Biodiversity

Cecy and I returned to La Piscina, this time to stay the night. We met our friend Yamie in the centre of Manaure, he's  the head honcho under the owner. He organised our room for us and then we had a wander into Manaure. The venues that were open were a little too lively for us, we came here for a quiet night away from it all so we bought a couple of drinks from a local shop. Funny idea because the shop owner takes your order through a little hatch in a metal door like the ones in prison, disappears for a little while and then your order is pushed out through the hatch. We walked back to our room at La Piscina to spend the night after downing our drinks under the stars.....what a clear sky!We had to walk back into the centre of Manaure to catch a "taxi" (actually just a local guy in his car making a few pesos) but I was struck by the diversity of fruits and plants here. These pictures were taken walking along one road in town.

These are coffee beans growing on some bushes in the grounds of La Piscina. They are not ready to pick because they are still green. They will change to either yellow or red when they are ripe for harvesting. They only go brown/black once they have been picked and go through processing.

In this picture you can see two different types of mango growing in trees alongside each other. The green ones are the bog standard mango that you would expect but the red ones are called Mangos de manzana (apple mangos) and are a different variety of the mango. I haven't tried a mango de manzana yet so can't comment first hand on them. The normal mangos grow in the garden of our house so I both eat them and have drinks of mango fairly often.

Here's where I start to get a little bit out of my depth because I am by no means a botanist. I just take the pictures and Cecy tells me what they are called. This particular tree-growing fruit is a Guanabana.

A little more familiar this bush-grown fruit, at least I have heard of it. These fruits are Maracuyás. Cecy told me this is a plant that behaves a little bit like ivy, growing attached to a larger tree - no sign of that here though.

OK, happier here because this is familiar territory. It doesn't take an horticultural expert to recognise these babys. These are bananas to you and I, here they are called plátanos, bananos or guineos depending on where in Colombia you are. The are either picked green (plátanos verdes) to be used more like a vegetable or picked yellow (plátanos maduros). Over here they actually prefer bananas nearer to black than yellow but they don't ofter seem to eat them like a fruit preferring to fry them or use them in recipies.

Not really much to add here.......coconuts.

This is a type of citrus fruit called toronjas. Look them up on google because that is about all I know about them! I could look it up myself for completeness but I am here to spend time with my other half, not researching on the internet.

I'm not going to upload all the pictures of the flowers in this street, just one as an example. All the flowers I took photos of are varieties of Margaritas (Daisys in the UK). This particular one is called a Margarita Fucsia. The other versions I saw are Naranjas (orange) and Rojas (red). 

One final point is to reinforce that these plants were all found in one street about seventy metres long. A diversity to admire I think.

La Piscina, Manaure

After the school visit Cecy took me to a bar/hostel called La Piscina on the edge of Manaure. In the past it was dangerous to visit here because of the presence of guerrilas but it is safer now. On the walk there we passed a tree with a wasps' nest.

A little further down the road I was just a little surprised to see this horse wandering freely in the street, nobody even seemed to register that the horse was there. It is so tranquil in this village, Cecy and I are going to look for a place here.

Ok, so eventually we arrived at La Piscina. I have to say I was very impressed, I love this spot.

Cecy poses for me before we cross the bridge over to La Piscina. Heavenly location and a goddess for company, man it doesn't get better than this! The river below the bridge is fast flowing, almost rapid-like through the rocks. I love the sound of running water. One of my dreams before arriving here was to visit the beach (also called La Piscina) in El Parque Tayrona on the Caribbean coast of Colombia. We are planning to go there on Thursday so perhaps loads of photos of that day to follow. Fingers crossed here.

I guess the owner (nice guy originally from Medellin) is a bit of a romantic judging from the signs over the bridge. The first reads "Con un beso sella el amor para siempre" (with a kiss seal [your] love forever). The second reads "Arroja una moneda al río y pide un deseo" (throw a coin into the river a make [ask for] a wish). Not a great view of the river but at least you can get an idea.

I was there after all. I keep taking pics of Cecy and forget about myself at times, easy to do though. Quite the picture this one too, it's not very ofter that you can see a photo of me next to a horse. I have never liked them very much but am going to have to from now on, especially to visit Cecy's sister's ranch in the nearby mountains. It's a a trek so I'm told. Perhaps we'll go there this week.




Ok, a few more pics to show the river. Take note of the kids swimming in the river and the soldiers on gaurd on the road overlooking La Piscina! There is also a pic of a banana tree next to the bridge we crossed to get in here.

Today I think we are going back to the parque de diviertos, amusement rides in town. Let you know later.

Out of town

Yesterday Cecy and I had to attend a parent teacher day for Juan Filipe at his school in Manaure, a village near to Valledupar. The school has an outstanding reputation. It is a church run school from which students graduate with professional standard qualifications, they can enter professions here with the same regard as graduates from university. However, the kids do leave for school at 5 o'clock in the morning and return home with homework. It is kind of refreshing to see the kids sit down with their homework and tackle it with enthusiasm. Cecy and I returned home after the football yesterday (and a few drinks in town) and Vanesa was still working on her homework!

En route to Manaure from Valledupar by taxi. In the background of this picture is part of tha Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta mountain range.

Taxi rides are a real experience here. There appear to be only two speeds in cars, stop and flat out. I took a short video of the return trip yesterday, quite a thrill ride! Cecy has said to me that we will die together one day, for a moment there I thought yesterday was the day!


Below are a few pictures taken in the school grounds.

How's your luck?

I couldn't believe my luck when two fillings I'd had in my front teeth since I was thirteen years old both fell out within two weeks of travelling here to be with Cecy. She soon put my concerns to rest. Let's go to the odontologist, no appointment required and the cost for the replacements plus a descale, clean and polish were less than the cost of one filling in the UK. Result!!

Is this your bike?

How's this for an idea? Very common here. Bike riders wear jackets and helmets displaying the bike registration. Give's the police a chance for a little stop and search if there is a mismatch.

Enough for today, El Mundial mañana

I might come back with more food talk later but from tomorrow it's the  World Cup, so for now it's good night from us both. We're off to bed now.

These can be eaten all day but this picture was taken at breakfast. This is a single meal cut into quarters. This a called an "Arepa", "Arepas" in plural. They are made from a maize flour mix, in this case filled with cheese. I have had them made toast style with toppings rather than fillings. They are simple and quick but tasty. This version is "una arepa delgada" cooked on a grill pan but they are also made "gruesa", thicker and smaller in diameter "al horno" (in the oven).

Again at breakfast, these are "empanadas de pollo (chicken)", a sort of crispy battered chicken pasty. I do like these. As a rule the Colombians are not inclined to spicy foods, they prefer meals consisting mainly of beans and rice. However, Cecy's mother likes spicy food so I get a little bit of a kick in anything that she cooks.
I have had more fruit juice here than I have previously in my life, but then there are three mango trees in the garden and other fruits freely available here too. There are guys that walk around the neighbourhoods selling goods from trolleys they call vendedores ambulantes. This drink is "mora con leche" (blackberry). I often have mango, obviously, "la guayaba" (guava) and "tomate de árbol" (mangosteen - had to look this up in a dictionary...I still don't know what it is in English but it is lovely).

A street vendor selling "coco con miel", little pots of honey covered coconut. I did sample a pot just for the sake of research. Actually, I was surprised to find I liked it. Probably a good idea to put it into small pots though, I think more than that could prove a little sickly.
Enough for today, I have a wonderful woman calling me. Nos vemos amigos.

Late Visitor..........STOP PRESS

Had to include this. Just as I was winding up my last post we had a friend visit the house with his monkey. Seeing is believing. Also I have made a few typos in this post, correct spelling of this town is on the t-shirt, Valledupar.

Las Comidas

Apologies for the delay. I have been out and about in town and was kind of busy getting engaged to Cecy! Here are a few examples of the culinary fare on offer here........so, for example.

Obviously Colombia is famous for it's coffee worldwide but in Colombia the gold standard for coffee, so I'm told, is served up in Juan Valdez's outlets. This here is my first cup in Juan Valdez and is a Latte Arequipa. I have to say that it is a great cup, slightly sweet even with no sugar with a hint of toffee...oh, my God. I'm starting to sound like the ponsy woman on tv describing the wines!

OK, as for the beers. I am a real ale drinker so my choice is limited whenever I travel overseas to versions of lager. This is perhaps the most popular "beer" in Colombia, Aguila (Eagle). As far as lagers go it is most definitely a lager. I managed two and that was enough for one day. One thing that did surprise me is how fast everyone drinks beer here, my other half finished her bottle in two swigs. It did give me pause for thought as I pondered that I could be out of my depth even drinking with the missus. All was well in the end though when I learned that this is only because they want to drink their beers very cold and don't want to give them to warm up.

This is my favourite beer so far, as you can see called Redd's. It has a distinctly citrus flavour, for me a great change from the bog standard lager taste. I can manage a few more of these, no chance of over-indulging here though. I'm thoroughly enjoying my time here and don't want to get drunk at any point, four bottles maximum of this beer........although I did buy a crate to take back to the house. They're still in the fridge though a week later.

The final beer I have sampled was at dinner with Cecy. The beer here is Club Colombia, I don't care what the officianados of Colombian beer have to say on this point...I can't tell the difference between this and Aguila.
The meal is called La Parillada and consists of Carne de res (cow), pollo (chicken), chuleta de cerdo (pork chop), chorizo (spicy sausage) and ubre...........I'll tell you more about this in a mo. Cecy ordered: I asked to try everything Colombiano so I left it to her, she said she'd tell me about it after. She did much to my regret! The vegetables are Yukka and a little salad. The yukka surprised me as it is quite palatable. I really enjoyed the meats bar one which was a little too rubbery for me. Cecy asked me what I though of the meal after calling the mecera (waitress) to the table. They giggled between themselves while I answered her so I had an inkling that something was adrift. Luckily I didn't force myself to eat the rubbery meat.......it was a cow's udder!!!!!

Last thing before I sign off, more meals to follow. I just found this funny. My meal is at the top of this page of the menu but take a look further down the page..............as it stands, after the experience with the cow's udder I have no plans to order the Baby en salsa (Baby in sauce)!!!!!! Maybe someone else out there is a little more adventurous than me and can let me know what it is like!!!