As most of you already know, I just returned from a hiking trip to Colombia. This was the first time I have visited a South American country and I am still thinking about what I experienced there. Colombia is a beautiful country with much geographical diversity and a rich history. We hiked in the Andes mountains where the altitude was difficult for those of us who live at sea level. We toured a coffee plantation in the coffee region of Sorrento and learnt the ways coffee beans are harvested and processed. We hiked in the Sierra Nevada mountains where the altitude wasn't the problem but the heat (30 degrees and high humidity) certainly was. We northerners are just not used to that level of heat. And we visited some cities: Bogota (10 million people), Santa Marta (550,000 people who must drink bottled water) and Cartagena, home of an ancient Spanish port (as well as the slave trade and
Spanish inquisition). A country with wonderful food, the fruits especially, people and culture. And yet the poverty of people living in certain areas was so heartbreaking, along with the many skinny feral dogs and cats; it gave me pause and personal angst; we are so fortunate to live where we do and must not take it for granted.
Just as I was doubting the value of being a tourist in a developing country faced with so many struggles, the young man who operates an Eco-farm, where they are planting thousands of trees to reforest large areas, told us that tourists are very important because by our presence we show people that there is value in protecting their environment, and that they can make money by doing so.
In the end, it was a great and difficult trip, for so many reasons and all at the same time but isn't that what travel is supposed to do, broaden our minds? And so in that way, for me, it was perfect.
