Greetings from Mykanos and, although it is now very old news, Happy New Year.
It has been a busy Festive Season what with Christmas, New Year, the Carnaval del Diablo in Riosucio, the crowning of Miss Universe and the inauguration of Donald Trump.
Interesting mix when you think about it: commemorating the arrival of the Saviour, seeing a change in the way we think of the present, celebrating the Devil himself, admiring some of the most beautiful women in the world … and Donald Trump.
Donald Trump formerly owned the Miss Universe Pageant but following his comments about Mexicans and the mooted boycott by Latin American countries, he sold it in September 2015, making it much safer for the contestants as he could no longer drop unannounced into their dressing rooms as they changed costumes.
If you don’t already know, Miss France took the crown for 2017, with Miss Haiti coming second and a very beautiful Miss Colombia in third. Miss France, Iris Mittenaere is from Lille and is the first Miss Universe from France in more than 60 years. Organisers hope that this will reenergise interest in the pageant in France, where it has generally been seen as a dinosaur from the Jurassic period, sometime before feminism and political correctness.
As for the other Devil, we didn’t do the biennial Carnaval del Diablo in Riosucio this year, although Horacio (our manager) and his family did. We have been many times in the past, and enjoyed it, especially the costumes of the quadrillas or local teams that compete for best theme and turnout, but I can’t help feeling it is becoming a victim of its own success and there are just too many people, but maybe I am just too old and honest.
And speaking of ‘old’, I also didn’t feel up to seeing yet another musical performance by the ‘quadrilla’ I renamed ‘Las Brujas Viejas de Supia’ (The Old Witches of Supia). They come from the town of Supia, near Riosucio, and their enthusiasm is in no way matched by their talent. Instead I spent the week in Bogotá doing a new draft of my book, and Adriano had some nice meals with friends and relatives going to, or coming back, from the Carnaval.
That is one of the good things about this time of year; friends coming home to see families or family coming to see us. One of the friends that came back to see family in Anserma is Andrés, our great friend from Bogotá. You have met Andrés before; he works for the Banco de la República de Colombia (the central bank of Colombia). On this trip, one of the things we managed to do together was to visit Ukumari, the new bio-park/zoo in Pereira.
Ukumari is based around a very specific concept. It is providing a home for animals that have already been in captivity, either in zoos or refuges or even private homes, and settling them in the environments in which they would normally live if they were likely to survive in the wild. It is highly educative, and positively glows with good intentions.
There are currently two areas: the African Savannah and the Andean Forest Zone.
The Andean Forest was particularly good with huge aviaries of beautiful birds. The aviaries, which were constructed with the help of the Disney organisation, are so big you are oblivious to the fact that the birds are not free to fly away.
The African Savannah however is still very much ‘work in progress’, with habitats being constructed and notifications of what and who will live where and when they are expected. Already the giraffes and the elephants have names and photos even if they are not expected for another nine months.
When completed the park will encompass some 45 hectares, feature seven bioregions and incorporate all the animals from the much smaller, antiquated zoo at Pereira’s Matecaña airport.
It was quite good fun apart from the very hot day, the long treks between zones and the complete absence of a cold beer (‘It’s a family experience’, we were told).
One thing that caught our attention was some African tribesmen and women, in tribal dress, with faces and bodies decorated, inhabiting grass huts or strolling magnificently along the paths in the Savannah. Watusi? Zulu? They weren’t Masai, that much I knew. Adriano asked them if they spoke English or Spanish and where they were from. Pereira, of course! They were locals. An African tribal dance performance was scheduled and I was a bit concerned to see the accompanying musicians had accordion, guitar and drums.
Adriano in ‘Africa’
We made a change this last Christmas and did not have the big party for the workers. Both Horacio and Adriano thought it was getting too predictable and losing its specialness. So instead we had a low key Christmas with dinner for family and some friends on the 24th and then a very ‘tamales’ New Year’s Eve.
‘Tamales’ (meats, maize dough and other ingredients cooked in banana leaves) are traditional for Christmas and New Year in Colombia and each region has its own style. It’s a bit similar to the different styles of cassoulet in France.
Adriano made Tamales Boyacense (from his father’s department of Boyaca) but inevitably does them ala Adriano, which this year involved three types of meat (pork, beef, chicken), masa de maíz (corn dough), boiled eggs, carrots, potatoes, peas, rice and condiments, which were marinated, mixed, assembled, wrapped in plantain leaves and cooked. They were two days in the making, and only really work when you make lots, so apart from overfeeding ourselves we had lots to give as presents and to freeze for future delight.
Making tamales is a very social undertaking and Adriano had a team assisting him, preparing leaves, cutting string, juggling ingredients, tying parcels, and enjoying a glass of Sauvignon Blanc which was my job.
Funny. I know I write a lot about food in these Letters but that is what takes up a bit of time here. It was, however, when Andres told me of something he noticed that made me wonder if we have our priorities right. When Jack was here a couple of years ago he counted the chairs and found more than enough for a house with just two human inhabitants. Andres counted dining tables and kitchens … four dining areas and four kitchens. Just one sitting room however, and that is on the verandah. So there you are, we definitely do have our priorities right.
In the meantime, so do the animals. We have six ducks hatching eggs at the moment and three geese. In fact we got our first new arrivals yesterday.
I think we are going to need more ponds.
Love from him and me
Baz
