Vicki emerges from immigration and customs nearly 3 hours after her flight landed.

The morning view from Finca El Refugio Zen

Daughter Indi dressed in traditional Colombian dress for the Festival Silletera.

Letting "the girls" out to scratch for food. They produce a dozen eggs a day.

Dini relaxing with her guitar after morning yoga.

Festival de Silletera pays homage to laborers who carried heavy packs in the hills of Santa Elena.

Santa Elena & Finca El Refugio Zen

Aug 6–9 in Colombia ⋅ ☁️ 19 °C

I arrived in Medellín at noon on a domestic flight from Santa Marta; Vicki arrived at 15:30 on a nonstop flight from Orlando. However, it took her >2-1/2 hours to clear in with immigration and customs! Once out of the airport, we made a brief stop at a nearby asador to refuel ourselves, and then we drove ~45 minutes to into the foothills of Santa Elena, to visit Familia Martinez at their picturesque Finca El Refugio Zen. (We met this adventuresome family in Panamá in 2021, when they lived aboard their Moody sailing yacht, DA CAPO.)
The next day we went together to Santa Elena’s Festival de Silletera, part of Medellín’s much larger Fería de las Flores.Read more