Festival de Tambores

The second weekend I was here, I went with new friends to San Basilio de Palenque (a little village about an hour and a half from Cartagena) for their annual Drum Festival. What we discovered in this tiny pueblo, I will not soon forget! 
Palenque, a Spanish word for a fortified village of runaway slaves, is unlike Cartagena in MANY ways. They are trying to salvage their culture from outsiders and do so by hosting this drum festival every year and by continuing to speak in their native lengua (tongue), Palenquero. Palenquero may actually be the last resemblance of a Spanish-based lingua franca, which was used long ago slaves in South America.
Unfortunately, I didn't learn much about the language and definitely could not understand a word of it, but I learned a lot by watching and listening to the music and accompanying dances. From Afro-Colombian to Colombo-Indian, I learned about the progression and origin of styles of dance popular here in the Caribbean, specifically Colombia. It was absolutely beautiful- even through the rain (only rained for about 1 hour).
My friends and I watched the dances from 1pm - 2 am (some watched til 3 when the music seemed to take a break). Around 5am, a procession of drums went around the town waking up anyone who went to bed. We also saw races...not your ordinary races though. It looks difficult enough to balance a 10 lb container of water on your head, but try RUNNING with it on your head! ! These women actually had a race to see who could make it to the finish line the fastest without tipping the bucket over! Incredible!! The men had a potato sack race, which wasn't nearly as difficult; they were pretty quick though.

Palenque is out in the middle of nowhere, so there was NO breeze and it was SUPER hot there- I'd say 95-100, plus humidity. To cool off, my friends and i ventured to the river nearby. It was pretty muddy, but definitely worth a dip. I ended up being the only girl to jump off a 40ft cliff (estimation) into the 8-ft deep water below. Man oh man was it worth it! haha A bit scary climbing up to the top, but this trip is all about new, exciting experiences so i thought, "why not??" The way up is slippery from the mud and it's hard to secure your footing b/c it's steep...oh, and there's a fun little patch of barbed wire to cross too. I did it though, and about 5 minutes later (after several deep breaths), I proceeded to run and jump off the cliff...twice. :) 
Sleeping in hammocks with mosquito nets, meeting world travelers, learning about new cultures, taking bucket showers, dancing my a$$ off, swimming in muddy river water, hanging out in private drum circles away from the stage, and testing some of their (all-) fried cuisine was all part of the experience, and I loved every second!