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During my Colombia travels, I’ve grown used to saying yes when anyone suggests I should do/visit something. Most of the times, it leads to some interesting and out of the ordinary experiences. The latest came about at one of our weekly family lunches. My cousin Joe told me about his idea of going to Nabusimake at the insistence of one of his stepfather’s friend, who’s a mamo (an indigenous spiritual leader and priest). After googling images of the place, I knew I had to get a spot on that mission!
Nabusimake is a remote indigenous village in the heart of the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta. It’s the cradle of the Arhuaco culture and the capital of their nation. I’ve written more details about it on the viventura blog. Getting there was not easy, the road that goes from Pueblo Bello to Nabusimake is the worst road I’ve ever seen. Even worse than the road we took on our last visit to the Sierra Nevada a couple of years ago. It was like driving on a dry river bed, with big rocks and deep cracks. I can only imagine how bad it is during the rainy season. At some points, we could see the leftovers of landslides.
Inside the truck, it felt like we were driving though a war zone. The only thing missing were the fire and the sounds of explosions. At times, I thought we wouldn’t make it. I could see us getting stuck on one of those crevices and having to walk a fair bit to get help.
During some of the worst bits, I had to close my eyes just so that I wouldn’t scream. When my cousin realized that I was about to freak out, he paused and explained that he had pimped his truck (a.k.a. La Baby Girl) for precisely these type of roads. He insisted that there was no way we would get stuck.
And he was right, we didn’t get stuck but we did get lost. There are no signs to Nabusimake after Pueblo Bello, the last town on the road leading to the village. After wandering around for almost an hour, we bumped into a guy driving a truck who was heading to Nabusimake and followed him.
Eventually, we made it to the village just before sunset; we barely had enough time to register in town before it was time to go to bed. Our time in Nabusimake was short but sweet and I would definitely would love to go back and stay for a few days so that I can get more into the culture.
For more information about Nabusimake, check my post on the viventura blog. Also, for more photos you can visit my gallery here.
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What’s the most remote place you’ve ever been to? How was it to get there? Let us know in the comments below!
Looks like a gorgeous place, beautiful photos