We took a day trip with a tour company to a small town called Silvia located several hours south of Cali on the edge of the Cauca valley. We had been eager to see more of the country since the 180-day lockdown kept us from leaving Cali and postponed any vacation plans. We wanted to minimize any health risks as best we could and, therefore, ended up doing a private tour through a local company. Going with the tour company also gave us the opportunity to have a local guide from the community and gain a better insight into the town and culture.
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| The mural could use a cleaning. |
Greeting you as you arrive in the town of Silvia is this large sign with faces carved out of the side of the hill. Silvia is known as a tourist destination because it is largely populated by an indigenous group of people called the Guambiano, or Misak. They wear pretty distinct traditional clothing that includes a black bowler hat worn by men and women, as seen in the above rock carving.
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| Looking over the beautiful valley just outside of Silvia. |
The town sits at about 2800 meters above sea level and is situated in a picturesque corner of the Cauca valley high in the mountains. You can visit the town pretty easily by taking a couple of buses, but because we had decided to take a private tour, we were able to avoid bus travel. Having your own vehicle is nice when you are traveling with kids as you can stop whenever you want. It's always the worst when a kid has to go pee while you are on a packed bus and the bathroom doesn't work (a common experience in Colombia).
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| Chiva buses in front of the central square church. |
Maria, our local Misak guide, took us around the town and explained the culture to us. She also happened to be an elected representative of the Misak community's government. The Misak have autonomy over their land and largely create their own laws and governance. They democratically elect leaders every year and they alternate the gender of the person eligible to be elected every year. So one year the community will be led by a male representative and then the next year will be led by a female. A lot of the Misak culture seem to revolve around the balance between male and female emphasizing their equality, but also differences. For example, the women wear blue shawls with black skirts, while the men wear black shawls with blue skirts. It was a neat display of cohesion and harmony!
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| Hugs in Silvia. |
We read some things online stating that the Misak don't like getting their picture taken. But our experience was a little bit different, largely (I assume) because we were accompanied by a local leader. People were mostly indifferent to us and our picture taking and some even seemed to welcome it. Tourism used to be a substantial income generator for many people in the community, so I'm sure many were just happy to see any tourists.
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| Church at the top of the hill. |
At one end of town, there is a hill with a Catholic church situated at the top of a steep staircase. We could definitely feel the elevation as we climbed the steps. The boys practically ran up the entire thing seemingly unaffected by the elevation, at first. But as our trip wore on, there was soon cranky complaints of being tired, which I'm going to 100% blame the elevation for. The church wasn't open so we couldn't see what the inside was like. According to our guide, many of the Misak follow Catholicism or other Christian faiths although some still hold to more traditional beliefs. There is no doubt some syncretistic practices in places also, which I always find fascinating.
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| Inside the famous Silvia market. |
Along with learning about the Misak people and culture, Silvia is a popular destination for tourists because of its lively and traditional market. Unfortunately (fortunately?), there were fewer people in the marketplace than normal when we visited due to COVID-19 restrictions, so it wasn't as busy and full of stalls as it should have been. Many of the items on display are similar to things we can find in the markets in Cali, but there were a few interesting new fruits and vegetables, not to mention various products made from illicit plants (the Misak government allows the cultivation of plants that would be illegal elsewhere). Those we didn't try - though maybe we should have taken advantage of it? Kidding.
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| Brown potatoes, brown and pink potatoes, and pink fake potatoes. |
Being high in the Andes and having connections to the Quechua peoples, potatoes and their many varieties are a staple in the region. The little pink fingerling-looking things are not potatoes, but a pre-Columbian tuber called ullucus (pronounced "oo-yoo-kos"). You can find these all over Colombia, but we had yet to try them (since we had no idea what they were). We bought some and brought them home to cook. Similar to potatoes, you can boil or pan fry them and they are also commonly used in soups. Their flavour is similar to beets, slightly sweet and earthy, but less strong.
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| Fruits, vegetables and masks. |
Unbeknownst to us, the kids were not allowed in the market as a bio-security requirement, so we took turns between the two of us walking through it with our guide. We bought some other fruits and things we had not tried yet to bring home. The kids kept themselves busy playing soccer and fighting with each other in the charming central square.
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| You can practically see the pure mountain air. |
We then headed out of town and even higher up the mountain, passing fields of poppies and hemp. Surrounding Silvia are various small Misak community dwellings and farms. We visited one woman's house to see what life is like high in the mountains. We were encouraged by our guide to take of our masks, assuring us that the air was "pure of COVID" being up so high. The crisp clean air, green mountains, elevation, and cranky kids made it all very breathtaking.
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| The quaint kitchen, in a smokey-blackened-in-soot sort of way. |
We were invited into a smokey kitchen for some hot panela tea, a common Colombian drink made of unrefined cane sugar. I'm not sure if the stove and oven worked or not, but there was a small campfire in the middle of the kitchen heating up water and smoking some mystery meat. The Misak own and run their own water system, as well as many other services, including their own radio station. They also have their own language, which they teach in their community-run schools in order to pass the tradition to younger generations.
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| Traditional Misak shovel and hose. |
By this point the boys were pretty much done with the trip - but little did we know that the best was yet to come. We headed back down the mountain to eat a late lunch at a restaurant beside the main river flowing through town. Trout is a specialty in Silvia since it is cultivated there, so that is what we ate while overlooking the river. We noticed that behind the restaurant in the middle of the river was an island that had been turned into a playground. So it was all the boys could think about during the meal.
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| Everything fun is also a little dangerous. |
After we ate, we headed down to the playground, crossing a bridge that was not up to Canadian safety standards (the best kinds of bridges), and arrived at an equally dangerous merry-go-round thing. Human-powered, you sit or hang on to a rope and run around in circles until you build up enough steam that you can lift yourself up and practically soar over the river. It was a lot of fun if you didn't think about the possible consequences. Fortunately, no one got hurt and the kids loved it.
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| Us with our Misak guide, Maria. |
That was pretty much our trip to Silvia. We all fell asleep on the windy 3-hour trip back, stopping briefly on the side of the road for a false alarm puke of Judson's. It was a nice little day outing during a time when we felt that we desperately needed to get out and enjoy a bit of the beauty and diversity of Colombia that the pandemic has been preventing us from experiencing. Silvia was an interesting look at one of the lesser-known cultures and towns in Colombia.
