Trip On The Road Less Traveled

[JimD]

This is not a recent trip but it is a report on a trip on the road less traveled that I made some years back.

During the time when I would come to Cali and stay at an agency I made the acquaintance of a European guy named Ruud who lived in a village in the mountains of the western cordillera about two hours by bus from Cali. We’d met on the internet via a forum dealing with nature topics and he wrote and said next time you visit Cali why don’t you come up and visit me and my woman Blanca. I’d only visited the big cities previously and the idea of getting out into rural Colombia, more or less safely was appealing. This was prior to Urine’s presidency though and the FARC were reported to be twenty thousand strong. Depending on destination travel outside the cities could be risky especially for foreigners.  I was still accustomed to taking a taxi from the airport to an agency and then being in their safe hands for the duration of my visit but I decided to give it a try. A date at the agency said oh I’ll go up there with you and I was grateful for the company. I thought what a small world when Ruud told me  just go to the main bus terminal, go up to the second floor and ask for the collectivo to Trujillo and tell the driver to let you off at the gringo’s house.  Anyway good I was all set…then the girl backed out.  I would have to head out into the Colombian countryside alone and with not such good Spanish but I decided to go ahead with it. I taxied to the bus station and two hours later as promised the little buseta  pulled into the village and took me right to the door of my new friend’s house. He, a tall skinny Dutch guy and a colombiana were outside waiting. 

At lunch there was a young Indian girl with a lazy eye at the table. She was very shy and barely said “mucho gusto, Lucia“.  My friend said she was the girl of his mayordomo but the guy had been beating up on her so she was kind of taking refuge with Ruud and Blanca. I didn’t pay any more attention to her. It was all new and interesting and I toured around the village. The next day I returned to Cali and then the US.

Some months later I planned another visit to Cali  and Ruud said why don’t you come back to Trujillo and we can make a trip over the cordillera to the edge of Chocó and hike some forest trails. We could  bring Lucia along, maybe you’d like her. I said well bring her along if you want but I’m really just interested in the trip idea for the sightseeing and nature hike.

I arrived in Trujillo and the next day we arranged for a Willys driver to take us over the mountains to the village of Naranjal.  We’d spend the night there then continue on until the road came to an end and the forest trails began. So we set off from Trujillo in the Willys, the driver, Ruud, his big black Rotweiler, Lucia and me. The trip up over the mountains on the dirt track road to Naranjal took the better part of the day and the scenery was spectacular. At Naranjal the driver left us and went to stay with some relatives. We snacked in the park where some Indian women tried to ask us for money. It was the only Spanish they knew. Then we went to the police station to ask where we could go the next day that was “sano”.  They told us you can take the road west out of the village towards Chocó but don’t take the road  north. There are FARC there. That settled Ruud said he’d go make arrangements with the hotel (it consisted of three rooms over a meat market and cost three thousand pesos a room, about a buck and a half ) and told me to go with Lucia to the ferreteria to get her some botas pantaneras (rubber boots) as the trails would be muddy. He’d lent me a pair but didn’t have any for her small feet. Getting her the boots was the first time we’d exchanged two words the whole day. That evening we went to a bar and drank some beer. The bar was full. We were told it was usually empty since none of the locals had any money but that night there were a bunch of  paramilitaries in Naranjal and they were enjoying a little R & R. They were the only ones who had money.

We got back to the hotel and to my surprise Ruud had rented only two rooms. We stood there awkwardly for a moment then he said to Lucia, who are you going to sleep with, him or me? Ah the simplicity of country life…She looked shyly at the floor and nodded towards me.  They’d planned this apparently but it was a big surprise for me. I woke up the next morning with a girlfriend.

Our driver came and picked us up and we headed west towards Chocó.  Nearing the end of the road we came upon three young guys with some big gunny sacks.  They asked us to give them a lift and my friend  asked me if it was ok since I was paying for the jeep. I said yeah ok but as they climbed aboard the driver gave Ruud a look and he said to me don’t say anything, I don’t want them to hear your gringo accent. They tried to ask me some questions but I waived them off. Ruud told them I didn’t speak Spanish. And they seemed to buy it.  He told them I was from Romania (Romanian travelers in Colombia are usually pretty poor so not choice kidnap targets). When the road came to an end they suggested we walk with them since there was lots of interesting nature to see on the trail they were taking. We said no you go ahead we have to talk to some people in this house for a while. We watched them head off on a trail going down hill with their sacks (they were headed for coca fields in Chocó) and after fifteen minutes we took off on a trail headed up hill.  Later the driver told Ruud the guys were FARC who’d been in Naranjal in civilian clothes to buy the “remesa” (food supply). They kept a low profile because the village was full of paramilitaries who’d have shot them dead if they knew who they were. 

Well the way things were at the end of the road there were three of them and three of us not counting the girl plus we had the big Rotweiler and they were unarmed so they didn’t do anything more than offer the invitation to go with them which we declined. With my poor Spanish I wasn’t catching all that was going on so was much more relaxed than I should have been.

Later that day returning to Naranjal we stopped at a spectacular waterfall along the road. There happened to be a couple there who the driver knew. They were mayordomos at a big finca a few hours away at a four corners called Dos Quebradas.  They needed a lift so climbed aboard then said why didn’t we spend the night at the finca.  Sounded good to us. That evening we sat around listening to the campesinos and my friend commented that no matter how many years I lived in Colombia I would never understand their conversation.  The next day the owner of the finca came up from Cali and invited us to go with him to some forest on his property while he inspected some trees to be cut.  There were some long steep hills on the hike to the forest that nearly did me in but Lucia chugged up like it was nothing. No Cali chica this! In the woods we came upon a family of Howler Monkeys which made it worth the climb.

It was dark when we finally left for Trujillo and it was a long exhausting drive on those dirt tracks but we made it back safe and sound.

The storey didn’t end there but this is already pretty long. Suffice to say getting to know Lucia, a young campesina, montañera Indian girl was a unique and  enervating experience after meeting and spending time with so many city girls. On a later trip I went with Lucia to Bahía Solano in Chocó. That can be another trip report.

[dennislevy]

now you re talking,thats the kind of trip report I llike to read. lots of details!

Here one of my rules of thumb for for gringos in Colombia,unless youve had a rooster within 2 feet of you, you havent seen the real Colombia!

making the transition from I m at the agency...they will take care of me....to being self reliant and traveling in Colombia is one of the best things that can happen to a foreigner...if he can do it!

thanks,JimD!

   

[whitey]

Interesting story, Jim ... thanks for posting ...

[AndyLee]

Excellent story Jim, thanks for posting. I'm looking forward to part two to hear more about Lucia.

[Researcher]

   Nice report Jim!


   Researcher

[Dan Las Vegas]

hey jim,

Great report, nice change from the usual ones, look forward to part two

Dan LV

[raycjs]

Jim

great report, very different from the normal reports we read on here.


Ray

[Bob_S]

making the transition from I m at the agency...they will take care of me....to being self reliant and traveling in Colombia is one of the best things that can happen to a foreigner...if he can do it!

Very true, and a good rule of thumb for travel most anywhere.  When you reach a point where you can break away from the package tour or the "Western" hotel, your world will truly open up.

Great story, Jim.  I'm also looking forward to hearing more about Adventures with Lucia.