Pictures from Colombia

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Spent some time going through photos we have taken.  Managing all of these is turning into a full time job, not that I have anything better to do with my time, and although there are a bunch of photo management resources available these days…I find that I lose more photo’s than the ones I actually have organized.   I know, I know…tough life!

Anyway, I had wanted to show the pictures we took when we visited Ipiales, Colombia but forgot.  That is happening more and more these days, forgetting, the kids say that it is because I am getting old, I say it is because I “choose” to focus on other things…it didn’t get done.

I posted one of the pictures over on Portable Parents Photos that I really liked of the church we visited.  If you have not visited our other site, go check out some of our favorite photos we have taken.

We had heard about the church in Ipiales and saw a couple of photos.  It was quite impressive and since we had some time to kill in Colombia we decided to make the 15 minute drive.  We opted for a taxi because we were told that the bus did not stop at the church and we would need to walk 3 or 4 kilometers.  Walking this distance normally is not big deal, but not being sure of where we were going or what we would experience once there we decided that the taxi was the best option.

The countryside of this part of the Andes is beautiful, full of green rolling hills, followed by areas of steep cliffs.  This is a dairy region and the hills are filled with dairy cows, actually the roads are filled with them quite often as well, along with the requisite smells.  What is striking are the patchwork displays against the emerald green hills, each one representing another farm.  I imagine that farming in the U.S. looked like this at one time, small family farms that provided the food needs of the family with just enough excess to be sold at market to sustain the family economically.

I remembered a story I was told a few years back about the decimation of the Gilliam County Wheat growers in central Oregon.  The number of farmers in this region had gone from several hundred to less than 50 in a short period of time.  Farming in the U.S. is dominated by large corporations, in Colombia it is dominated by small family farms.

The story goes that two local, school aged farm girls were playing by the river when they saw an image of the Virgin Mary in the hillside.  They ran home to get their parents and many villager followed them to see the miracle.

That is a pretty good story as stories go, although the sitings of the Virgin Mary are getting a little stale…as in the story about seeing her in a slice of bread.  The church itself is spectacular.  As usual the photo’s do not do the real object justice, and the church with its high steeples, large stone construction, and beautiful cathedrals are amazing to view in person.  But it was not the story or the physical structure that was most impressive…no, it was the LOCATION.

The church is built over a river at the bottom of a huge ravine.  Having hiked up and down this canyon I can tell you that it is a long ways down, I will estimate some 2,000 feet down!  There is not really anything around the town.  The small town benefits from tourism and many small shops were constructed to support the nick knacks and refreshments sold along the way down…or more accurately, on the way up.  But there is nothing else around for miles, and miles, and miles other than the small farms that dot the landscape.

This picture was taken from the roadside leading into the town.  It gives you and idea of where this church was built, nothing but farm land all around, and at the bottom of a steep river gorge…spectacular!

You get down to the church approaching from the left.  There is a paved, steep path leading from the town down to the church that is hidden from the mountainside to the left of the church.  The bridge on the right spans the river and leads to a waterfall and additional outbuildings including a small park and kids play area.

Did I say steep?  The picture below should give you some idea of exactly what it takes to get down…and back up from this place.  It is steeper in some areas!

The picture below was taken after we walked a short way down, this should give you a good idea of how deep this canyon was.  The church is built at the bottom and protrudes over the river…

The kids ran ahead down the hill.  Here they are below us look out over the river at a rest stop that was built along the side of the path.  Notice the waterfall on the left…

After a long hike down, you are rewarded with the site below.  This is taken on a small landing just before he desend a steep staircase.  You can see the bridge extending across the river.

For a small fee you could tour the inside.  It was a little like you would imagine the inside of a dungeon but was a lot of fun.  Here is Gigi exploring the bowels of the church, having just descended yet another steep staircase.

I personally like the next 2 photographs.  The first one shows a good picture of the river and shows how steep and rugged the canyon is looking at the terrain across the river.  Both of these pictures are taken from within the church by poking the camera out of the bars on a window and snapping away.

We are just under the bridge leading across the river that you see in the other photo.

Drum roll please…..

Ok, what everybody wants to see…the CHURCH!

It is a very pretty church, but again, for me it is the location that is awesome.  The shot above is taken on the other side of the river looking back across the bridge.  We are probably about 300 feet above the river at this point.  You can also see part of the foot path on the right side heading up the hill.

The girls pose for a picture, with another great shot of the waterfall.  This picture below was taken from the same spot as the picture of the church above, just turned about 45 degrees to the right…pretty cool!

If you look closely you might also be able to find Pippy.  This stuff rat has more travel miles than many of our friends…

Not sure if this next picture is sacrilegious or not…a sexy pose before the doors leading to the cathedral.

Any church tour is not complete without some aberrations of nature.  Here we can see the 2 headed sheep and the 8 legged sheep.  Gigi took these picture wanting to ensure she had some momento to remember the occasion. Awesome…

And FINALLY…I know most of you want to see more pictures of me (sean) so here you go.  Ok, Ok, you don’t ask for more pictures of me, but you do ask for more of the rest of the family.

This was taken at the side of the road above the river valley.  If you look closely at the bottom left corner of the picture you can see the church below.  There is not a lot of reasons to come to this part of Colombia so the church is not all that well known.  I found very little information when I was researching it and only those travelers that are crossing the border between Ecuador and Colombia are in a position to stop and check it out.  So, while the renewal of our Ecuadorian visa did not go as planned, we are thankful that we were able to witness first hand this incredible church, in a beautiful part of Colombia, in a most spectacular location.

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