Bucaramanga: The City of Parks and Hormiga Culona
Bucaramanga — the capital of Santander — is known for its dozens of parks, its roasted ants (hormigas culonas), and its bumangués pride; the most prosperous city of the Colombian interior after Bogotá and Medellín
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Parque García Rovira
The colonial Parque García Rovira - Bucaramanga's oldest square - has the Church of San Laureano, the former Gobernación building and the daily market activity; the square is the city's historic heart and a social crossroads
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Hormiga Culona: Roasted ants
Hormiga culona (literally "big-bottomed ant") — leafcutter ant queen roasted and salted — is Santander's most famous delicacy and Colombia's most unexpected snack; the ants are harvested once a year (April-May) and have been a delicacy since pre-Columbian times
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Carne Oreada Santandereana
Carne oreada — beef dried in the sun and mountain wind, then grilled — is Santander's signature meat preparation; the result is chewy, intensely flavored and eaten with arepas de maíz, hogao and chicharrón in the Santander meal
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Turn off Santandereano
The dumb santandereano - a thick, hearty stew of lean, corn, chickpeas and vegetables - is Bucaramanga's most distinctive home cooking; the slow-cooked stew, served in market restaurants at lunchtime, is the definitive Santander comfort food
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Bucaramanga Parks Culture
Bucaramanga has more parks per capita than any other Colombian city — the "City of Parks" has dozens of green spaces that serve as the city's outdoor living spaces; the park culture, the walking culture and the evening session reflect the bumangué lifestyle
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Universidad Industrial de Santander
UIS – one of Colombia's top public universities – provides Bucaramanga with a significant university population; the Andean environment of the campus, the student culture and the intellectual life in the university quarters are important parts of the city's identity