Travels in Columbia
By Mateo Giraldo Gonzalez, Age 14
From: Orlando, Florida
This article is in memory of the victims of the recent earthquake in Colombia. You will not be forgotten.
I step off the Avianca plane and onto the tarmac of the Aeropuerto del Eden at 8AM and take in a deep breath. I’ve been visiting Colombia since I was one month old, but I’ve never stayed for a full month before. After a late-night flight from my home in Orlando to the capital city, Bogotá, I spent an uncomfortable night in the airport lounge before my early flight to my dad’s hometown: Armenia, Quindio, Colombia.
The city of Armenia is the capital of the Quindío department, the smallest one in all of mainland Colombia, at just 712 square miles (1,845 square kilometers). However, the Quindío region is one of Colombia’s most biodiverse departments, with over 560 bird species! It also has many biomes, ranging from high paramos to warm and lush valleys. In fact, Quindio has the tallest palm trees in the world, wax palm trees, in the Cocora Valley, which was also the inspiration for the setting of the Disney movie Encanto. Armenia is usually called, “La Ciudad Milagro,” or, “The Miracle City,” because it experienced an extraordinary-almost miraculous-economic growth during the coffee boom in Colombia, which lasted until the late 20th century.
Anyways, let’s get back to the story. After grabbing our bags, my family and I left the airport and got into my grandfather’s car. Upon arrival, we were greeted with delicious buñuelos, delicious golden-brown cheese fritters that are perfectly crispy on the outside and spongy on the inside. I rolled down the window as we left the Aeropuerto del Eden and started to drive towards Armenia. I rolled down the window and breathed in the fresh air. Many different types of birds flew by, and I sighed as I observed the landscape of the Cordillera Central, part of the Colombian Andes. We chatted with my grandfather and I listened to music as we made our way into the city.
As the days went by, my family and I started to get comfortable in our new routine. In the mornings, my parents would run errands they needed to do while in Colombia, and on most afternoons my brother and I went to our grandma’s apartment to hang out with our friends there. We played soccer and hide and seek, and I snapped pictures with my instax camera to put up on my wall. On other days, we went puebliando and visited the small towns surrounding Armenia, like Filandia and Salento. When we visited Filandia, we walked the colorful main streets and checked out the shops. In Salento, we always sat down to drink coffee at a certain little café in the main plaza. We also visited the beautiful lookout spots and observed the mountains and valley. We watched the World Cup games and cheered for all of the underdog countries. We celebrated my Tio Cesar’s 60th birthday, and I remember laying in bed as everyone talked upstairs, making a birthday video on CapCut with videos of everyone in the house saying, “Feliz cumpleaños!” We also visited my great-grandfather, who’s 94 years old, and who always has funny anecdotes to tell us about.
On the calmer days, the ones where we just wanted to enjoy our summer vacation and relax, I usually just slept in. Then, I’d read Keeper of the Lost Cities, a book series recommended to me by my friend Chloe. I also had my art supplies, so I used my oil pastels to draw the animals and mountains, and I photographed the birds that came to rest on the metal fence in the backyard and the paragliders that launched themselves off of the mountains.
Name: Roadside Hawk (Rupornis Magnitostris) The roadside hawk is a small bird of prey found throughout the Americas. It has twelve subspecies. It is well adapted to most ecosystems where it lives, with the exception of very dense rainforests. It eats insects, reptiles, small mammals, and even small birds if it can catch them. I photographed this one while it was resting and looking around for potential prey.
.png)
A paraglider glides down the mountains of Colombia’s Cordillera Central, with a small coffee-growing finca in the background.
.png)
On one of the best days I had there, my brother and I woke up early, and our grandfather took us to photograph birds. We got in his car, my backpack full with my two cameras, an identification book, a raincoat, water, and some snacks. We hit the road, and pretty soon we were riding through the dusty mountain roads. Along the way, my grandfather pointed out what used to be his grandmother’s finca. We also made a quick pit stop to visit some of his cousins, and we chatted them through the rolled-down car windows. We started to go down the mountain, and finally got to the spot where my grandpa usually saw the bird we were looking for: the Torrent Duck. He parked the car right before a small bridge, and we got out, walked a bit, and squeezed in between some wooden posts before entering a guava grove. The grove was along the river, and through a gap in the trees, my grandfather saw something. We made our way to the riverbank, and there it was! I managed to snap some great pictures, and we went further downriver to see more birds, then sat down to have a snack. Afterwards, we rested and picked some guavas for my mom.
.png)
.png)
.png)
Name: Torrent Duck (Merganetta Armata) The torrent duck is the only member of the genus merganetta. It nests in small waterside caves near fast-flowing rivers. It is a very powerful swimmer, but rarely flies long distances. The species is in decline due to competition for food from trout, pollution, and the damming of rivers. This male was trying to lead me away, possibly because he was trying to protect his mate and their ducklings.
In my final days staying in Colombia, I was finally able to do something I’d been waiting to do all month. My parents took me to get a raspado from a specific place in el centro. For those of you who don’t know, a raspado is simply one of the best sweet treats ever. It’s shaved ice loaded with delicious fruit syrups that make it a deep burgundy color, and it’s topped with condensed milk and-sometimes-ice cream. I waited with anticipation as my mom ordered it, and proceeded to devour it in the car. The rest of Colombia’s food did not disappoint. From delicious fruit juices, to fast food like chicken from Frisby, foods like arepa, empanada, pandebono, chuleta de pollo and encocado de camarón, to other sweet treats like ice cream and milkshakes from Popsy and candies like bombombum, quiputos, and more, I enjoyed every single meal I ate there.
However, at the risk of sounding cliché, all good things must come to an end, and my month in Colombia finished far too quickly. I packed my bags late at night on my last full day in Colombia, and stared outside my bedroom window at the silhouette of the beautiful mountains. I kept staring at them in the morning, and on the car ride to the airport, which was full of tight hugs and sad smiles and teary eyes and promises to see each other soon, and was I still staring on the flight to Bogotá, and the flight to my other home. I stared and stared and stared outside the airplane window, until I couldn’t see the mountains on the darkening horizon anymore….
Adios, Colombia