sabaneta:
This article was updated to add Pica Rosso Pizzeria to our list.
Colombia’s retirement visa is intended for retired persons receiving a retirement income. This retirement visa is relatively easy to get with a low-income requirement and only a few documents needed.
Medellín in particular in Colombia is gaining a reputation as a top foreign retirement location.
At the current exchange rate, the retirement income requirement for a Colombia retirement visa has dropped to $705 USD at the exchange rate of 3,866 pesos to USD,
The visa agency we partnered with has helped 154 Medellin Guru readers obtain Colombia retirement visas including 9 in July and has helped several readers open businesses in Colombia.
This article was updated again with the current retirement income requirement in USD for the Colombia retirement visa with the current exchange rate.
DDoS attack: on April 24, the Medellin Guru site was attacked by a major denial of service attack which shut the site down briefly in the afternoon. We now have DDoS protection.
The Medellin Guru website continues to be attacked daily by DDoS attacks. As of August 24 the Medellin Guru website has been attacked by DDoS for 123 days in a row.
The number of attacks has decreased so we were able to remove the message from Cloudflare for two weeks. But we had to turn this on again on June 9 due to an increase of attacks.
We need help from readers due to the continued DDoS attacks! These attacks are costing us time and money to defend the site..
This article was updated with information that DDoS attacks have continued on the Medellin Guru website for 123 days and limits on comments on the Medellin Guru site.
Medellin Guru really needs the help of Readers this month, particularly after the continued DDoS attack, which required adding DDoS protection.It only costs as little as $3 per month to subscribe via Patreon and have access to everything.
Save 15 Percent on Annual Subscriptions to our Premium Content
Medellin Guru now offers annual subscriptions on Patreon for access to our premium content. Save 15 percent compared to the regular monthly rate for a limited time.
If you are a current monthly subscriber to Medellin Guru, you can upgrade TODAY to annual and save 15 percent!
This discount was popular with readers in past months so we brought it back until the end of August.
You can choose to pay for Patreon on an annual basis instead of monthly. It’s a great way to show your support of Medellin Guru. And in return you’ll get a discount of 15 percent when you do.
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By asking for help from our readers to remain ad free, we already have over 910 paying subscribers (patrons). Thanks everyone!
It only costs as little as $3 per month to subscribe via Patreon and have access to everything.
Readers you now can “Buy Medellin Guru a Coffee” to support Medellin Guru. Medellin Guru needs the help of readers to remain ad free with no sponsors.
Many readers have asked for the ability to make a one-time donation instead of an ongoing Patreon subscription. So, we have a way for readers to make one-time donations.
You can buy just one coffee for only $3 USD (or you can buy more then one coffee, you can enter how many coffees at $3 USD each).
Medellin Guru has helped thousands of foreigners over the past 3.5 years. And we absolutely would hate to add advertising. Also, we would like to add staff to help with the growing site.
We provide a curated list of weekly Medellin events if you are looking for something fun to do in Medellín. Our popular weekly update covers events from August 26 to September 1, 2021.
Due to the coronavirus pandemic most regular weekly Medellín events in the next week are canceled.
Also, OSLA International normally hosts virtual language exchange online each Wednesday. And Barrio Central Café Bar has a language exchange scheduled.
We decided to include in our calendar this week the regular weekly events that are canceled so readers will know which weekly events were canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic.
We may start to see some events being scheduled later in September. So, bookmark this page that is updated weekly so you don't miss any events.
The weekly Medellin Guru newsletter now has sponsors. We currently have seven sponsors for our weekly newsletter:
Darrell and Diana Reamer
David Williams
Mary Johnson
Charlie
Anonymous
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If you are interested in becoming a sponsor, see our article about Medellin Guru on Patreon with our different membership levels.
Join the Medellin Guru Events & Discussion Forum
28 months ago we launched the Medellin Guru Events & Discussion Forum, which is very active with over 3,570 members.
This Facebook group is intended for the followers of Medellin Guru and other expats and readers interested in sharing experiences and ideas about living in Medellín and visiting Medellín and Colombia.
In the past 29 months, over 900 events have been posted in this group as well as over 3,500 other posts, which are categorized. The following are the most popular categories of posts:
Colombia News - 856 posts
Healthcare - 816 posts
Expat tips - 551 posts
Visas - 295 posts
Restaurants - 255 posts
Transportation - 236 posts
Travel in Colombia - 227 posts
Venezuela News - 194 posts
Things to See and Do - 161 posts
In addition, this group is actively moderated with absolutely no real estate ads permitted unlike other Medellín Facebook groups.
While that elevation (8,530 feet) means you're more likely to be shrouded in clouds than gazing at a starry night sky, when it comes to coffee and culture, the metropolitan city does not disappoint.
This new story from CNN are some of the best ways to experience Bogotá.
We are always looking for feedback and we are happy to answer questions. So, if you have suggestions for articles or the website or have any questions, please reply to this email.
Best regards,
Jeff and the team at Medellin Guru
P.S. If you are a new subscriber you can see all the previous Medellin Guru newsletters here:
