Saturday morning we started early with two of Natalia's colleagues from the province. On our way we crossed one of the many rivers originating in the mountains of Huila. For example the large Rio Magdalena (which covers a lot of the region where we work our EFE program in the south of the Bolivar province and ends in the Atlantic Ocean in the city of Cartagena) starts in Huila. These rivers have a powerful stream and are ideally suited for the rafting kind of tourism. Training and proper industry standards for that sector still lack...
The first B&B style operation we visited was started three years ago and hosted us for breakfast.
July 20 is Colombia's "birthday", so you will see a lot of "yellow" which is the main national colour (like the Dutch like to wear their "orange" during special events and the Canadians their "red/white"). The B & B was nicely decorated and the service was super friendly.
The place also offers wedding receptions and parties for which they use a traditional style open oven. The owner was proud to show us around and then made us a delicious local-style breakfast...
We then walked through town and witnessed some of the day's festive events plus we met a few local tourism students. Many people dressed in the popular yellow national team soccer shirts...
We completed the visit to this specific town with a meeting with the mayor and most of his town councillors. Much remains to be done to make this town a more effective partner of the regional efforts to develop a "tourism corridor/destination". Wish I could send professor Damian and some of his Niagara College students here (if only they spoke fluent Spanish.....).
Another small hotel in a next town. Always lots of green and...... hammocks....!
A few impressions of the mostly well maintained traditional streets in this town....
The entrance of another small hotel which was decorated with wonderful local artist work and the most amazing fresh local tropical flowers...
And of course the hammocks...... We had a great chat with the owner who is a woman with vision and spirit, but for whom the investment in making her hotel a place to international standards was a clear burden and worry.... Wish her luck!
On our walk through town I noticed this sign: "Peace begins with a smile....". Colombia needs that after suffering from 50 years of serious internal conflicts.....
A third town we visited had just completed the national birthday's events. Here my fellow travellers talk to the mayor of the town, a young fellow with an excellent vision who invited us for lunch at a local "hacienda" (a local coffee farm) in the mountains.
Before we went for the lunch we walked around a bit. These two buses are the types which are used a lot in typical Colombian tourism souvenirs. I learned that these buses originated in this town. We met with a group of youngsters who volunteered in the maintenance and promotion of local heritage sites. The organizers are three young local entrepreneurs who started an eco-adventures company this year. Very inspiring to listen to their plans & dreams....
And then it was time for lunch. Local BBQ...! The owner sits here with some of the local guests..
... and even though this photo does not do it justice, his family's daily view is spectacular!!
This farm also uses a traditional style open oven and they made some local sweet deserts in it. With our stomachs full we thanked the local mayor and the others for their hospitality and wished them luck in further developing a promising role in the regional tourism developments.
To the right of the mayor is Alveiro, a local tourism expert who can tell you 1001 stories on the province's rich history, cultures, arts, flora & fauna. He is also a remarkable practical business developer and works as a consultant for HOCOL, a local mining company doing a number of CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) projects in the region.
The last town we visited on Saturday is famous for its cathedral and local religious festivals. On an annual basis this small town of 5,000 attracts 300,000 (mostly Colombian) visitors. Colombia is 95 % catholic, so the religious festivals play a very important role in the country's culture.
The town is on top of a mountain with again spectacular views (hard to capture in a photo)...
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