Mompós (August, 31st)

Another late morning. When I leave the hostel it feels even warmer and more humid than yesterday. The thermometer reads 44°C at 9:40...yesterday it was 38°C... I head to the cemetery, making use of even the smallest patch of shade I can find.

The beautiful patio of my hostel

The cemetery really is an interesting place. The gate welcomes you with the words "Here life and infinity touch". The graves are adorned with colourful flowers, some of them real and others artificial. Just outside the cemetary I meet a group of people and I stop to have another conversation. It´s the perfect place to practice one´s Spanish - we should have an exchange programme with Mompós!

A tad ironic? These flowers wish a happy day!

I stroll back to the main plaza and stop at several shops selling filigrane in silver and gold, a local specialty. But it´s just too hot to move and so seek shelter in the internet café for the next couple of hours before taking a moto taxi to a manufacturer of filigrane jewelry.

I let the taxi take me to said manufacturer of filigrane - first of all because I also want to see how it´s done and secondly because I was told that that´s the only place where I can pay with credit card... After a while we find the house and I have a look around. The owner shows me the different steps of producing the delicate jewelry. This is truly art! I would never have the patience (nor the skilled hands) to create the minute patterns.

Then I move on to the shop and find really nice and more or less affordable bracelets - but when I hand over my credit card I´m told that the machine doesn´t work and that I can only pay cash. The problem is that I´ve run out of cash but also don´t have my maestro card, so I have to tell the texi driver to take me back to the hostel to get the card. Then I pay ATM#1 of 3 a visit - out of service. Same with ATM #2 of 3. I´m beginning to get worried as the next ATM after #3 would be a 2 hr drive away... When I arrive at ATM #3 all of Mompós is already there forming a long queue. 45 hot and worried minutes later it´s finally my turn and my card is rejected. I try again and this time it works. Pooh! But the maximum amount is very low and so I have to repeat the time consuming procedure several times until I have a big wad of bills in my pockets. I´m glad I´m in laid-back and safe Mompós. The taxi driver is very relieved when he sees me leave the bank with a happy face. We drive back, I finalize my shopping (get a bit more discount for all the trouble) and then return to the centre. The perfect moment for a nice fresh orange juice and then I walk back to the hostel, on the way stopping at a small corner shop. A group of boys asks for a couple of bags of chips in return for singing and performing a song. I wouldn´t want to miss that and so a handshake settles the deal! What a show they put on!

Back at the hostel I have a cold beer and help an Australian girl communicate with the physician - who is very unconventional to say the least! Still, kind of fun to watch and talk to, as long as I don´t have to endure his treatment! Then I walk back into town to have a last dinner in Mompós. On the way back I share the streets only with thousands of geckos and some frogs (or toads). Time to pack my bag and hit the sack - I´m picked up from the hostel at 3 am! 

Mompós (August, 30th)

I sleep long, have a shower and then leave my cool room. The heat is intense, a lot more so than yesterday! I have a look at the roof-top terrace but have to get out of the sun quickly.

So I try to keep to the shade, which is very scarce and usually already occupied by the locals who avoid the sun, too. I first visit the "botanical garden", an unkempt patch of land not far from the hostel. The old man, Ernesto, who lives there takes me around and shares his extensive knowledge about the medicinal properties of the different plants. It´s a very interesting visit and maybe one the most memorable botanical gardens I have ever been to!

Then I continue my slow and unhurried discovery of this charming town. As long as I stay out of the sun I can just about stand the heat, but around midday it becomes extremely oppresive.



The "fur" mat is used by men to prevent the sun from causing damage to the most sensitive body parts ...



Not even an ice-cold fresh orange juice ease the "suffering", so I enter an internet place, enjoy the fun and fast broadband connection. Excellent opportunity to update my blogs! At 2 pm I return to the hostel because I´m going to take a boat tour of the swamps and the river a bit later on. I had planned to hit the shower but the woman in charge of the hostel, Carmen, and I have a nice long conversation in a typical momposine rocking chair instead. Shortly before 3 o´clock the Australian-Norwegian friends arrive, too and soon after that we meet Freddy, our captain. The breeze on the river is just delicious and while Freddy skillfully navigates through the canals, rivers and lagoons, he points out iguanas, herons, egrets, some monkeys  and a great number of kingfishers to us.

En route we pass a few tiny fishing villages, fight our way through overgrown canals and finally reach an island. The family taking care of the island is very friendly. They raise all sorts of animals and have different crops, too. It´s been a while since I last saw people so peaceful and calm, it even reflects in their relaxed facial expressions. Freddy takes us around and explains plants and the local way of life. It´s all incredibly scenic and very interesting.

We leave the tranquility of the island and head for a lagoon, where some of us, including myself of course, go for a swim in the very warm tanine-coloured waters. There are patches that are just as warm as a thermal pool! It´s difficult to climb back into the boat, but with a little help from Freddy we all make it and then it´s time to return. The breeze on my wet body feels fantastic. We experience a very colourful sunset on the water and when we return we are all glad we got on the trip!

I talk to Freddy and Carmen for a while, then hit the shower and head for the restaurant, where I meet with my friends from Australia and Norway and some more people from the boat. The evening is wonderful - good food, good conversations and no worries! Then it´s time to say good-bye, but I´ve got a feeling we will meet again some day. I walk back to the hostel. There´s nobody else on the street and the thermometer I pass still says 34°C at 11 pm...