Wednesday 16 August 2006

Heaven´s Mouth



Almost as a follow up on my previous post. Here are some photos of Tairona, a national park on the north coast of Colombia. From looking at the photos, I swear the Heaven´s Mouth beach scenes from the Mexican cult film: Y Tú Mama También were films in these coves. This is the beauty I was talking about, not just the landscape but the style in which the locals and wanderers enjoy it.



My friends went there on vacation while I was in Cuba. They drove 14 hours from Bogota to Santa Marta and then through thick jungle into the national park. From here they hired pack horses to carry food and tents, and with their clothes and personal items on their backs they set off on a 2 hour walk to paradise.

I can help but think that at the same time, of the other side of the world, that half a million Lebanese are doing the same thing; carrying all their belongings on their backs and walking. But they aren’t walking to paradise, they are walking and driving back to their homes, or what is left of their homes post the bombings. From what I’ve read it is utter devastation, and instead of finding washed up coconuts and hammocks swinging in the shade of thatched roofed huts, they are finding bodies buried under rubble.






Once my friends made it to the beach they spent their days swimming and eating seafood prepared by the locals. At night they drank under the stars and listened to old hippies strumming Colombian folk songs on the guitar. When the sun began to break the horizon they peacefully rocked off to sleep in hammocks over looking the bay. What simplicity, could life be any better?

1 comment:

PatL said...

Wow, how gorgeous! But, ummm ... mosquitoes?

Thanks for stopping by my blog. However did you find me?