Greetings from Bogotá
Yes I know, it has been a while since my last Letter and some masochists amongst you have actually been asking when the next one would arrive? The answer is self-apparent … today.
The delay is not the result of lack of interest or lack of subject matter. There are plenty of both, but there are also the conflicting needs of things that needed, and need, to be done.
My embryonic novel has again been put on hold. I am just getting into Chapter 20, which sees Francisco returning to London from his adventures on Capri and in Napoli, while Octavio is labouring away in Rome.
The reason it is on hold? My first book, ‘Better Than Cocaine … learning to grow coffee, and live, in Colombia’, is to be published next year and I have a few minor tweaks to do before it goes to the editor in November.
A new publisher, Fuller Vigil, who specialises in English language books about Latin America, is publishing it and I could not be happier. Richard, the Publisher, is a much admired and respected writer, journalist, broadcaster and hotelier. We like and think highly of each other’s work and I am very confident that my book has found the best possible home.
I hope all of you will want a copy. After all, many of you have been reading me for a decade or two and if you read the book you will learn about all the stuff I left out so as not to give you the wrong idea, or the right idea, of what happens here in Colombia. Nephew Cameron wants a signed copy. I said sure, with an effusive dedication, but only hand to hand, either there or here. He and Carolina have been here and shared in life at Mykanos and Rancho, so I am assuming that he wants the signed copy of the book as a memento; or maybe as an investment in case I win the Nobel Prize for Literature some time in the future.
Last Letter we were finishing La Traviesa the small coffee season. Now we are into La Cosecha, the main season. The price is still great and maybe will get even better. Adriano had always heard the stories about ‘coffee booms’, and his father had gone through one in the 70’s, following a big frost in Brazil. Suddenly we are in another.
We are profiting from bad weather in some other key coffee growing countries, climate change and consequent global warming which is making coffee impossible at some lower altitudes, and international nervousness because of Covid, Covid’s financial impact on world economies, and the war in Ukraine and the resultant shortages and price rises, particularly in the food and energy sectors. One prescription: Stay calm and drink coffee.
It’s curious, the situation in the energy sector, specifically gas and gas powered electricity generation. Europe has been relying so much on gas from the Russian Federation, but sanctions are now affecting both supply and price. There will be a shortage of gas, and it will cost a lot more as Vladimir Putin uses it as a weapon of war.
It’s a nasty business, and I hope the situation can be resolved without a nuclear holocaust, but looking at the upside it might be all for the best in the long term
It really is the kick in the arse, or the threat, that was necessary to change our attitude to our comfy but doom ridden reliance on carbon fuels. “We must do something about the threat to the planet,” we would say. “This bodes ill for future generations. Let’s have another international conference and wring our hands and blame each other.”
Suddenly there are pressing reasons to do something rather than just talk about doing something.
I remember back in the late 80’s, the PATA (Pacific Asia Travel Association) Conference in Bali. I was working with James Burke and a key speaker was Dr David Suzuki, the Canadian broadcaster and environmentalist. Suzuki stressed the perilous state of the world. We had little time left and had to take the threat seriously. He said that it was still possible to redress the situation. It demanded a coordinated approach and plan, and large-scale action that was obligatory. That’s what helped deliver victory in WWII. That’s what could help meet the challenges we were now facing.
We needed to lessen the reliance on, and use of, fossil fuels, and consume less.
And suddenly, for unforeseen reasons, that is what we are doing.
There is huge international impetus to further develop and switch to renewable energy, and to invest in more nuclear energy. Moreover, the rising price of energy means that people are thinking more carefully about how much they use, a discipline long ignored. It is being recommended, and in some cases mandated, in mainland Europe. Not in the UK, so far, but the Brits will probably do the same just to weather the increasing cost of living.
Meanwhile, at Mykanos, life goes on.
Adriano is completing the big murals on the walls of our mysterious new building, and we have just renovated the big tilapia pond and covered it with netting to keep the ducks and birds of prey from feasting on the tiny fingerlings. Once the pond was completed Adriano was not pleased with the aesthetics so re-landscaped the end nearest the house with palms.
We are also doing some major renovations at San Antonio and it is really becoming even more of a jewel than it already was.
The other thing that seems to be a trend is that everyone is travelling again.
Fran & Jones from Costa Rica are in Lisbon and Loumarin, Kenny & Laurent from Melbourne were in the Highlands of Scotland, Anne from Sydney is trekking through Tuscany, Jaye from Manhattan was in Lagos, Portugal, and James & Georgie from Nettlebed are on safari in Namibia.
Not to be outdone, Adriano decided to celebrate my birthday with our first holiday trip away in three years. The destination was Santa Marta, on the northern edge of Colombia, and points further east along the coast, towards the Guajira peninsula.
We like Santa Marta. The historical bit is not as shiny and beautifully preserved and restored like Cartagena but neither is it jam packed with tourists and cruise ships like Cartagena. We stayed in one of our favourite boutique hotels, Casa Carolina, which is a big old house restored and extended and filled with pools and Jacuzzis and terraces. Everywhere we wanted to eat was within walking distance and we enjoyed a gourmet week.
That was followed by short stays at Yay Sustainable Resort at Guachaca in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada, set amidst a veritable jungle of exotic foliage, and Hotel Playa Mandala at Palomino, set right on the beach.
Part of the draw to each of these properties is their beautiful and peaceful surroundings filled with flowers and plants and palms, alive with stunning, colourful birds. The air is clean and the sounds of nature are all around. It enchanted our fellow guests, and we enjoyed it, but to be honest, apart from the beach at Palomino, it was quite like being home at Mykanos.
I will be there Monday.
Love from him and me
Barry
