Hi there, this is Camilo Mazo, and welcome to the first issue of camilomazo.com’s newsletter (might have to come up with a name for it), where I’ll mainly be writing about food and travel.
I’ve been busy setting up a system and figuring some things out along the way for this newsletter. First crucial decision: In what language should I write this? My native tongue is Spanish, and some recent posts I wrote are in that language, but this question has been on my mind for a while now.
While writing in English will probably be harder for me in the short term (long term as well?), I think it’s the way to go. This way, I can reach people from many places.
I started my current road trip two months and 15ish days ago. I’ve been working remotely on the road, wherever I can find good internet, a good desk and a good chair. So far, I’ve had no problem with that.
My trip started in Medellín, going to Rio Claro, Honda, Guaduas, Villa de Leyva, Tota Lake, Guadalupe, Socorro, Barichara, Playa de Belen, Mompox, Rincón del Mar, and now Cartagena. I visited some other towns in between, but these are the main highlights of the trip so far.
There are a few things that strike me the most during this trip. First, it’s incredible the under the radar, beautiful places that Colombia has. There are some incredible towns with stunning architecture and culture that many Colombians, including myself, don’t know about.
The first place to surprise me was Honda, located in the department of Tolima. Honda was one of the first prosperous towns when Spanish colonizers arrived to the territory that is now Colombia. This is because it’s located along the Magdalena River, the main and only channel to get inland during the colonization’s begging. Most commerce and resources extracted from the territory had to pass through Honda to get to the Caribbean Sea and then to Spain. This resulted in a beautiful, prosperous colonial town with great architecture and culture, rooted around the influence of the Magdalena River. The river resources, history, stories and myths were the determining factor in the development of Honda’s culture.
To my surprise, another beautiful town affected by the prosperity of the Magdalena River is Mompox, a town between the Caribbean Sea and Honda. For similar reasons to Honda, Mompox became one of the most prosperous towns during the colonial era. In Mompox, the sunsets next to the river are just plain terrific.
Cartagena
Now, being in Cartagena, it feels completely different from Honda or Mompox. Cartagena is very much focused on tourism, being one of the most popular destinations in Colombia for tourism.
Cartagena has some great places to eat and visit. The old city center is a great place to wander around, get lost, and marvel at its architecture.
Cartagena is a place that solicits very different reactions from people. For me, Cartagena is heaven for its local food, specially the street food.
Some of my current food obsessions here are:
- Coctel de Camarones: Cooked shrimps in a mixture of ketchup and mayo, red onion, hot sauce and salt crackers.
- Quibbe: Fried ground meatball with wheat and onion. Its origins are Lebannese.
- Arepa de Huevo: Fried flat corn bread with an egg inside.
- Carimañolas: Fried yuca (cassava) dough stuffed with salty cheese (queso costeño) or meat.
While in Villa de Leyva, I met a girl staying for her first time in a hostel, sharing room with other travelers. We casually talked for a while and decided to have a long chat over lunch.
While talking, hearing her experience of staying in a hostel for the first time, having traveled by herself only for a couple of times, reminded me how traveling, traveling solo, staying in hostels, it’s so special.
It’s beautiful to remember how it felt for the first time traveling alone, of the first time staying in a shared room. All the anticipation, the anxiety, the thoughts of “What on earth am I doing? Why did I put myself in this situation?”.
After those initial feelings, you realize how magical and lucky you are to be having that experience. All the amazing people met, people sometimes so far removed from your daily context, from what you know and believe. These encounters are like gates to alternate realities, showing you all the possible ways in which you can live your live, be present, or conduct yourself in the short time we are alive.
Meeting and talking with this girl reminded me of my first long solo travel, 3 months in Southeast Asia, with no clue what to expect. All the amazing people I met, that showed me different ways to travel, to enjoy, to love, to be.
In the end, meeting this girl was a great reminder, that while I sometimes focus so much on what’s coming, I forget how wonderful it is to travel. It helped me revisit these little things and see them again with fresh eyes, to enjoy them again.
