We ended up with two weeks free in June and I couldn't resist searching the internet for "cheapest international flight". Evan was brave and took the leap. Ben was game for adventure. We booked tickets to Bogotá on Monday and left that Sunday. I broke my brain trip planning in the days between.
The natural beauty of the place was stunning...
Rio Claro, Valle de las Cascadas, Rio Melcocho (where electricity arrived in 2012), Cabo Corrientes. Ben swung on lainas into swimming holes below oropendola nests. Flocks of toucans and troops of monkeys kept us company as we bathed off a beach of marble bedrock. We spotted sea turtles, leaping manta rays, and a sea serpent from a lancha cutting through warm Pacific waters. Rain brought relief from the heat at night. Lightning illuminated a basilisk and ocelot crossing patio tiles.
People were lovely...
Johnny (the gay bartender at Dios), the kids whom Ben played hard with (Clemente, Maria, Ílan, and Selva), the grownups with their stories of the época de violencia as well as cultural and environmental conservation efforts (Eliana whose French husband is a safety kayaker, Clemente's grandfather, Néstor and Yoly, Sandra and Hernán, Alejandro and Marcella). We saw almost no foreigners on our travels, but plenty of Colombians were out and about on school break.
Bearing witness to history was unanticipated...
Families traveling by mule to vote in Santa Inés for the next president (the drunken policeman that day as well as those stricken by the results). We watched World Cup games in an Irish pub and gathered with friends sipping viche around a laptop that trailed the kitchen radio by minutes.
Lessons learned...
No need to trek in the tropics again. Next time, we ride on top of a chiva. Yellow Fever vaccinations are free at the Bogotá airport. When in the bookstore, buy the book. We considered this hotel, but were glad we ended up at this one. No need for rainjackets, but a fan is clutch (as was a lack of checked bags). There are two airports in Medellín.
Details I want to remember...
How everybody greeted "¡Buenos Días!" in unison with an echoed reply. The blind man with his stick, the woman lifting small weights, and the ultra cyclists all making their way along the side of the highway in a haze of exhaust from the semis hurtling by. The road signs urging drivers to be mindful of sloths, armadillos, squirrels, and tortoises.
We are of it and return to it (in dreams, waking life, death).
Feeling a lack of luck?
Expand the surface area of your life so luck has a greater chance of finding you.
Feeling owned by an emotion?
Expand your life (notice the bird outside the window, take up a new hobby, bike to school the long way) and the ratio changes.
you don't realize it yet
that this is when
you began to lose him
each ship sailing on
as it was meant to sail
(needed to sail)
parting company
you thought your work was done
your gaze shifted
loss is a surprise
in the wake of your vigilance
with loss
will come grief and shame
their own ocean
to drown in or cross
to be a child
who has lost a child
is a risk for
eldest daughters