Salento - colonial, natural, but don't drink the water - extended post.

May 2010 - As travelers, we are often those who are most aware of the dynamic currents of our world systems, of events and things as they happen and we make our passages through. Salento, in el Quindio department of Colombia, stands juxtaposed between the modern and colonial Colombia - and makes for a spectacular traveler's treasure trove of experience, both ecological and cultural.

Valley overlook from the town, Nevado del Tolima of Colombia's Eastern Range in the background. Salento, Quindio, Colombia.

Model (but functional) bridge built entirely of Guadua bamboo, using no metal nails. Housed in a guadua-themed bio-reserve in the department of Quindio, serves as a regional center for promoting use and development of this hardy grass. Quindio, Colombia.

The connection between people and nature is well-understood in Colombia. Big trees in a regional bio-reserve. Quindio, Colombia.

Flat ground ...or incline? Just one of my personal favorite photos.
Guadua Bio-reserve, Quindio, Colombia.

A testament to the universality of bamboo, this species is from Japan and its bark has traditionally been used as the face makeup for Geisha's. Specimen from guadua bio-reserve, Quindio, Colombia.

Decades after disuse, railroad tracks still dot the forested hillsides. Outside Salento, Quindio, Colombia.

Often converted from railroad tracks, many of he mountain roads are solidly built. Quindio, Colombia.

Chicks & chicken, populating a small-scale organic artisanal coffee plantation. Salento, Quindio, Colombia.

El Quindio is a main piece of Colombia's breadbasket - its the coffee region, and a major source for the industrial-grade bamboo, guadua, among many other crops. Salento, a large municipality in el Quindio, has long stood as resplendent of the traditional crafts, arts, and lifestyle that so characterized this part of Colombia. The main part of the town is situated at the foothills that are the entrance to el Parque Nacional Los Nevados - among the few remaining glacier fields around the equator. The region is rich in natural resources and traditional heritage, and the thriving systems of agriculture have subsisted for centuries. Only now are the traditional systems in the more remote regions of Colombia butting against modern agriculture, and the contrasts are startling.

This is where coffee begins. Organic artisanal coffee farm. Step 1. Salento, Quindio, Colombia.

Wonderfully healthy and rich organic, shade-grown coffee plants. Bananas growing in between. Step 2. Salento, Quindio, Colombia.

Old-school artisenal farming - picking the ripe berries by hand and by sight. Step 3. Salento, Quindio, Colombia.

Husking coffee beans - by hand. At this farm, the rind is kept and mulched, then reapplied to the fields. Step 4. Salento, Quindio, Colombia.

Sun-drying the husked beans, small-scale farm style. Step 5. Salento, Quindio, Colombia.

The second-best part of the coffee-making process: roasting the beans, by hand, over a wood-flame stove. Step 6. Salento, Quindio, Colombia.

Take a break! Roasted coffee beans - cooled down and ready for the next step. Salento, Quindio, Colombia.

Grinding roast beans, by hand. I've heard from java junkies that it keeps beans from overheating as is common with most electric grinders. Step 7. Salento, Quindio, Colombia.

The favorite part for most - the brew. Clearly there's a distinct flavor, strength, and preparation of tinto, the common Colombian-style coffee. Step 8. Salento, Quindio, Colombia.

Truly traditional, organic, shade-grown coffee farming. Contrary to belief, coffee plants do not require total light, nor vast quantities of water; this system of farming maintains an extremely healthy balance of all living things on the farm using minimal resources. Salento, Quindio, Colombia.

Pineapple, happily growing between the rows of the atrisenal coffee farm. Healthy for the farm, healthy for farmers' income. Salento, Quindio, Colombia.

Comparison shot of conventional coffee farm, as compared to artisenal, organic farming. See 'Step 2' photos to compare. Quindio, Colombia.

Our host encouraging a toast - pulled over on a hillside road approaching the local Glacier Park el Parque del Nevado, Quindio, Colombia.

Comparison shot. Truck for reference - Colombia's national 'tree' is really a palm - Palma de Sera - Wax Palm. eEl Parque del Nevado, Quindio, Colombia.

Another favorite photo - photographing the photographer. El Parque del Nevado, Quindio, Colombia.

Wax palm hillside. The height of these palms indicates the area has remained undisturbed for decades. El Parque del Nevado, Quindio, Colombia.

Looking skyward. El Parque del Nevado, Quindio, Colombia.

Looking down across the valley, treetops and hilltops - another favorite photo. El Parque del Nevado, Quindio, Colombia.

However, don't let your guard down here, traveler. Not in mind are thieves (present worldwide) or guerilla rebels (military everywhere around the town) - these are the everyday, often observable and 'felt' kind of threats we learn to watch for most often. Traveler, beware the water here! Upon completion of a wonderful, locally-sourced and prepared meal I paired with the finest of locally-sourced and boiled water - in a glass cleaned immediately before with un-boiled water. The error of my way, unlike that of all my compatriots save I, was to bemoan (internally) and humbly decline (outwardly) the proffered first choice - cola, sans ice, in newly washed glass.

Looking out from in, on the church bell-tower, on the town square. Salento, Quindio, Colombia.

Late afternoon on the main strip in downtown. Salento, Quindio, Colombia.

The obvious colonial latin charm of Salento makes it an attractive respite hub for trekkers and backpackers through this region of Colombia. Salento, Quindio, Colombia.

View of Salento's downtown from surrounding hillside. Note position of church spire in town square. Salento, Quindio, Colombia.

View up the valley. Note the solitary homesteads hidden in the hillside. Salento, Quindio, Colombia.

Trekking around Salento's valleys and farmsteads - in the rain. Quindio, Colombia.

I'm no mycologist, but the fruits of this mud pie make me smile. Quindio, Colombia.

More fungus, some of my favorite lifeforms on earth, decomposing trees. Quindio, Colombia.

Mid-morning fog heralding the start of our hike thru the valley. Quindio, Colombia.

Barn-side discovery - the saddle room! Salento, Quindio, Colombia.

More colonial-styled homes and buildings, paired with typical Colombian cold-weather garb in foreground. Salento, Quindio, Colombia.

Typical site in rural places around the world - a row of Jeep Willy's around central square of Salento. Quindio, Colombia.

Main church in central sqaure of downtown Salento. Quindio, Colombia.

Roadside produce stand. A thankfully common site in this part of the world. Quindio, Colombia.

"The Quindio wants you alive." Roadside warning. Quindio, Colombia.

Real use of Guadua in the public domain - toll plaza built of the bamboo in full use at the border of the department of Quindio. Colombia.

Hillside grazing, along the departmental border of Quindio. Colombia.

I thought initially this was a wildfire or a battle. I learned instead that it's just a process in crop rotation - burn what's left of sugarcane before planting again. Quindio, Colombia.

5 days later, and about 12 lbs. lighter, I made my way sprightly back to Cali; whereupon the ever-overly-concerned elder matrons of the clan opined incessantly amongst themselves on which form best to pursue in order to keep me from getting sick again.. or getting kidnapped.. or injured.. or from having much fun whatsoever.  Unless I went escorted by an authorized local clan-member.  I enjoy my cousin's dearly - and its to them I'll make it up - but its the oppressive-feeling manner of the elder ways' that I had to escape. So I did...

 Next up : Bogota!

The photos laid out heretofore are taken with an Olympus Stylus 1050 SW

 
These works by Tim Paez are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License