{"id":1649,"date":"2015-09-10T20:12:45","date_gmt":"2015-09-11T02:12:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/triciakarsay.com\/guatemala\/?p=1649"},"modified":"2016-05-21T12:18:44","modified_gmt":"2016-05-21T18:18:44","slug":"alexihendie","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/triciakarsay.com\/guatemala\/alexihendie\/","title":{"rendered":"Alexihendie"},"content":{"rendered":"

No, it’s not the name of some Wayuu warrior prince. Or a jungle city in Colombia. I am still laughing over a conversation I had with my mom. I was so happy and excited to bring her back something she actually wanted (Colombian coffee, yay!), that I sent her an email to let her know I got her some exclusive beans from a gorgeous finca<\/em> in the Sierra Nevada.\u00a0 She wrote a cute note back, something about “Alexihendie” and me deserving some extra chicken cutlets and I had no idea what that meant (not the chicken cutlet part), but Alexihendie?\u00a0 Thought it might have been a typo or some weird autocorrect of my sister’s name.<\/p>\n

\"Rod-exigente_400x400\"<\/a>

Alexa Hente<\/p><\/div>\n

Anyway, we were chatting about all the coffee I brought back and I started yammering about Juan Valdez again and then she asked me if I saw what sounded like “Alexa Hente”. I asked, “Yeah, what’s that about? I forgot to email you back and ask you who that was.”\u00a0 She said “He’s that guy from the coffee commercials in the 80s.”\u00a0 “I only remember Juan Valdez,” I said, but she was sure there was a guy named Alexa Hente that fit the description of Juan Valdez.\u00a0 After saying Alexa Hente out loud a couple of times, I wondered out loud if they might have been saying “El Excellente<\/em>” in the commercial, we got a good laugh out of that, but she was still sure it was a coffee guy’s name.\u00a0 Some googling got us to this classic Juan Valdez commercial<\/a> but there are quite a few web and image search results for “Alexa Hente”.\u00a0 Turns out lots of people have been wondering who this Alexa Hente guy is and what coffee he was peddling. Alexa Hente is actually “El Exigente<\/em>” which means “the demanding one” and it was from a Savarin coffee commercial in the 60s and 70s, http:\/\/blog.manorhallsoapcompany.com\/2010\/06\/calling-alexa-hente.html<\/a>.<\/a>\u00a0 I remember Savarin coffee, not sure if I remember the commercial though.\u00a0 El Exigente<\/em>, Alexa Hente, hahaha, I’m still cracking up.<\/p>\n

Okay, back to Colombia.\u00a0 So my last morning in Parque Tayrona<\/em> was mostly peaceful until some little kids tried to rob me on the beach.\u00a0 Yes. Little kids. Now, they weren’t going to rob me at knifepoint. Or kidnap me, but they definitely wanted some plata<\/em> and probably my camera.<\/p>\n

I took a walk to the beach to shoot some photos, read a little have a late breakfast and asked a few kids walking by me if I was going the right way.\u00a0 They started giggling and then followed me and then kind of crowded around me on the empty beach. I didn’t think much of it, and almost let the oldest child take a few pictures when he asked about my camera, but something in my gut made me hesitate. And I actually felt bad because I always let curious kids use my camera, at home and anywhere I go, but something was off from the get-go.\u00a0 If I moved, they were right up my ass.\u00a0 Not saying anything, looking at each other. Then looking at my bag. They were totally trying to grab something off of me, but they were just so bad at it that I actually wanted to give them instructions.\u00a0 “Tell the little one to kick me in the shin to distract me.\u00a0 When I bend over, grab anything you can get in my bag and run, because you are really going to have to fight me to get the camera from around my neck.” I mean, was I really about to be mugged by children?\u00a0 “Yes officer, there were three of them. Oh, I dunno, maybe 7, 9 and 10.”<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>

The beach near Villa Maria where I almost got pickpocketed.<\/p><\/div>\n

So, all kidding aside, my initial reaction was to help them rob me, well not really, but I did want them to know I knew what they were doing, but to cut it out.\u00a0 “Que, que quieren? Comida? Tengo fruta y agua y una arepa.<\/em>”\u00a0 What do you want?\u00a0 Food?\u00a0 I have fruit and water and an arepa.\u00a0 “No, no, no” <\/em>the girl shook her head “plata plata plata<\/em>“.\u00a0 “No, no, no, money money money.” “…por los pobrecitos<\/em>” her brother taunted “for the little poor kids”.\u00a0 The gap between rich and poor is so great here, I can’t even begin to describe the injustice of it all or how torn I feel in situations like these. It’s not just the lack of jobs or money, it’s being denied access to basic resources and opportunity and healthcare and education.\u00a0 It’s always heartbreaking coming face-to-face with the level of poverty where begging or stealing are just a common part of a small child’s daily routine.\u00a0 And while I’m not a flashy traveler by any means, I did stay in a fairly nice hotel and I’m sure my hiking boots alone cost more than their family makes in a month. Guess that’s a little flashy.\u00a0 And while I’m most likely considered borderline middle class at home, I’m filthy rich in rural Colombia.\u00a0 And I don’t like the way that feels one bit.<\/p>\n

So I mock scolded them gently in bad Spanish and made them take my food “La comida es igual como la plata<\/em>“. Food is the same as money. Sure, easy for me to say. Uggghh, I hate feeling helpless and not knowing what to do.\u00a0 Last time I stayed in a mid-range hotel in a developing country was in Nicaragua.\u00a0 Usually I look for locally-owned, low-cost places and was so happy when I found Hotel Con Coraz\u00f3n<\/a> in Granada.\u00a0 It was an impressive business model that offers a more socially-conscious travel experience.\u00a0 They use 100% of their profits to fund education initiatives in rural Nicaragua and they employ and train locals to be upwardly mobile.\u00a0 I forgot how uncomfortable comfort can make me feel.<\/p>\n

So on that rather un-fun note, I said goodbye to Parque Tayrona<\/em> and headed to Minca, a tiny village in the Sierra Nevada.\u00a0 Arrived in the late afternoon at Minca Ecohabs Hotel and was welcomed by Maximo (French guy) and his lovely wife (Colombian, I think it was his wife) with a lovely passionfruit boozy cocktail.\u00a0 Then a cute little cabana boy carried Stanley through a jungle path to yet another hut\/bungalow with an unobstructed view, this time of mountain jungle and Santa Marta in the distance.\u00a0 Yeah, I know. I suck.\u00a0 I argued with Maximo for at least 10 minutes that I could carry my own bag to my own room…man Bobo was right, I’m a freakin’ pain in the ass, so then I just gave up and let him do his thing.<\/p>\n

\"Relaxing<\/a>

Relaxing on my hammock<\/p><\/div>\n

I LOVED this bungalow.\u00a0 It was rustic and open and had a spiral interior staircase, a terrace with a hammock AND a chair swing, and a super hard platform bed (with requisite mosquito netting). Wanted to check out Minca a little before nightfall so walked around this sweet little town a bit and went back to unpack, unwind and rest my tired man feet.\u00a0 Settled in, read a little Gabriel Garcia Marquez while I swung in my chair swing and then mosquito-proofed myself for dinner.\u00a0 Needed a flashlight to get back to the main hut.\u00a0 Had a delicious cerdo y albahaca<\/em> (pork and basil) dish with some more cayeye<\/em>, mashed buttery gooey platanos<\/em> with grated cheese on top, yum yum yum.\u00a0 It’s similar to Dominican mangu. <\/em>The Colombian cook had those crazy green beige gold-speckled eyes that freak me out and mesmerize me at the same time.\u00a0 I felt like Costello in that Abbott and Costello Meet the Killer movie when Boris Karloff hypnotizes Costello and then he gets that blank, unblinking stare.\u00a0 Like I can’t move my eyes.\u00a0 And then they don’t move their eyes.\u00a0 And then it’s just kind of weird and uncomfortable.\u00a0 Oh well, had one last Happy Tucan, pulled up my socks, turned on my flashlight and tripped through the jungle path back to my bungalow…I mean, my “jungalow”… in the dark (I’m going to buy this domain!)<\/p>\n

\"My<\/a>

My jungalow and cabana boy<\/p><\/div>\n

So after another weird crazy-eye staring contest with the cook in the a.m., I set off to hike up to Hacienda La Victoria<\/a><\/em> or Casa Victoria<\/em>, a continuously operating coffee finca founded in 1892. And I found out that right across the way was the Nevada Cerverceria<\/em>, a new craft brewery in the Sierra Nevada, makers of Happy Tucan cerveza artesanal<\/em>. It was about 6 or 7 miles from Minca and then I was going to visit Poz Azul<\/em> waterfall, another 4 or 5 miles round trip from the main road, so all in all I’m going to round up to about 20 miles.\u00a0 Stunning scenery, great tour of an organic coffee farm, delicious coffee and a nice, slightly disappointing waterfall were all part of great, exhausting day, best told in pictures:<\/p>\n

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