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Simon Hampel

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You are here: Home / Adoption / Day 22 – Santander de Quilichao

Day 22 – Santander de Quilichao

Saturday April 28th, 2012 2 Comments

Index » Colombia 2012

Today was a trip we had planned nearly 3 years ago when I travelled with Magnolia and our lawyer to the town where Andres was born – Santander de Quilichao. We needed to get a new birth certificate for Andres showing our names as the parents, and we could only do that at the registrations office in that town – especially given the town is actually in the next state.

Leanne and Andres were not able to come with last time and Andres was keen to see the town where he was born, so we made it a point to plan a visit there at some point on the trip. The fact that it is a beautiful little town and worth visiting anyway is just an added bonus.

Before we left Cali, we stopped at a street with a lot of small musical instrument shops where we looked for something to bring home for Andres and Nicol. Settled on two drums, a cowbell and a guiro – all in Colombian flag colours. These are not just toys – quite good quality instruments!

Stopping for some fruit at a road-side stall on outskirts of Cali. I can't remember what it was called - must ask Magnolia. It was sticky and sweet, thank goodness for baby wipes!

We then headed out of the city and drove about an hour south to the department (state) of Cauca where the town of Santander de Quilichao is. I didn’t actually realise that Santander de Quilichao is the second largest city in Cauca after the capital of the region, Popayán. Magnolia thinks the population of the town is perhaps 50,000 people.

Streets of Santander de Quilichao
Woman prepares fruit for sale beside the road

We drove around the town, admiring the old row-cottages with narrow streets which make up most of the downtown area, the beautiful park that runs along a creek in the town, the bustling marketplace and busy main street, the popular and shady town square, and the colourful Chiva buses. We also drove past the hospital where Andres was born and I was able to get some better photos of it this time.

The town square - popular place to hang out for the locals
Old Chiva - part bus, part truck, servicing poorer rural communities
The family in Santander de Quilichao
The hospital where Andres was born
Old bridge across the creek
Quiet and shaded park along a creek running through the town

We went looking for a restaurant to eat at, and ended giving up on finding something suitable in the town – the locals we asked couldn’t even make a suggestion, and the young officer at a military checkpoint we asked was actually from Cali himself, so didn’t know either. We ended up driving south towards Popayán for a while, up through the foothills of the mountains – stunning scenery, before eventually coming across a truck-stop service station which had a nice clean restaurant.

Coffee growing near the truck stop where we had lunch
Cloud covered mountains behind the truck stop

After lunch we headed back through the town for one last look around before driving back to Cali.

Traditional asado (parrilla) cooking meat over hot coals.
Colourful artwork on the buildings
Artwork along the streets
Busy marketplace
Chiva, getting ready to head out
Old church

This time, we drove a different route home, taking a more circuitous route to the east of the city, rather than coming in directly from the south. It was interesting seeing many of the smaller villages along the way, plus the various crops and farming land through the valley.

Views across Cali

Back in Cali itself, we stopped near the main football stadium to buy some team jerseys for the kids – we got some Deportivo Cali and some National team colours. There is a second team, “America” here too – but I like the green Deportivo colours better.

After a long day, we got back to find power out again and were dreading another night without power. Fortunately, the power came back on just as we were heading back to our room after another candle-lit dinner.

We slept well that night – exhausted after our trip.

Index » Colombia 2012
« Prev: Day 21 – Hotel
Next: Day 23 – Still Following the Cow »

Filed Under: Adoption, Colombia 2012

Comments

  1. Bill and Jill says

    Sunday May 6th, 2012 at 06:50 PM

    Enjoying the blog and photos. Guiros and drums – sounds like some outdoor music sessions!

    Reply
  2. Trevor Hampel says

    Saturday May 5th, 2012 at 11:29 AM

    Thanks for the colourful descriptions and great photos. Getting itchy feet again.

    Reply

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Simon Hampel

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