Puerto Colombia -
Because of the proximity of Cartagena to the Panama Canal, the new port there took over and this port is no longer used and now in shambles
Group photo! From left to right, Leah, Anya, Christina, Haley, Scott, Graham, and Rachel
If any one is interested, my good friend Courtenay has written up a post about what is going on in Puerto Colombia and it is far more eloquent and informative than I could ever write up! You can read that post here, I can promise that it is well worth the read!
We then stopped for some delicious fresh, cold coconut water!
So good! This is me and my good friend Wendy, she was our Colombian tour guide throughout most of the trip! It was nice having her along!
El Museo del Caribe -
The Caribbean Museum is one of my favorite places in caribbean coast in Colombia. It shows a lot of the culture, both past and present. There are exhibits on the indigenous people from coastal Colombia, music, tools, the people, the immigration patterns, and so much more!
One of my favorite exhibits is a place with backlit glass. Two people stand looking at each other through the glass. They line up their faces with the other person and you can see how your facial features combine. The museum has this exhibit to show the diversity in Colombia. The Spaniards mixed with the indigenous people, and the African slaves, and the other European peoples, and all other kinds of mixtures.
Here we all are in an replicated indigenous house/hut mad out of palm leaves
This is the wall of words. The majority of these words are primarily used only on the coast of Colombia, however some, like chévere (cool/awesome) are used all over Central and South America
Here we can see some of the different tools other artifacts from many of the indigenous and other pre-modern cultures in Barranquilla, and the surrounding areas
The way that this museum is set up is especially interesting. You take the stairs, or an elevator to the top, then work your way down. First there is an exhibit about Gabriel García Márquez, a famous Colombian author who was born in Cartagena (about 2 hours to the west of Barranquilla), and spent much of his life in Barranquilla. He wrote books that many of you may have heard of, such as, One Hundred Years of Solitude and Love in the Time of Cholera. I still haven't read either of those, sadly, but they are for sure on my list!
Moving down from the top, you move through exhibits on the people, tools, music, stories/words (poetry and things of that sort), and art.
La Victoria coffee processing plant in Minca, Colombia -
As anyone who knows me well... you will know that my list of "favorite things" is quite long! To add to this last, La Victoria coffee processing plant is one of my absolute favorite places to visit! Set up high in the mountains in the small village of Minca, you're able to see incredible views, tour the processing plant and see how the coffee that you buy is processed, and so many more things!
Just about everything in La Victoria is 100% authentically original and over 120 years old!! This is one of the first sacks that they used (seen above). They used all of the original machinery. Everything is 100% organic and the power is received through water generators, the water is collected in natural mountain streams, then heated to create power. The water pressure carries the coffee beans through out all of the area. There are 14 drop off spots and over 26 miles of tubing that allows the beans to arrive at La Victoria to be processed.
Coffee beans! Not quite ripe yet
This is our tour guide. She is VERY well versed in all of the ins and outs of this plant. She's shown here showing us one of the turbines that spins to use the compressed heated water and air to send the coffee beans to all different parts of the plant.
Josh Gordon is the man who created all of the (apparently VERY well made) machinery. He then shipped it over from London and it was assembled in Minca. It's so interesting to see all of the incredibly intricate machinery that must have been painstakingly put together. It's like one giant puzzle, complete with miles and miles of pipes... Just amazing
The fearless Youth Venture leaders, Rachel and her husband Graham, standing in front of the sign
This is a view of the plant that we saw as we walked down the mountain (about a 2 hour trek)
Sans Souci Hostel -
One of the great things about being in well traveled areas is the ability to stay in the economic hostels that are scattered all over! Ours was especially nice (and quite cheap, haha).
The beautiful sun set from out hostel
One night there was a bat in our room, so Graham Rachel and I had to be brave and save everyone. It was... interesting
We took a (very long) mule ride up to the top of the mountain in Minca. It was a very fun, and very interesting trip! Our mules were fair well behaved, and seemed to know where they had to go. We were a little sore by the end of the trip, but it was well worth it.
We go to the top of the mountain and there was a hostel (who's name has escaped me at the moment). At the hostel we had lunch, and were given a short history lesson of the hostel.
The hostel was originally a finca, or a country home for a wealthy European man who had moved to Colombia for business. A lot of his children and grandchildren are still very important politicians in coastal Colombia.
We were told the story about how during the unrest period in Colombia the FARC, or Fruerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia/ Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia - The People's Army.
As you can see from this incredible view, it's pretty easy to understand why the FARC may want this location. Set high up in the mountains one can see Minca, Santa Marta, and on a clear day all the way to Barranquilla (about 2 - 2 1/2 hours away). They were able to do their planning and ensure that they their plans were getting put through.
However, they were not the only ones who thought that this would be a good position. The para-military groups also had their eye on this finca. They were able to watch and guard the roads between some of the largest cities on the coast. Through long range walkie-talkies they would/could shut down the roads, ensure that their drug mules were going to the places they said they were going, and so much more.
During the takeover of the FARC group, by the para-militaries many people lost their lives. This got the Red Cross, and Methodist Church to get interested in the goings-ons in this location as well. This all took place over the course of many many years. Eventually groups were able to safely go up the mountain and have peace talks with the para-military groups, who were in control at the time. After many trips, the para-militaries left their posts and gave the finca back over to its original owner. The owner then paid to have people go all through out the area, over the WHOLE mountain and tear out every single cocaine plant. That is quite the feat!
Hearing about this gives me hope. As a Mennonite... I love peace. Sometimes the idea of a "peace talk" is a little cheesy though. Mennonites all over the world have been involved in peace talks though. Programs like Cristian Peacemaker Teams and others like it through the Mennonite Church just fill me with hope though. The fact that this peace talk, in recent history (with in the last 13 years) made peace really happen... it just gives me so much hope that peace talks in other parts of the world will work, and we will be able to live in harmony with each other!!
PS - I have been in Colombia for SIX HUNDRED days! How is that possible?! So exciting!
No comments:
Post a Comment