Colombia
Caño de las Compañías

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    • Day 22

      1. Tag Karneval in Barranquilla

      February 19, 2023 in Colombia ⋅ 🌬 30 °C

      Nach den 4 Tagen Trekking in der Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta stand nun mit dem Karneval in Barranquilla ein völliges Kontrastprogramm an. Er soll der zweitgrößte in Südamerika nach Rio sein. Also fast schon Pflichtprogramm für uns, wenn wir schon in der Gegend sind. 😃
      Die Busfahrt war recht kurzweilig und mit dem Taxi ging es direkt zu unserem Hotel. Das Zimmer und vor allem das Bad hatten seine besten Zeiten hinter sich, aber wir wollten uns darin ja nicht lange aufhalten, sondern dem Umzug beiwohnen uns bisschen Feiern.
      Wir nahmen nur mein altes Handy mit der kolumbianischen SIM-Karte mit und verstauten das Bargeld sicher, denn wir hatten schon von einigen gehört, deren Handy gestohlen wurde.

      Relativ am Ende der 5 km langen Umzugsstrecke auf der Via 40 bekamen wir noch Tickets in einem Palco (abgesperrter Bereich mit schattigen Sitzplätzen auf einer Tribüne und Verpflegungsständen). Heute war das Motto "Traditionell", sodass die Kostüme nicht ganz so gewagt und knapp waren, wie man es vom Karneval in Rio kennt, doch trotzdem sehr eindrucksvoll. Die meisten Teilnehmer machten schon einen etwas müden Eindruck - kein Wunder, denn sie waren ja auch schon knapp 3 Stunden in praller Sonne unterwegs!
      Josi wurde dann plötzlich von einem Mitarbeiter eines Radiosenders (Marina Stereo) angesprochen, ob sie bereit wäre ein kurzes Interview zu geben und zu erzählen, wie uns der Karneval gefällt und Werbung für den Sender zu machen. Aufgrund der Lautstärke war es etwas schwer ihn zu verstehen, aber Josi meisterte die Aufgabe mit Bravour. 😃
      Eine reichliche Stunde schauten wir noch zu, bis der Umzug langsam ein Ende zu nehmen schien.

      Recht hungrig suchten wir ein mexikanisches Restaurant zum Abendessen auf und tranken einen Magaritha. Anschließend trafen wir uns mit ein paar Leuten, die wir in Salento bei der Mountainbike-Tour kennengelernt hatten. Gemeinsam fuhren wir zur Aftershowparty auf einer Straße (Baila la Calle), ein bisschen vergleichbar mit der BRN in Dresden, nur deutlich kleiner. Alles spielte sich hier auf einer Straße ab. Vor dem Eingang ergatterten wir noch einen kostenlosen Smirnoff-Lulo Shot und zwei orange Caps an einem Stand. Einige hielten uns nun für Holländerinnen. 😅
      Drinnen war sehr viel los und wir bekamen mehrfach gesagt, wir sollen besser das Handy verstauen. Doch es gab nie einen auffälligen Moment, wo wir das Gefühl hatten, gleich beklaut zu werden.
      Die Stimmung war sehr ausgelassen und die Musik überwiegend Reggaetón und Salsa, also gut tanzbar. 😉
      Als die Beine dann doch etwas schwer wurden, ging es mit dem Taxi zurück zum Hotel. Da trafen wir auf zwei Waliser, die mittlerweile in Australien leben und unterhielten uns mit ihnen noch bis in die frühen Morgenstunden.
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    • Day 132

      To the coronation of the Carnival Queen

      February 8, 2018 in Colombia ⋅ 🌙 26 °C

      Near Barro Abajo, we came across a local mercado after almost 2 months. Same as in Bolivia or in Peru, this place had small kiosks selling a limited menu, very cheap prices and with plastic chairs and tables set in front of the kiosks where locals could sit and eat. We had our lunch here. A few meters away, we found a multi-storey market selling phones and phone spares. There were SIM and recharge cards sellers as well. Since we were planning to stay for another 15 days in Colombia, we decided to buy 2 SIM cards between us. This would also enable us to keep in touch and sync up since we were staying in different places. That took us best part of 2 hours. By the time we finished, it was getting quite late and the crowning of the Carnival Queen was supposed to begin with at 8 pm. We were quite far from the place where the crowning program was. We also weren't sure what exactly the program was. We hurried back towards Bella Vista and then on towards Via 40 near where the program was supposed to be held in the Naval School. The info for the carnival events amd venues was very sketchy. Their official website had no mention of the entry fee, any map of the location or even any details of what the event was about. The only 2 lines it had, said its the coronation of the Carnival Queen in the Naval School on Via 40. Now, Via 40 is a 5 km long stretch of road and there was no Naval school marked on either Google maps or Maps.me. We walked towards Via 40 and entered the road right in the middle of the stretch. Luckily, the program was happening nearby. We could see some lights and music between the thick cover of trees in this area. We started walking in the direction where everyone was going. Here, we encountered many touts selling tickets. Looking around we saw some of the people carrying tickets in their hands. We had no clue about the ticket price or if there actually was a ticket. We had presumed that the entrance would be free as this was not part of the main carnival parades etc. There were no kiosks or shops selling tickets anywhere.
      We walked on and reached the entrance. Here, there were security people checking the tickets. We asked them where we could buy the tickets. They confirmed that tickets were needed for the entrance but had no clue how much they cost or where to buy them. We checked with a few people going in and realized that they had paid 100,000 COP each. Now, we had 2 issues, first we weren't carrying that much cash since we were expecting to be in a crowded place, so we had carried a little amount of money only. Secondly, we didn't know if the event would be worth paying that much amount for. We had the option of going to our hostels nearby to get the cash but, would it be worth it? Was 100,000 the correct price? Will we be able to make it back in time? Should we spend so much on one of the side events or save the money for the main events? We had moved back from the entrance and were contemplating these questions, during which we were constantly being interrupted by the touts selling tickets. We decided to check with one of them. We asked the price, which was given as 100,000 per ticket. We told him we didn't have that much amount. He asked how much we had and we told we had about 100,000 among the 3 of us. All this while, Maria was not having a good feeling about this and kept asking us to move away, while the 2 of us wanted to get more information from the guy before making a call. In any case, we didn't have anything to lose besides a total of 100,000 COP among the 3 of us and if it worked, we could be inside pretty cheap. The guy promised to get us in for a total of 100,000 COP. We told him we'll give the money only when we were in. He agreed.
      He started walking in a totally different direction away from the venue. We got suspicious and asked where he was going. He told us that from the entrance, people inside were going to the other side from below the road through a tunnel and showed us the place where the lights and sounds were coming from the other side of the road. He told us that there was another way from above the road only, via another entrance. We followed him and soon enough we came to another entrance where there were queues to enter. Here he entered after the security check and we followed him. No one asked for any tickets or anything. We were still not sure if we were going to the same place. A bit further, we came across another security check. By now, we could see that we were going to the same venue but by a different entrance. He told us to pay and continue inside. We refused, we told him to leave us all the way inside as we were not sure if there would be another check where they might ask us for the tickets. After a while he agreed but instead of going in himself, he sent a lady colleague (tout) with us with the instructions to get the money from us when we were satisfied and totally inside. We followed her in and after a few tens of meters we were in and among the crowds. By now, we realized we had been fooled in some ways. This was a free entrance to the same venue but towards the back of all the crowds. We've been had!! 🤣🤣 The tout asked for the money and we gave the 100,000 we had promised to her. After that we went in and had a good laugh about it. They had promised to get the 3 of us in and no more, and they had come good on their promise. While we had paid them whatever we had promised them. In some ways, we paid 1/3 the price for the information we didn't have, that of the free entrance 😉
      For once, we didn't feel bad about having been made a fool of. Both the sides kept their words and we managed to get in without paying the high sum of 100,000 COP per person.
      The program was a very colorful one we had a clear but distant vew of the stage. There were huge screens also where we could see the details of the dances etc.
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    • Day 132

      Coronación Reina del Carnaval

      February 8, 2018 in Colombia ⋅ 🌙 26 °C

      The Crowning of the Carnival Queen. During this show, the previous carnival queen crowns the current carnival queen, amid a party with full of dancing and music. The candidate crowned as the carnival queen is that one showing excellent dancing skills, charisma and carnival spirit to the 11 members of the carnival board, who privately meet annually and elect the queen six months before the beginning of the carnival.

      The show is a marathon of dancing styles, and it has become the most demanding test for the carnival queen over time, because during which the carnival queen has to demonstrate her dancing skills by gracefully dancing a myriad of musical genres, such as cumbia, salsa, merengue, champeta, mapalé, etc. This year, the show even had Indian dance as one of the genres. This show is accompanied by members from some of the most important dancing groups participating in the carnival and by national and international singers.
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    • Day 134

      Tickets for the Saturday Parade

      February 10, 2018 in Colombia ⋅ ☀️ 30 °C

      The parade was set to begin at 1 pm along the Via 40 street. I had tried to enquire on the evening before about the time, the cost of the tickets and where to get them. Interestingly, none knew where to buy the tickets. For the time, they suggested going around 11 am to get good places. The owner of my hostel also suggested that instead of the palcos that were quite expensive, we could look for places organized by private people. These, people normally put up plastic chairs just behind the barrier and are much cheaper than the palcos (balconies). Armed with this information, we had agreed to meet at a junction nearby and from there, go on together to Via 40 which was about 700 mts away from there.
      In the morning, Hristo messaged and informed that the person at the reception had mentioned that he could arrange the tickets for the parade for 75, 000 COP per person. That offer did seem tempting considering that the entry for the Crowning of the Carnival Queen had been 100,000 COP per person. But, we had realized than that there was a cheaper (free) entrance as well so, it could also be possible that the parade too had a free/cheap place. We decided not to buy the tickets for him. When we met at the junction, we discussed this again. It was almost 12 pm. All the good places if they were free or cheap would have been taken up by now. We decided to buy the tickets from the guy at the hotel reception. Hristo was to run back, buy the tickets, while Maria and I would continue to Via 40 and then we would sync up after Hristo had the tickets and knew which place to go to. Maria didn't want us to split up and put her foot down firmly thats we'll all be together and go to the Via 40 amd when a woman does that, you've gotta listen 😁😁
      We all went to the Via 40 together. There were barricades everywhere and the police was searching and checking tickets. They had separate ques for men amd women. I was 1st in the que among the 3 of us. They checked my bag and let me in. No one asked for any tickets. Behind me, Hristo was stopped and asked if he had the tickets. He just pointed to me and was let in. Maria too was searched in the women's que and then asked if she had the ticket. She pointed to both of us and was let in 🤔
      Inside the barricade, there were touts selling tickets. Some of them at 60000 COP, some for 40000 COP. We couldn't really figure out why we were let in without the tickets and what tickets these touts were selling. There was an "official looking" ticket counter next to the barricade. We went and had a look. They were selling tickets for 30000 COP and a combo ticket for 2 days (Saturday and Sunday) for 50,000 COP.
      We just ignored all the touts and continued inside towards the Via 50. Just near the main road, we were stopped by a police guy who singled us out from the whole crowd moving in. He asked for our tickets and on telling we don't have any, asked us to go back to the barricades and go over to the other side of the partition barricade. We asked him where we could buy the tickets, for which he told that this area was reserved for the Navy and the entry was with passes only and that we could get the tickets on the other side.
      Something didn't really add up.. The people around us didn't really look like from the navy and what about the tickets being sold near the entry barricades or by the touts. 🤔 In any case, we didn't have an option since the police guy wasn't leaving us, so we walked back towards the entrance. Just before the entrance, we saw an opening in the partition barricade, where we could cross over to the other side. We crossed over and found ourselves in an area with a lot of private tents with plastic chairs selling the places from 30000 COP to 40000 COP per place. We continued walking along from one tent to another, checking out the prices and places. At the end of this private area, the area for the private balconies started. These were raised platform with chairs to sit on. Each palco had its own entrance and tickets. There were touts selling tickets to the various numbered palcos at different prices but most of them were quoting prices from 100,000 to even 300,000. After walking around for another 10 min, we decided that of we could get a front row seat in one of the private tents, it would be a much better deal than paying 100,000 for a slightly raised seat, that too quite behind since the palcos were already filling up fast. So, we negotiated a price of 70,000 COP for the 3 of us and found a place in the second row in one of the private area. There were people sitting on the floor in front of us but we still had an amazing view.
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    • Day 134

      Floats

      February 10, 2018 in Colombia ⋅ ☀️ 32 °C

      The parade started at around 1 pm, the first of the participants came just about 20 - 30 late but that was quite acceptable considering the Latin American standards. 😉
      From our place right next to the road, we had a good feel of the show but the barriers and the police guys standing on the outside of the barricade were constantly in our line of sight.

      Some of the beautiful floats in the Saturday Parade.
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    • Day 134

      King Momo's float

      February 10, 2018 in Colombia ⋅ ☀️ 29 °C

      King Momo is known as the son of the dream and of the night and presided over parties of the insane, which are celebrated in pueblos and cities. Momo became known as the “protector” of all those who indulged in merrymaking and the scandal of vice and excess.Read more

    • Day 132

      The Carnival Queen

      February 8, 2018 in Colombia ⋅ 🌙 26 °C

      Valeria Abuchaibe Rosales was crowned the reina del Carnaval (The Queen of the Carnival) 2018. She had danced for almost an hour and a half continuously on different music genres and to be honest, she was quite good in all of them. Beautiful and talented, she totally deserved the crown. The show ended with a fantastic fireworks show at around 10 pm.Read more

    • Day 134

      Batalla de Flores

      February 10, 2018 in Colombia ⋅ ☀️ 32 °C

      It is the first day of Carnival. The celebration starts off firmly with the Battle of Flowers, which is the most important and most expected event. It is a great parade of floats, headed by the Carnival queen and followed by folkloric groups, disguises, cumbia groups and other dancing groups, winners of the last carnival's competitions. The Battle of Flowers is the oldest parade carried out in the Barranquilla Carnival, and was organised for the first time in 1903 following the general Heriberto Arturo Vengoechea's initiative, who was looking for a way to celebrate the end of the 1000 days war. With this event, the carnival resumed as it had been suspended since 1900.

      Initially, the Battle of Flowers was a stroll along the old "Camellón Abello", now Paseo de Bolívar, that opened two groups of people formed by members of rich families on carriages decorated with flowers. The historian and chronicler Alfredo de la Espriella described the first battle of flowers as a game in that two groups of people confronted each other by shooting flowers, plastic party streamers and confetti along a course extending a few miles. This battle finished with a peace gesture when both groups reconciled and went on to celebrate at Emiliano Vengoeachea theatre. Its success was such that the same battle was repeated the next year.

      It has been taking place along the Via 40 avenue since 1991, after having taken place along Olaya Herrera avenue, the 43 road and el paseo de Bolívar avenue. The floats now are equipped with loudspeakers and boarded by international and national singers who invites the spectators to celebrate and dance. Although the spectators are now accommodated in palcos (boxes), from where they watch the spectacle, they used to watch it on foot.
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    • Day 134

      Colorful costumes

      February 10, 2018 in Colombia ⋅ ☀️ 32 °C

      Some lovely costumes from the Saturday Parade.

    You might also know this place by the following names:

    Caño de las Compañías, Cano de las Companias

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