Travel through Northwest Argentina, the "NOA"
Join us on a trip to Northwest Argentina, known as "NOA", a place that still preserves its identity, rich in history, where hospitality manages to thrill.
The path of the Kogui
A few years ago I was exploring the remote areas of Colombia where I managed to spend a few days among the Kogui tribes, a fascinating pre-Columbian culture that still maintains its millenary way of life in the middle of the jungles of the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta. They have preserved their Arawak language and a very special philosophy of life embodied in the figure of the "Mamo", a kind of leader and priest who represents and guards the wisdom and sacred law of the universe.
Gonzalo Gimeno talking with the "Mamo", which means Sun, and who is the spiritual leader of the Kogui tribe.
The Kogui are descended from the Tairona culture, a once highly advanced civilization. They built large stone structures and a complex network of kilometer-long trails throughout the jungle, which can be traversed amidst lush vegetation and hungry mosquitoes.
The "Camino del Kogui" is formed by a kilometer-long network of paths and stone stairways that cross the Colombian jungle.
The Kogui tribes have been living in the jungles of Santa Marta for millennia. Seen from the outside, we could say that they are enclosed in their jungle, as we have been in our homes. But their culture makes them feel free wherever they are. Through a kilometer-long network of paths and stone stairs through the jungle, I managed to reach the ruins of the so-called "Old City". These ruins, now abandoned, are the vestige of a once dominant civilization and way of life.
For the Kogui, their past is an inexhaustible source of wisdom. The Earth is our mother and is a living being, the water is her blood, the air her breath, the earth her body and the living beings her children. This philosophy is called "Aluna": the force behind the nature of which we are all a part.
The Kogui do not conceive of trade with the land. Mining, the timber industry, anything that pollutes... is the enemy of the Earth. Today, humanity is at home and economic activity has stopped. The air is cleaner than ever, animals are repopulating areas they had previously lost, and agriculture has been one of the most vital sectors these days for our survival. The Kogui say that the Earth is healing and that we must listen to her, because she is our mother
The Kogui trail is one of the most spectacular treks in Colombia.
All members of the tribe are dressed in white. The women gather, card and spin wool and cotton, while the men weave the cloth.
After this visit to the Old City, perhaps some of his reflections will be useful to us at this time when climate change is more than ever on the table, or resource management, or our attitude when we take something without giving anything back in return.
I continued visiting inhabited villages where I was received not without having asked special permission from the chieftain of one of them in order to be received with the proper protocol. I brought rice, beans, fruit and some matches as a symbol of thanks.
One cannot give more than one receives but neither can one receive more than one gives. This is the mystical world of Aluna, the balance of harmony and creativity in the world.
The mystical world of Aluna
In the Kogui villages there are stone chairs used specifically for reflection. Thinking chairs. They are in plain sight and no one has any qualms about thinking in public in broad daylight. I thought at the time that I would surely have a hard time.
No one is disturbed or distracted in those chairs.
And what is there to think about? On "Pagamentos." A pagamento is a concrete idea, form or action where one makes an offering to the Earth in exchange for something one has taken or received from her. In order to make a pagamento, one must first know what one has received from the Earth. This creates a truly unique culture of wealth and gratitude on the one hand and, on the other, a very strong awareness of balance.
Not taking anything more than one needs, and then giving it back to restore the overall balance. One cannot give more than one receives but neither can one receive more than one gives. This is the mystical world of Aluna, the balance of harmony and creativity in the world
- The Kogui feel they are the protectors of the Sierra Nevada valley, where they have lived in isolation for centuries. —
- Stone mortar for grinding corn. The basis of the Kogui economy is subsistence agriculture. —
- Gonzalo Gimeno next to one of the typical Kogui huts. —
- The thinking chairs, to the right of the Kogui hut, where members of the village sit and reflect in public.
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