Amazon rainforest
Company in the indigenous village, Amazon
In an indigenous community of the Amazonian rainforest, the line between family and community becomes blurry. The village consists of five inhabitants, all of whom are related by blood or marriage.
Every November, tribe members flock to the maloka, the hut-like structure that houses activities from food production to celebrations, to give thanks and remember their ancestors. Part of the ritual involves jumping on a log decorated with the painting of an anaconda, creating a sound so formidable that it echoes through the jungle to Leticia, the small Colombian port on the banks of the Amazon. During the rest of the year, the sounds of the jungle are interspersed with salsa tunes from a battery-operated radio, the mumblings of a parrot and the conversation five people can create.
Salento, Zona Cafetera
Wedged between a cloud forest and a valley of wax palm trees, the highest palm trees in the world, lies Salento, a village of no more than 4,000 permanent residents.
It is possible to walk and feel like you have seen every face before. 4,000 people in Salento can create the kind of vibrancy that is missing from a university campus on a snowy February Monday morning. A couple is dancing in the middle of the main square, men are playing chess by the church, two younger boys strum a guitar by an arepa stand. Salento is tucked away in the Zona Cafetera in such a way that it remains unknown to many travelers. In this quasi-isolation, its residents seem to live in bliss.
View from the coffee finca, Salento
Coffee finca
At the coffee finca, the bean tastes as sweet as a blueberry when picked directly off a tree. Five men work here without many modern amenities. Peeking into the lifestyle of a coffee farmer or a man in his mid-70s living in an Amazonian indigenous village makes one feel privileged and voyeuristic at once, as if you are experiencing a slice of the world steeped in beauty and at the same time invading a sacred space with curiosity. And yet, one wants to ask:
“Do you feel like you are missing anything? What do you long for but do not have here?”
In Salento, the men at the coffee finca laugh nervously and respond “Girls. Company. Someone with whom to dance rumba.”
In the Amazon, the 22-year-old son of the Chief of the tribe says he cannot think of anything – but quickly adds, “It is nice when people come to visit. It is nice to talk.”
Life in conflict and post-conflict zones can be isolating, nostalgia-inducing, lonely. Few are immune from the yearning for companionship, from the aid worker to the indigenous Amazonian. The stoicism and self-sufficiency of Salento or the Amazon are one charmed glimpse into navigating the solitude.
Roxanne is currently designing and implementing projects in communities of conflict worldwide. For more about her experiences in Colombia, check out her blog.
Latest posts by roxannekrystalli
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