Colombian Pug

Was in Colombia in the coffee country (El Eje Cafetero) and came across this dog who stuck his tongue out at me when I took the shot.

Roadside Arepas in Colombia

Ajiaco Open Flame

In the mountains of Colombia where the local crew was cooking Ajiaco (Colombia three potato soup) on the open flame cowboy style.  This was delicious.

Hiking in Colombia

Took a two hour hike just before sunset hillside down to the Rio Cauca in Antioquia.  Snapped this shot because the light and the colors were unique at this moment and you get the idea of what the real Colombia looks like.  Click the photo for the panorama.

Colombian Man in Jericho

… Took a long and winding drive way up in the mountains to the town of Jericho.  It’s a cool little village known for coffee.  I saw this man sitting in front of some grocery store in the main square selling his goods.  He was a great subject – had the shoes, the specs, and the Colombian bag thing going on.

Jardin Colombia

Took a visit way up high in the Colombian mountains to the town of Jardin where they’re known for Colombian coffee.    The coffee plants dot all the hillsides and they’re very steep.  As we were leaving we needed directions on how to get out of town.  We asked this guy sitting outside some bar and I shot the photo from the back of the car.  When you shoot a lot of photos sometimes you discover what was in the shot after you go back and look at them as was the case with this one.  Click the image for detail – Love the hand and the cow hide on the backs of the chairs.

Old Colombia, New Colombia

Many people who have never been to Colombia have basically only one image of Colombia, but today Colombia may very well be the most rapidly advancing country in South America in some respects.  About an hour and a half drive outside of Medellin is a small (very small) town called Marsella just a few kilometers from Fredonia way up in the hills over the Cauca river.  There just off the square is a small little bar called Tienda Mixta Marsella that in addition to beer and aguardiente sells the basics that you might need if you lived in the hills of the Colombia – a sort of five and dime.  Above is a shot of one corner of this little place.  We met the owner, an older lady who told us she has owned this place for 60 years….. 60 YEARS!

To show you what you generally don’t see of Colombia from outside Colombia, here is a shot of the new mall called Santa Fe in Medellin with all the top retail.  The weather in Medellin is generally always Springlike so the entire roof of Santa Fe retracts like the baseball stadium in Toronto – this is new Colombia.

 

 

Colombian Finca in the Andes

There is a lot of fresh air in this place.  Way up high, nice breeze, nice sun.

Bottle Rockets in Colombia

Shot this a few years ago on New Year’s Eve in the mountains of Colombia.  To get this photo I had to hold my breath, time the lighting of the bottle rocket, take the shot and get lucky.