Mountains, Desert, Lakes, Rivers; That was Tuesday


Not really, but almost. We’re not sure if Lori and I have spent more time hiking up and down carved stone steps,



or natural wood stairs 



and mountains, at high altitudes or sitting in the back seat of an SUV being driven from place to place for a week by Carlos. 


Narrow, single lane two way roads, twisting through the mountains, one side up against sheer cliffs, 




the other on the crumbling mountain edge looking down into river valley 3000 feet, flush (ask Marc and Andra what that’s like). 






And if you’re unfairtunate enough to get stuck going uphill behind a slow moving, filled to the brim, oil truck, with not many places to pass (and there are many such trucks on the road due to the non-existence of a pipeline, nor any other way to transport oil through the country, ergo, lots of ‘em) resulting in much time wasted breathing in their diesel fumes behind the slushing behemoth explosions waiting to happen. Hi Maureen.

Peligro – Spanish for Danger


We’ve covered a large chunk of the country overland. Mountains like you’ve never seen so many of, tons o’ waterfalls, 




Lakes


One of Magdalena’s Sources




Not the first Quebecers, apparently

Rivers deep and wide. Like the Magdalena. 


We’ve been at its source, 





it’s narrowest point (5′-6′ wide), 



it’s midst in Mompox, 



and at its mouth near Tayrona National Park. 

















Plus, there’s a song called Magdalena. It is written by Frank Zappa, it’s about a girl from Montreal. You should give it a listen.

Mountain climbing, horseback riding, 







it’s all been pretty eye opening on more levels than there are stories in the cloud.


Very spiritual, too. There are areas in Colombia that have been known for various narcotics over the years, Pablo mostly of late. But the shamans around here had a thing going way before Spain even showed up. Originally, to those in the west it was all about Colombian weed, then things ‘progressed’ to another national snort, I mean sport. But the real deal, in my opinion, was Back in Ayahuasca Days”. Sounds like a Ramone’s title. Still being used somewhere around here, I surmise.

Today we spent 5 hours on the road arriving at Tatacoa. Ever been there? You shoulda. Effectively, we spent the afternoon at one of our favourite places in the world, i.e. Arizona. 





Haven’t seen colours like these that we are being gaschmaltzed (overwhelmed) by, since Sedona.


I believe, and have probably written this before (old age slipping in) that every individual on this planet has a natural habitat, be it oceanfront, the spruce mountains, the jungle, but for Lor and I it’s the desert. Anywhere we go, we feel at home in them. Perfect temp today, especially if you like hot and dry.


Here’s some more fodder for you HTF people. Y’know – HTF did Stonehenge happen, HTF was Machu Picchu built?, the pyramids?, Easter Island?, HTF did the Nazca Lines get drawn?, etc. There is an area in Colombia known as San Agustin. 

It is the home of some mysterious and magical statues. 

Larry, Curly, and Moe



Archeologists and tomb robbers have been sifting through the hills of this village and surrounding areas for about a hundred and fifty years.They’ve succeeded in unearthing more tombs with anthropomorphic statues guarding them than you can shake a divining rod at. Adding to several inexplicable accoutrements which form part of the statuary, each statue faces a direct cardinal point, or as is known in Latin, Stanus Musialis




The commonalities presented by the pyramids, these statues, Stonehenge, etc., all facing directly into the sun on the day of the solstice is beyond comprehension. Using today’s technology – maybe. But without access to sextants, GPS, wheels, telescopes, and the like, the case for local knowledge 3,000 years ago, combined with the technology to install and align presents questions that require serious pondering. 

This is supposedly a fish. Made by Boeing, perhaps.


Further adding to the confounding of the situation are parts of the costumes and physical features added to the statues. The almond eyes are explained away as being a shout out to the jaguar; one of the most sacred animistic symbols of the region. But anyone who has watched an episode of The Twilight Zone, has watched a movie on Channel 5 during the 1960’s or has seen ET knows that almond eyes are associated with aliens. While attempts are made to explain away accoutrements as being hairstyles near the ears of some of the statuary, no question that Bose could use the images to promote their latest wireless headphones. 



Ditto for what appear to be breathing tanks on the backs of several of them. The largest sculpture, about 7 metres tall, indicates a C-section birth. 

Baby being removed from mother (upside down) notice slit down her middle


Pretty advanced for the stone age, I’d say.


Three of the sculptures drew my attention more so than the others. The first is a frog. Now, know that frogs are highly esteemed by the ancients since as amphibians, they bridge the gap between water, the source of all life, and the Earth, where we now hang out. It also bore a strong resemblance to my friend Howie. 


The second sculpture of a monkey, just had some type of supernatural draw.



I can’t explain. 

Statue number three was a combination of human feet, a serpent, with a bird being the predominant figure. The name of this statue derives from the ancient Quechua tribe. It is know as Papa-ooh. 




And that is the word.  
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  • Susanne
    Posted at 07:06h, 27 January Reply

    Love your descriptions and language! My favorite:“gaschmaltzed“, will put that to my vocabulary immediately!

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