Things that are basically always vegan in Colombia, unless otherwise noted.

Vegans can almost always eat or drink:

1. Juice (jugo) except that you nearly always need to specify jugo con agua, because a lot of places like to put milk in it, making it jugo con leche. I recommend lulo, mora, naranja, and maracuya.

2. Lentils (lentejas). Lentil soup is naturally vegan in Colombia, except in resaurants and homes that like to make things fancy and add chorizo. So, just ask if you are in doubt: Tiene carne o pollo o chorizo o sustancia? If they say no, you´re good to go.

3. Fruits and veggies, although I generally don´t think it is a great idea to eat any of the fruit sold at street vendors, solely because most of them do not wear gloves or wash their hands and I have gotten sick too many times.

4. Some crackers sold in Supermarkets. Most Dux and Club Crackers are okay. Almost no granola bars are. Read the ingredients. Avoid anything with huevos, leche, mantequilla, queso or gelatin.

5. Santander 70% dark chocolate. This is very important.

6. Rice (sometimes it has butter, which is mantequilla, or milk, which is leche.) I like coconut rice best, which is arroz de coco.

7. Salads without dressing (or only oil, which is aceite, and vinegar, which is vinagre).

8. Most versions of plantains, including platano maduro, patacon, and tostones. When ordering a giant patacon (like in Salento), the best vegan topping is a mixture of pina and pimenton, but it goes by different names. Just ask for it. Platano maduro is sometimes served with butter or cheese, so just ask if it has queso. (Tiene queso o mantequilla?) Tostones should be fine no matter what, but avoid eating most Colombian guacamole, because they put mayonaise in it (generally speaking, it is okay in most Mexican restaurants though.)

9. Canned beans in the supermarket that are ONLY beans... basically just garbanzos. Always read the ingredients, and avoid anything called manteca de cerdo or other meat.

10. Fruit popsicles at Mimo´s.

11. The refried beans at many Mexican restaurants.

12. Falafel at most Arabic resaurants.

13. Things you cook yourself.