its decades of civil unrest have left vast swaths of colombia relatively unknown, even to its own citizens. to reach a place previously considered a no-go area, i ll fly out of an airport in villavicencio, 45 miles southeast of the capital bogota. on first inspection, this is an airplane boneyard, where unwanted props from romancing the stone corrode artfully. but in reality, this sleepy hangar is an important gateway to the more impenetrable parts of the country. the remote settlements in the amazon basin are cut off from the country, with neither rail nor roads connecting them. there are only two ways in, either boat for several days down river, or aboard a jungle bus, which is what locals call the world war ii era dc-3.
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i leave the subtropics for more extreme climates. riohacha is a city 600 miles northeast of cali on the la caribbean borders the venezuela. it s home to the native semi-nomadic people of colombia called the wayuu. the wayuu are a tough, autonomous side, who have never taken sides with either the government, the farc, or the paramilitaries. as a result, they remain independent politically and live pretty much by their own code. i m meeting juan pablo majorca, a chef from bogota who comes to this spot on a regular basis.
it s delicious. wow. so, this is like palau, specifically from pacific. this is pago rojo, steamed shrimp. very cool. and nice green tomatoes. you find them everywhere. plantains. with all of that you have to accompany with ceviche. yeah, i m learning that. it s the best way to handle this. cane sugar. from cane sugar, it s homemade. what are your favorite places in colombia? colombia is like five countries in one. when you come to colombia, you definitely have to go to some pacifico experience, either cali or go straight to the coast. you have to have an atlantic or caribbean experience. you definitely have to have like a mountain experience, which would be like medellin or bogota. right.
this is colombia, but it s a very different part of colombia. it s a rugged terrain, it s desert. there s not much water, so that s why the spaniards, they weren t able to colonize it. you ve been coming here for some time. i became interested, because i began dealing with fresh fish, fresh lobster, fresh shrimp and for goat meat to take back to bogota. is it good? it s very good. goats are important to the wayuu, as they re used for food, for bartering, and even as dowry payments. rancho owners come to the old market in riohacha to sell, slaughter and cook goat in the mornings. today we re having frichi. frichi s a traditional dish from the wayuu. it consists of the heart, the