After a wonderful visit in Armenia with fellow Canadian travelers that consisted of blowing up things and a poor attempt at salsa down at the local hotspot, it was on to Cali; Colombia’s second city and Salsa Capital. Although large and bustling with activity it wasn’t quite what I expected. My sometimes ignorant imagination had conjured up images of white silk suits, wing tipped shoes and scantily clad women in flamingo dresses. I was looking for a movie time experience in a real time world. Sigh, this is one time when my over active imagination let me down.
All hope was not lost however when I stumbled upon an entry in a web based travel magazine about a small town nestled deep inside the Colombian jungle by the name of San Cipriano. If this place held up to the articles praise, my movie time experience was about to start rolling again…. literally.
Situated about 2.5 hrs outside of Cali (5 hrs in Colombian time) via a sketchy bus ride through the mountains was our drop off spot en route to San Cipriano. Literally situated on the side of the road we were immediately greeted by a tall, lanky teen eager to show us the way to our final mode of transportation to the town. Our 1 km walk was full of curious people wondering what 3 gringos were up to, coming to visit their tiny town. We were lead to a semi abandoned set of rail tracks at the edge of the road and handed to our new guide and driver Jerome.
Jerome, like the rest of the residents of San Cipriano have been somewhat cut off from the rest of the world. There are no roads into town and the railway has ceased all passenger travel. With very few options to get in or out of the jungle, the people of the town had to rely on their own ingenuity…. and boy did they ever. Their method was simple, yet ingenius. The people of the town constructed what they refer to as “Brujitas”. Essentially a Brujitas is a wooden plank with small wheels that connect to the railway. On top of the plank providing the driving force is, well…. a motorcycle. The front wheel is atop the plank while the back is aligned perfectly with the rail and propels the plank and whatever it is carrying forward. A stroke of genius if you ask me.
So here we are, sitting on this wooden stool, atop a plank whistling down the tracks through the Colombian jungle towards our destination. In all my travels I can say without a doubt that this was the most unique form of transportation I had ever taken. Over bridges, past little settlements, we were whisked to San Cipriano and after about 20 mins we finally arrived. The town was small, far less than 1,000 people, but still full of charm and life. Our homestay was right on the river and our simple room was in prefect view of its crystal clear waters.
We were lulled asleep under a hazy Colombian sky by the sound of the water gushing by. In the morning, upon waking, we wasted no time in renting some inner tubes and running up river to jump in and negotiate the rapids. For the next four hours we let the world pass by in sheer joy as we floated leisurely down the river taking in the sights and sounds of the jungle surrounding us. The rapids brought out the inner child in us and any chance we had to jump out and race back to the top of a challenging stretch of white water was met with child-like laughter. When it all came to and end I wasn’t entirely sure I want to do anything but stay. But alas, there’s little time in front of me and LOTS more to do, so regretfully we made our way back to Cali.
So here I sit getting ready for my first night out back in the Salsa Capital of the world who knows, maybe I just might get the screening my imagination conjured up in the first place. After riding a Mototram through the jungle, I’d say anything is possible.
