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I have been in my condo in Mexico (and away from Colombia) for exactly one month today. During my first month in Colombia I met Che’s (and now my) wonderful family at Finca Venezia, saw the wonders of Bogota, stayed with Cheimi, Toti, Maggie, Pichi, and Dori, hiked with Naty and Daniel, saw lovely Barichara, and went crazy at the extreme sports capital of San Gil. And my first month in Mexico? No travel, no family, no fellow backpackers, no hiking, no restaurants. But I shouldn’t complain: my family and I are safe, and so are you. Life indeed could be at lot worse for all of us. Stay safe!
It is 5 AM, and we’re off. Day 2 was a lot of up and down walking, for a total of 16 kilometers.
We had a lunch break in the middle of the day, shared with another group of hikers heading back.
I was the last to complete each leg of today’s hike. But the guide assigned to bring up the rear told me I was “muy fuerte”, and I was applauded by the rest of the hikers when I arrived at the last rest stop. I think the fact that I’m doing damn well for an old fart has everybody impressed. But in fact I was slowing down towards the end of the day, pretty darned tired.
We passed a Kogi village on the way.
The Koguis, Arhuaco, and Wiwas are the indigenous groups, descendants of the Tairona, who now live in the area.
As we approached our camp, Cabaña Paraiso, we were saluted by two soldiers stationed nearby.
The area is now completely safe but was at one time off limits to tourists because of the armed conflict between the Colombian National Army, the National Liberation Army (ELN), and the Revolutionary Forces of Colombia (FARC). In 2003, ELN kidnapped eight foreign tourists visiting Ciudad Perdida. In 2005, tourist hikes became operational again and there have been no problems since then. The Colombian army now patrols the area.
After dinner, our tour guide gave us a talk on the history of this area: coca, marijuana, gold, tomb robbers, indigenous versus government versus guerillas - an amazing history. I learned that the Koguis are an extremely peaceful people, with no offensive words in their vocabulary, because, said our guide, they don’t need them (!).
We were given a demonstration of how the fibers for mochilas and ropes were made from the leaves of a native plant...
... and how the men prepare and carry their coca leaves, which they consume with ground up sea shells.
Here is our guide, by the way: we became good friends.
OK, It is 7:15 PM, and we are going to get up at 4 AM to be the first at Ciudad Perdida, so good night!
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