Calí

Being a lover of salsa dancing I went to Calí in the hope that I could become totally immersed. I arrived in time for the last 3 days of the International Salsa Festival, which in reality featured mostly performers from Calí, although a few other cities seemed to have a bit of a look in. In the true tradition of political rallies, good audience attendance was guaranteed by giving out tickets for free, so the TV cameras could pan over a packed plaza de los toros. All the barrios seemed to have several schools of salsa, each of which put forward a dance team, and which were cheered loudly by the relevant sectioins of the audience. Calí salsa seems to consist of ultra fast foot work and acrobatic moves which are quite breathtakingly risky, but after seeing it for 4 hours I stopped being dazzled. For me, in the end the best couple was that from Brazil, who were invited to display and weren't even in the competition. They seemed to have it all, a flow, sensuality and of course the physical pyrotechnics. It was all the more fun having been to one of their workshops. There was a US couple who did a beautiful contemporary dance routine, but more with an eastern mystic feel, with unbelievable lifts, so the slight woman appeared like a bird on a strong tree, and even more amazing when she supported all her partner's weight. The British team were camp and embarrassing. They just didn't seem to have the musicality nor the connection with each other. However, none of these was competing.

So in the end, I saw a lot, but didn't dance too much myself, which was a bit of a shame. Partly it was shyness, and partly things seemed to start very late, and as I can't sleep late it was simply too exhausting. I did have some fun with it, but the best evening was when I went out with some people from the same hostel. They seemed to be able to have more fun, whereas the locals seemed to need to drink a lot. And yes, it was very easy to meet women who wanted to go out with me, but in the end what was a fun flirtation and opportunity to practise Spanish became a drag, as there was little in common apart from my ability to pick up the tab. Anna is a nurse and a good woman, but in the end there was nothing to talk about, and she wasn't very patient when she danced with me. They have been dancing a particular way from the word go, so if it doesn't fit, it doesn't work. As I have to consciously work at my dancing and I dance a different style (Cuban) with a different lead it was difficult for me to not lapse back into that habit.

I liked the energy and warmth of Calí, and I could easily have spent far more time there, finding a school and dancing every day for a few months. Then I'm sure it would have gelled.

Posing with a exquisite Brazilian dancer after the workshop she and her dance partner taught

La Ermita Iglesia seen looking down Avenida Colombia

Publicity for a particuarly stimulating concert

The pedestrian walkway across Av Colombia

Teresa, purveyor of fine fruit juices

A young performer poses with her family at the "International" Festival of Salsa

Amazing poise for someone so young

Anna who came to the final of the Festival with me

La Cocina

I had heard that there would be an opportunity to visit a "coke" factory or a "cocina" as they are known here colloquially. My interest along with that of several fellow travellers was piqued, as this seems to be part of the Colombian history and experience as well as a unique apportunity to see something I will never see again. We were charged an exhorbitant $15 each for the privilege,and sadly we weren't able to negotiate the price down, although other groups had been far more successful. I was very ambivalent however, as I did not want to contribute and to collude in such a destructive activity, but in the end curiosity won out.

The man who was our guide and explained the process was at pains to say that this operation was just for show only, but whether this was true or not, was hard to tell. Various people with whom I spoke to in the cities were very dubious that the military did not know about this cocina and that they often work hand in glove with the paramilitaries; there is too much money in this for them not to want a cut. So as ever, Colombia is a country of paradoxes. All I can do is take you on a pictorial tour through the process. One thing's for sure though, the chemicals used in the process are so toxic,that you would be mad to ingest any of this stuff, never mind the perils of addiction and damage of using such a hard drug. It was telling that none of those involved in the manufacture used it at all. Some say that such a tour should be given to all users as it would be bound to turn them off the idea.

The "cocina" in the middle of the forest

Coca plants in the field,according to ou guide it takes 42000 of these to make a kilo of cocaine paste,so this is hugely labour intensive (300 people to harvest) and the production cycle is of the order of 3 months for a kilo of paste. The actual chemical processing ties up 5 people continuously for 10 days or so.

The stripped coca leaves. These are shredded with a garden strimmer for 40 minutes before the next stage.

Salt and chalk used to release the alkaloids, large amounts are needed, something like 20kg of chalk and 10kg of salt (or vice versa, I forget)

The shredded leaves are mixed with salt and chalk with a shovel for half an hour, and then it is stomped on or danced on (without music) for a further hour to make sure that the juices are liberated and absorbed

The mixture is then dumped in gasoline, which dissolves the alkaloids.It takes about 700 litres to produce a kilo of paste and although it only about a third of this is lost in the process due to evaporation, the rest is recycled. the mixture is stirred for something like 4 hoursand allowed to stand.

The residue of the leaves is then removed

50ml of concentrated sulphuric acid is diluted in 10 litres of water and this is added to the gasoline and agitated thoroughly. (This sounds like fartoo little,maybe this was the requirement for the 100gm sample,andthe full kg needs ten times this)

Potassium permanganate is carefully stirred into the acid to precipitate out the chalk and leave the alkaloids in solution. This is where the art comes in, because just enough is added so the solution becomes brownish and has a fine residue.

The correct consistency of residue.

The solution is passed through a canvas filter

The residue is what becomes crack cocaine after further treatment.

The acid is neutralised with caustic soda, again too much will redissolve or destroy the alkaloids so it is added carefully and stirred in.

The milky fluid is filtered through muslin.

To leave the paste.

The paste is what is sold to the traffickers, who wash it with pure acetone, which evaporates leaving 100% cocaine. Each kilo of paste yields 900 gm of cocaine, which is cut with bicarb of soda into 2 kg for export. The finished product fetches US$40 000 per kilo whereas the traffikers pay only $5 000 per kilo of paste. According to the guide, input costs for production are $2 500, as the ingredients have to be shipped in by mule, and because they are being bought stealthily and in quantity are five times or more than the usual price. This means that they earn $1500 for 3 months' work, which is not competitive with goverment grants and legitimate crops.

The traffickers have to pay the paramilitary for access to the producers regardless of the amount purchased. Failure to pay results in them getting killed. The region has a history of paramilitary activity because it was historically a big marijuana producer, and the paramilitaries sprang up to protect turf revenues from raids from other operators. Payments are only extracted from the purchasers and not producers who are/were peasant farmers.

Salento

Plantation House Hostel

 

View from the garden of Plantation House

River Quindio flowing from the mouth of the Corcorán valley from the mirador

Looking up the Calle Real to the fourteen stations of the cross

The town of Salento from the cross on the hill

A colourful beetle on the steps

The city is ringed with beautiful mountains, looking East from Calle Real

El Rincón de Lucy, my favourite comedor

View from the garden of Plantation House, just by the hammock

The view walking past the cemetary to L Sarenna

Opposite La Sarenna

  

The Corcorán Valley

Humming bird at Acaime reserve

Fighting hummingbirds!!??

The arrival

Memo who works as a receptionist at Plantation House, once a drug dealer and robber, now a proud father and chairman of the Aldea de Artisanos, a cooperative whose construction was financed by the Japanese, where he has his home

Mt Morogacho from Finca la Montaña

Corcorán valley on the way back down from the finca la Montaña (the view from the other side)

Wax palms looking down into the valley

Proud Wax palm on the hill standing high above the canopy. These trees are peculiar to the area

Paul and Stado on the walk back from Finca la Montaña

Stado and Sanne, Dutch travellers I originally encountered on a bus in Mexico

Pretentious 10 course meal at La Sarenna

One of the courses; no wonder I still was hungry after 10 of  this size

Savouring the haut cuisine(??)

The chef from Barcelona, a very warm character called Josef with a real sense of drama and occasion. The gourmet denner cost $8, but we could have been in a Michellin 3 star with all the hullabaloo and flourishes