This past weekend I went on one of the craziest adventures I have been on yet with Beth and Rafa Afanador, the directors of my school. They invited the first five teachers to sign up to go on a short weekend trip. I signed up as quickly as I could because I have missed spending time with them lately and I am always up for seeing more of Colombia. We left Friday after school
in Rafa's landcruiser for a wild 7-8 hour drive. If you were to hop in his car for even five minutes, you would think he did not value his life or anyone's in the car with him. Agressive does not even begin to describe it. Beth says driving here is like learning a different language and you cannot compare it to the states at all, I believe her and try to trust Rafa a little more. We ended up in a tiny hotel that sat on Rio Claro at midnight. We went into our room that had a distinct smell of cat pee and no glass on the windows, only bars. To unlock the door you just reached right in with a hanger in your hand and pushed open the handle. Seemed a little unsafe, but no one else seemed to worry so I didn't either. I even ignored the roach on the floor and the very, very dirty matress. I have learned that I can sleep anywhere here.The next day we rented some innertubes and went to the natural park that was waiting for us on a very sunny Saturday. We hiked for about 30 minutes and sat our tubes in at the same spot that they were taking groups white water rafting. Seemed a little risky, but again no one else was worried. We quickly approached rapids, flippped out of our tubes, banged up against rocks and limbs and then floated lazily down the river some more. We stopped to swim and jump off ledges. It was so fun we did it twice and ended up with double the amount of bruises. Our group went ziplining through the tropical trees and over the river while staring at the Andes the whole time. My first time ziplining and hopefully not my last. Beautiful and so fun.
Later after a quick and very late lunch we went back to the hotel to get ready to go caving. I was very excited to get to do two things I have never done in one day. I thought we would just ride back over to the public park, buy a ticket, read a brochure filled with exciting facts about the cave we were about to explore and maybe rent a headlamp or flashlight. Oh how I was decieved. A dark cave seemed a little scary before, even when I imagined handrails to hang onto and lights hanging about everywhere. Rafa proceeded to take me to my worst nightmare. At around 6:30, just when it was getting dark, we stopped on the side of the road and let three young boys hang onto the car. Their ages were 8, 10 and 15. Our 15 year old friend had a machete tied to his waist and they directed Rafa to a farm. I kept wondering what could he possible need that huge knife for, what kind of cave will we be entering. We drove through cow pastures and had to dodge horses. We rode through a creek and up and down hills and I was sure we had lost one of the kids hanging on. We got out to walk for 30 minutes in complete darkness while trying to dodge huge piles of cow poop. When we found the entrance to the cave there was no one selling tickets, no tour guide in an official uniform and no headlamps to be rented. This is Colombia I reminded myself, Colombia is adventure. Just go with it. We went into the entrance to the cave and instantly heard the most terrible noises that sounded like tortured creatures and lots of wings flapping. 100s of birds live in this cave called guacharos (oilbirds in english). Our young guides tell us repeatedly to not shine our flashlights on them because they will swoop down and attack you because they HATE light. I hated this cave with all my heart and I hadn't even entered. We keep our flashlights on the ground where we see roaches, spiders as big as my hand, dead baby birds, egg shells and lots of bird poop. TONS of bird poop. Within the first five minutes we are wading through water up to our chests and having to hold unto the dark, wet, slimy cave walls. For two hours we held on to each other, climbed up rocks, slid down rocks, waded through more water, crawled through holes, tried to determine if our guides were confident in the direction they were leading us and slapped Rafa for grabbing the backs of our legs and making us thing a terrible creature was coming for us. My own personal hell was what that cave was for me. Never did I grow used to it or become less frightened, if I even started to feel a little confidence creep in a bird would swoop down near my head or I would see a huge bug on the person in front of me knowing that one was probably on my body too. We had to swim out of the cave for our last challenge and I was so thankful to see trees, the moon and sky, to put my feet on grass and never to hear the sound of those dreadful birds again. Just another hour walk back to the car covered in mud and soaking wet. We just laughed as we tripped over rocks and slid down hills because nothing was as bad as the cave. We got back to the hotel after 11:00 and the sweetest kitchen staff made us the most delicious Colombian dinner and we all sat and stared at each other in disbelief while Rafa just laughed and laughed. While I didn't enjoy it too terribly much, I am thankful I did it and I don't think much else will scare me from here on out during my stay in Colombia. I will get Rafa back soon though somehow.
The next day we went to the notorious Pablo Escobar's finca. It was very interesting and I learned a ton about Colombia's past during the 80's and 90's. He influenced the country so much and dehumanized the culture during his reign. He is someone that should not be honored, but could never be forgotten. He became famous at first by having a Robin Hood feel about him. He made millions and millions quickly, built churches, libraries, schools, houses and fixed up neighborhoods. He also began to buy out public authorities and control people with his wealth. He had a huge hate for the goverment and state authorities, but somehow managed to serve in congress and run for senate even though everyone knew he managed all the cocaine that was being exported from Colombia during this time. He gave a set price for any police officer that was killed. He bombed an airplane with 107 people on it just to get one goverment official. He bombed goverment buildings (DAS and the Supreme Court Justice building) killing hundreds to go after just a few. Car bombs everywhere. Kidnappings and torturing victims a certain way before their death so everyone knew it was him who did it. He had everyone in the country after him and everyone bowing down to him at the same time. People worshipped him and despised him. The paramilitary didn't think the goverment was doing a good enough job so they began to try to capture him as well, only to use the same evil he used. Kidnapping and torture of people and families that could be in anyway related to Escobar's movement. When we went through the museum the Colombians I was with had tears in their eyes because it is still so real and fresh in their memories. The pictures I saw of buildings on fire and tons of bodies tied up had been real for some of them.
He was a genius and very eccentric. Before he was killed he built a huge farm that has now been turned into a strange type of tourist attraction. He imported hippos, zebras, kangaroos, and all sorts of exotic animals to create one of the world's greatest zoos that Colombia could gain recognition for. He had a airplane runway and helicopter pad to arrive and leave easily. Escape tunnels and a bull fighting ring where he would have hundreds of guests for a private bullfight on any given weekend. Politicians, actors and beauty queens of Colombia all visited and spent time there. He was training and Israelian army to fight for him at his farm. He had a beauiful house and pool for his family. He kept all his evil from his family and would not even smoke in front of his children. His house and car collection were bombed by the paramilitary, but they still sit on his property in their unrestored condition. It was a lot to take in and very sad, but intriguing all at the same time. I want to learn a lot more about him, I can't wrap my head around how someone so evil could have had so much control over a country.
Back to those awful birds though. I googled them immediately when I got home because I never saw what they looked like when I was in the cave. Again, they did not sound like birds, they sounded like tortured men screaming. A few interesting facts. Alfred Hitchcock used a recording of these birds in his famous 1964 movie. They make nests out of their own droppings ( how lovely) and have all sorts of bat-like tendencies. I found a video for anyone who is interested in what they sound like. They don't look scary at all and they only eat fruit. Wish someone would have told me that at the beginning instead of the attack scare I was given.
http://ibc.lynxeds.com/video/oilbird-steatornis-caripensis/group-birds-calling-cave
Hope that doesn't traumatize anyone too much. Viva Colombia!!!
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