Day 31 Caetagena/ Palenque

A very rainy and super interesting day! Went to a town called Palenque about an hour out of the city - it was the first 'free' town in Americas from slavery. Its fought continuously to keep the land, be able to keep cultural practices, religion etc. (defs worth looking up and reading about the history, too much to write here!) in the 70s it was being fought over between narcos/guerillas/govt (they made everyone shave their hair off during this time as women used to use hair braiding to remember and map out escape routes theyd seen in the offices during slavery!) There was a meeting between local indigenous groups today, where communities regularly come together to share ideas/share decision making etc. so there was a big performance in the main square. Also a very interesting chat with a natural medicine dr of the town. Back to cartagena past the main market of the city - really nice to see outside the walls and all the hustle and bustle. Also found out every sunday its tradition to have sound system salsa battles all over the country! Nap, dinner (ajilo soup 😋) and a good couple of hours spent in the evening in a local book shop with tea and chats with one of the workers about SA graphic novels 🤓Læs mere