FLIGHT OF THE PHOENIX: Tubing & Weaving

Monday, 23 December 2024

Tubing & Weaving

Don Diego River, often used as an Amazon substitute in movies

We survived another night without air-conditioning! Because of the storms overnight, young Jonah informed me that the humidity level dropped from 95% yesterday to a more comfortable 82% today. Regardless, we started our tubing trip early to avoid the peak heat of the day. By 0800 we were on our tubes and floating down the Don Diego River. The river was often used as a substitute for the Amazon as it looked similar but was much more accessible. The Lost City of Z was filmed here as was The Mission. As per our experience on the Santo Domingo River, it was quiet and idyllic and it felt like at any moment a large anaconda or crocodile or a school of piranhas would attack us...We reached the river mouth to the Caribbean Sea safely and it was an easy walk across the sand to a quiet beach. When we were ready, a boat took us back upstream.

It has been remiss of me not to have mentioned the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta earlier. It is the area that we are in currently and is an isolated mountain range in northern Colombia, separate from the Andes range. Colombia's highest peak is found here at around 5700m and it is located a mere 40km from the coast. So we stood at the beach and looked back at snow at the top of the mountains. It was surreal.

We all enjoyed our hour of chillaxing in nice cool freshwater, and it was a lovely relief from feeling hot and sticky. We saw pelicans, herons, ibises, howler monkeys, as well as caimans (mini crocs). Fortunately we didn't see the latter until after we were in the boat...

This morning's mode of transport

Getting off at the mouth of the river

And on to the Caribbean Sea

Quiet beach for now

Jonah desperately wanted my phone

The game of writing in the sand before the waves wipe it clean

So many different birds. Because lighting you can't see the bright yellow of his top half

Boat taking back upstream

I didn't need to know that there were caimans here

It is hard to make out, but there was snow on the peaks of the mountains

Once again, 10 points to Christian for commitment!

To take a photo of this fella

Red howler, taken on my phone

It was lunch back at our hotel and then a mochila weaving demonstration by an Arhuaca lady, Rosalie. We later found out that she and her daughter had to walk 2 hours then catch a bus to get to our hotel. As per their culture, there was an exchange of gifts at the beginning. The hotel kindly provided our "gift" consisting of various items such as coffee, rice, and beans. We then hiked up to the viewpoint of the hotel and nearly died in the process. Luckily it was cool up there but we may lost weight from just sweating.

The Arhuaco was one of four indigenous people of the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta. Christian translated the importance of the mochila to their culture and Rosalie then showed us how they make the mochila. Girls as young as 3 start to learn to weave. The starting material is with agave fibres, which then gets dyed with natural substances. They are allowed to work with dyed material after their first menses. When they are proficient enough, they can move on to wool. It was a lovely quiet afternoon. I would have bought a mochila but unfortunately I didn't love any of the patterns that Rosalie had. Because of the time it took to make the bags (two months on average), they cost anywhere between USD85-100.

I know I have whinged and whined like a spoilt princess...but I am glad that we came. Would I do it again? Probably not! However, overall. it was an important and contrasting part of Colombia that I wouldn't want to miss.