Evening,
Once we passed through the residental district we were on this dark strip of a road that had me & Stivalis wondering WTF have we gotten ourselves into. At the end of this road was the beach. Our driver hangs a right & downshifts, because he's now traveling on SAND & SOIL!!! We get to the Hotel La Red. Hotel La Red is actually a three story cabana. We trudge through the sand with our bags to our rooms. Our rooms? Stivalis said, she specifically requested one large room as opposed to small ones. My baby is heated....Howard please wait here, while I speak to the front desk. I let my woman take the lead on this since she made the reservations & the people at the front desk, don't speak any english. Knowing my lady as I do, she doesn't like be jerked around by people. Specially if money is involved. Seems like all Hotel La Red had was single rooms. The Cali agent has lied to Stivalis & she ain't happy at all!!!! We take the larger of the two rooms to end the matter for now...lol.
The room is made of wooden planks with some gaps in the walls & doors. The bathroom is small without hot running water. The master control for the A.C. for the entire floor is in the hallway. The unit temp was set for SIBERIA!!!! After freshening up, we went to Auntie's house. Taxis are not as plentiful on the beach front as on the main strip. Traveling through Tumaco yeilded much of the same as described in Part1. However, I noticed that there weren't any local police on the MILITARY. Every trooper had an M16 with a minimum of 4 clips. Didn't see an unloaded M16 at all. I didn't recall such a heavy military presence even in Cali.
While riding through the bario, one could feel the heads snap & the eyes focusing on them. Folks knew, that we weren't from the hood, that's for sure. Once we reached Auntie's house, we were swarmed by family. There was much love in the air. Folks, what these people didn't have any money & material, they gave it all in love....No Doubt!!! There were too many names & faces to remember that first night. I come from a small family, so all this attention was overwhelming but welcomed. I heard stories about Stivalis as a child, that she probaly never would have mentioned. It was a great nite, until the mosquitoes came out for blood. There are plenty of them in Tumaco. Combine this with the heat...yeah, you get the picture!
The following morning, after counting mosquitoe bites & wondering how in the world they managed to bite us so many times, in so many different places, the cabana started to shake. The sound was all to familier.....HELICOPTERS!!!! A BUNCH OF 'EM. I've never heard this much helicopter activity in Cali. Why here in Tumaco? After the copters flew over, I started to hear gun shots. I'm no arms expert, but the fire I was hearing wasn't M16. It was a larger caliber shell. By this time, Stivalis is ready to get the hell out of dodge. The locals tell us, this has been the norm for the past 6 months or so....Daayyuum
next: Plan Colombia, up close & personal
Peace....Howard
