Columbia 6^th Report

On Monday we drove by bus to the La Boquilla Fishing village just outside Cartagena and we boarded canoes for a trip around the tropical mangroves of Cienaga de la Virgen.  Along the way our guides explained the endemic birds and other features of the mangroves.  We saw many nice birds and were impressed with how well kept up the mangrove was and the beauty of the trip.  These boat are small canoes and they tipped as we were poled along.  We were cautious to stay in the middle our seats to avoid tipping the boat over.  I had been on a previous mangrove swamp trip from a cruise ship and this significantly topped that experience.  We saw special white oysters attached to the mangroves stems and many small fish.  When flooding takes places the water level raises 30 meters with no problems for the local villagers.  We saw white grey and green colored herons.  There are also three types of crabs in the area. 

Other facts about the area are that 80% of the Cartagena’s people are considered poor.  One of the guides we had at my request allowed me to sample some coco leaves.  My only reaction was that my mouth was slightly numb. 

On Tuesday, we had a long drive by road to the city of Palamino that is on the Caribbean coast.  It takes six hours.   It started slowly.  One of our fellow group travelers had left 400 dollars in currency under a mattress in a previous hotel.  It was supposed to be delivered Monday night and did not make it.  So the guide spent a lot of time working on that before we left the hotel.  Also, we were in two groups and the bus we were using could not pick up the other group because of a narrow street.  So, the other group had taken another bus and then meets up with our bus at a different location.  On top of that as we were leaving town, the bus pulled over to make a police report regarding one of our group who had her phone stolen out of her bag last night while she was with part of our group eating dinner. This further delayed us.  On top of that as we traveled down the road, one of our groups found two Baggies in a back seat container in front of her with white powder in them.  Suspected cocaine.  The bus was searched as a result.  So, we ended up our final destination over an hour late.

Our guide Julio gave us nice presentations while we drove down the road.  Julio told us the history of Colombia regarding various past presidents and the cocaine trafficking.  Also, there is a communist FARC element, militias, and the military involved.  Presently Colombia is a leading world producer of cocaine.  200,000 hectors of ground is producing 900 metric tons of cocaine a year in Colombia. 

Julio also gave a very good presentation on the Spanish language.  Presently the movies mostly use Mexican Spanish per Julio. 

We are staying at a family farm, La Jorora, which is on the Ocean.  Very nice place.  The showers are cold and I particularly do not like cold showers.  I walked to the beach and it is impressive.   They have three Rhodesian Ridge back dogs here that are full grown and keep each other company.  I took their picture. The food is good.  Last night I went to the beach and took pictures of the waves.  The waves are very strong and do not appear to be that type to swim in.  I saw a horse under the bridge on the way to the beach.   

Today was our last day in Colombia of the tour.  Tomorrow we go to the airports flying.  I think we fly out of Santa Marta.  Today, I walked the property, very steep walk up hill.  I then took a public bus to Palamino.  I walked the streets of this town and there was nothing that attracted me except a nice piece of pie.  The bus on the way back missed my hotel and I spent over an hour on it.   I had shown the bus staff the name and they acknowledged it.  They realized they made the mistake and had another bus going the opposite direction to the hotel takes me.  The return trip should of taken 15 minutes.  The bus was extraordinarily crowded.  I was pressed very close to Colombians for a long time.