Mompox, Colombia

Mompox is located on a large island next to the river Magdalena. A hot and muggy town it's one of UNESCO's World heritage sites as it was an important stop along the Magdalena for ships, The place where Simon Bolivar gathered men to take Caracas in his effort to free Gran Colombia, and has so of the most intact colonial architecture as until recently this island was only accessed by ferry and relatively unvisited due to political unrest in the area.

I wandered the streets and celebrated my birthday in this little town. I was lucky that they were celebrating Semana Santica the child precursor to their Semana Santa Easter celebrations in which the locals have various traditional processions through the streets and ending in the towns cemetery.

On my birthday I sailed down the Magdalena river to see the swamps and small towns that lay on its edge. And with a friend from Bogota found ourselves watching a late night Cock Fight!Read more