Mompox: colonial town on the Magdalena river, beloved of Gabriel Garcia Marquez

Another long, hot shuttle bus journey, to Mompox (or Mompos, as it is also called), over bumpy, dusty roads and finally ending at the ferry across the river.  

    

  

The ferry across the Magdalena River to Mompox

Our shuttle bus on the ferry, which was tied to a big steel motorised canoe, which pulled the ferry across the river!

Visiting Mompox is like going back in time. It is a beautifully preserved colonial town, though due to its remoteness there are few tourists outside Semana Santa and its annual jazz festival in October.  Once a thriving trade route, the River Magdalena silted up with mud at the beginning of the 20th century and became un-navigable for large boats.  Mompox literally became a backwater and has remained practically untouched ever since.  Similarities to García Márquez's fictional town of Macondo in One Hundred Years of Solitude have been widely commented on and in his work “The General in His Labyrinth,” Gabriel García Márquez refers to the glorious past of Santa Cruz de Mompox.

                              

Our comfortable hotel, the creatively named Casa Amarilla (yellow house)

It was a very nice hotel, though strangely, our bathroom wall didn't reach the ceilng, so we could hear the noises from next door's bathroom, which adjoined it!  

                             

Inner courtyard in Casa Amarilla

6 hours from Cartagena, Mompox is swelteringly hot.  At sundown, as the heat subsides, the locals bring their rocking chairs outside and bid passers-by 'Buenas tardes' (good evening).  

  

Stationery and textiles!  (Traditional stool in our hotel room)

  

Riverfront street near the hotel

 

Santa Barbara Church by day

  

And by night

 

A lion on the church tower looking somewhat shocked (maybe by the electric cable draped over its head)

                               

                                    

                            

                                     

       

       

Kids in their architecturally beautiful school ('Hola, foto!' shouted this little boy when he spotted us)

       

        

It's not all colonial splendour - the outskirts, as with most towns, are very poor

     

There's even some street art - this one depicts the annual jazz festival

    

Botanical gardens guide feeding a banana to an iguana

There's not much to do in Mompox, which is a good thing as it's just too darn hot!  We (us, Sebastian and our new Canadian friend, Jacob) took a stroll to the botanical gardens, which is a piece of ground on which grows several species of tree and medicinal plants.  Unlike the manicured botanical gardens we're used to, it's ramshackle and natural.  The guide, passionate and very knowledgeable about the flora and fauna is furious that there is no local or national government assistance to maintain the gardens, which contain important species and is a haven for birds and iguanas.  Furthermore, he ranted, no-one cares that the land is to be sold for housing, so it will all be lost.  Very sad.

                        

Our favourite juice stall - so many different fruits to choose from

  

How neat is this shop?

We swigged gallons of water due to the heat.  We avoid buying plastic bottles whenever we can and in Colombia we buy 6 litre bags instead, though you often have to ask for them, as it's a much cheaper way to buy water, so not widely publicised.

 

 One of the family of iguanas running around on the riverbank where we ate our lunch

Even though Mompox is a very smart colonial town, we could still find a very reasonable menu del dia for 8000 pesos.  Our favourite was Casa de Obeso, an unassuming little cafe with riverside gingham-clothed tables, lovely staff and a delightful little 7 year old girl, Liz, who loved practising her English and throwing stones into the river with us.  The patacones there were delicious (plantain patties).  We've enjoyed them all through Colombia and they are this blog's recipe:

Patacones (plantain patties)

 

Ingredients (makes about 16)

4 green plantains (make sure they are green, not yellow, as the taste will be very different)

Vegetable oil

Salt

Method

1. Peel the plantains, and cut each one width wise into 3 or 4 pieces.
2. An easy way to peel plantains is to cut roughly a cm off each tip and carefully slice along one side of the skin without cutting the fruit.  When the skin has been slit on one side, you can gently peel it off.

1. Heat about 2 cms of vegetable oil on medium heat until hot.
2. Fry plantain pieces on all sides for about 3 minutes, or until the pieces are golden.
3. When they are golden, remove from pan and place onto a plate covered with a paper towel.
4. Flatten the fried plantain by placing the pieces one at a time between 2 pieces of grease proof paper, and flattening gently with your hands until they are about 1cm thick.  
5. Place in the hot oil again and fry until both sides are golden brown.
6. Drain on a plate covered with a paper towel and sprinkle with salt.
7. Serve immediately with dipping sauces or a tomato salsa.

                                    

Mompox is too hot even for this devil

                                   

                                    

                                  

   

   

   

Canoe laden with pineapples

      

And those pineapples for sale on the riverside

                                   

Alan strolling along the picturesque riverside street

                        

                                    

  

      

 

Shoe repairer - his work is guaranteed!

       

Ideal place to swing and nosey at the street below

                                         

                                          

    

In the fascinating cemetery......

       

We counted 12 cats in the cemetery's chapel

Apparently, the bereaved often bring food for these cats when visiting their loved ones.

    

Our river safari canoe

 

Our transport on the other side of the river

The other tourist activity is a river 'safari', which is a trip on a big motorised canoe along the river with the driver shouting, in very fast Spanish, the names of the birds over the noise of the engine.  We were then offloaded on the other side of the river, where we clambered onto a moto-taxi - a motorbike pulling a pickup, with planks for seating.  On this side, people live in very basic huts with pigs, chickens and ducks running around the dusty yards and tiny naked children waved at us until we were out of sight.  Four very smart and fragrant older tourists from Bogota downed a bottle of thick fruit wine between them during the trip and had the whole boat in fits when a woman shouted out to her husband who was struggling to climb onto the boat: 'Come on, you can do it - you got in the jacuzzi last night!'.

  

The merry Bogotanians on the moto-taxi

We were then ushered onto another canoe and driven around the wetlands as the sun was setting.  Very atmospheric and, although the river level was very low, there were thousands of birds.

     

A couple of birds 

    

What are you looking at?

  

It could be Africa...

 

Herons fishing in the fading light

We spent four nights in Mompox and had a good, sweaty, relaxing time in a friendly little town.  We were glad we hadn't made it for Semana Santa; locals told us that temperatures had reached way above the norm at a scorching 40 degrees plus, which made it too hot to enjoy the festivities.

Next post: 'Colombia's loveliest': Barichara