Santa Rosa de Osos - Part 5

Hiking in Santa Rosa Pablo and I arrived in Santa Rosa on Monday morning. There was a screening in Medellin on Wednesday, so although both of us would have liked to have stayed in Santa Rosa for another few days, Wednesday had to be our last day.

On Tuesday night Jhonda asked "Would you like to go for a hike tomorrow morning? I can take you to a place where people still mine for gold by hand." That was a no brainer for me, of course I said "yes."

The next morning Pablo and I got up early and headed to the main square to meat up with Jhonda. Jhonda showed up in a government truck and even had hiking boots for us. We all hopped into the truck and headed out of town.

About 25 minutes outside of town, the truck dropped us off at another dirt road. Jhonda, Pablo and I hopped out and began walking. We passed a few mining spots and then the dirt road slowly turned into a walking trail. After about another 15 minutes we came upon a spot where locals where mining by hand. They had a giant water wheel and a whole operation set up. The miners were very friendly, showing us how the mining process works. I shot a few portraits of the main miner, one of which ended up being my favorite shot of the trip.

We continued our hike, passing by and talking to other farmers. We finally ended up in a small village were we had coffee with a retired professor from Pablo and Jhonda's university. We then caught a bus back to town, just in time to give one last screening. After the screening Pablo and I packed up our bags and headed back to Medellin.

All in all Santa Rosa far exceeded all expectations I had. I could of went home right then and there and have been happy. The hospitality i received from everyone in Santa Rosa was unbelievable, not to mention the access I had to shoot was amazing. Santa Rosa was by far the highlight of the trip.

6am in Santa Rosa.

Pablo waiting for Jhonda.

Jhonda in the back of the pick up.

I'm not sure if we were in fog or a cloud forest, as they are called, but in either case we hit some interesting weather.

Pablo in the truck with the sun behind him.

The truck could only take us so far.

The first mining site we came upon. I got a few looks here.

Jhonda and Pablo over looking a site of large scale mining. Mining is one eco issues Santa Rosa deals with.

Effects on a small stream.

One of the many primitive tools.

The dirt road turns into a walking trail.

Two miners in Santa Rosa.

Gold miner in Santa Rosa. My favorite shot of the trip.

The miners extract soil from the local country side...

and then pan for gold...

by hand...

and also with this giant water wheel, which has been around for 300 years, or something crazy like that.

The miners build everything they need.

Every man in Santa Rosa seemed to carry a machete with them.

We continued our hike, but unfortunately the sun never came out.

A farmer we briefly chatted with. Once again notice the machete.

Climbing down one of the hill sides to a small valley.

Santa Rosa de Osos - Part 4

The Screenings Over the next few days Pablo and I did a series of screenings in Santa Rosa. I did another few Q&As, we screened films for students, we screened films for the government and I did a short interview with the Mayor.

The screenings went really well. It was refreshing to see that the town of Santa Rosa took them very serious and is committed to improving the environment. As Carlos Mario Rojas, the Mayor of Santa Rosa, told me "I think the festival is a great idea. It makes us do a reflection about our community."

Once again I was very impressed with Pablo and Jhonda's hard work. It really paid off.

A flier for the screenings in Santa Rosa's main bus station.

The festival VOCES had several screenings at Unidad Cultural Integral, Santa Rosa's main theater.

One of the animations in the selection of films.

Inside Unidad Cultural Integral.

Several school children watch from the balcony of the theater.

In order to inspire a whole new generation of "green" thinking, Pablo has scheduled a number of screenings for school children.

At each screening Pablo promotes an active discussion about environmental issues facing current day Colombia.

A school child gives his input.

School children in Santa Rosa watch a selection of short films.

School children listen to Pablo speak.

School children are entertained by various animation and creative "eco" themed films.

Lacking his own projector, Pablo screens the films on what ever means is available.

In just 20 screenings, the festival VOCES has reached over 2,000 participants, mostly school children. In total the festival will have over 30 screenings.

Pablo engages the students in Santa Rosa. Pablo believes "our process of modernization comes with responsibility over our natural resources and a better future for the next generation."

Santa Rosa de Osos - Part 3

I thought my first day in Santa Rosa couldn't get any crazier but then Pablo told me we were going to take a drive out to a natural reserve. When we first got into Santa Rosa, we met up with Pablo's friend Jhonda. Jhonda and Pablo went to school together in Medellin, both studied environmental issues. Jhonda now works for the government of Santa Rosa. He was the brains behind setting up all the screenings. After the discussion with the school children, Jhonda showed up in a government truck (with a driver!!!) and Pablo and I hopped in. We drove for about 20 minutes outside of town then came to a crazy dirt road. We preceded to blast up some really really crazy terrain, stopping a few times along the way to look at some of the eco issues facing the area.

After about 30 minutes bouncing along the dirt road we ended up at "La Sierra Reserve." Pretty much it was a organic farm in the middle of the country side. A woman named Lilly lives there, grows crops, creates art and just lives off the land. There was also a British guy named Andy, who has been living in Colombia since the early 90s. Both were incredibly nice, feeding us and constantly handing us Tintos (or small black espresso like, but slightly weaker, coffees). Being a lover of all types of coffee, I really enjoyed the "tintos" in Santa Rosa.

By the time we got settled it was dark. We still went for an hour walk throughout the reserve. Luckily there was still pretty much a full moon. After the walk we returned to the house, drank more coffee, ate more food and hung out. The house was amazing and it was an art director's dream. Very visual everywhere you looked and with interesting "props" all over.

We hung out at La Sierra Reserve for a good few hours and then finally headed back into town. Between the school children and the natural reserve, the first day in Santa Rosa is up there with my favorite travel experiences so far. Right next to traveling with Obama and the 2006 Olympics.

Jhonda and driver.

Trying to shoot photos while driving on this road was tough. Trust me!

Overlooking a spot where deforestation could be seen.

Pablo and Jhonda discussing environmental issues.

En route to La Sierra Reserve.

The house at La Sierra Reserve. Very simple design, but very artistic.

Taking a walk with tintos in hand.

Andy, Pablo and Lilly.

Lilly showing us some of her work.

Everything in the house had some much texture and color. I loved it.

Jhonda, one of the nicest and funniest people in the world. I would like to return to Santa Rosa just to hang out with him again.

This is about 5 times bigger then my Moka pot.

Art and Coffee, I liked this place.

Some of the "props" around the place.

Jhonda putting on some good old classic rock.

Santa Rosa de Osos - Part 2

The first thing we did after getting to Santa Rosa was head to one of the local schools. Pablo wanted to give a short talk to the kids. I figured this was a prime opportunity to start shooting photos for my project. Pablo held a lively discussion with the kids, however the elephant in the room (which was me) couldn't be avoided. I ended up doing a short Q&A pretty much focusing on everything BUT the environment. The first question I was asked was if I have met Barack Obama. Now, the funny part is that I can say yes, but I tried to explain to the kids that most Americans have not. I was also asked if I have met 50 Cent and various other famous people.

All was going well, until at the end one of the kids asked me to sign an autograph. Before I knew it I was pinned against a chalkboard with 30 kids shoving pens and paper in my face. I think Pablo may have a few photos of this, hopefully I can get one to share. This definitely proved to be a very fun experience.