Letter to the Editor

Dear Editor,

Part 1 of "Return to Dibulla" in the December newsletter was terrific, and brought back many memories of La Guajira. I arrived in Riohacha Oct. 12, 1965. It was El Día de la Raza, and the men were drinking even more than usual. Our future FOC president, Arleen Stewart, met me at the dusty airport and got me settled into the luxurious Almirante Padilla hotel, where the daily use of kerosene kept the cockroaches at bay. Dan and Nana Ellison, who had taken your place in Dibulla, were staying for a night or two at Arleen’s house.

One of Arleen’s Colombian friends, Friddy, introduced Dan and me to Los Cocos, the wonderful shacks at the beach in Riohacha where you could always find a meal of fresh fish and plenty of ice-cold beer. It turned into a Peace Corps baptism by cerveza. By late afternoon Friddy was bragging that he and his buddies (which now included me) had consumed siete canastas (seven cases) of Aguila beer.

Over the next months I visited the Ellisons in Dibulla several times. I have memories of Dibulla’s dignified campo bus driver, Wilson, who seemed to be in charge of the whole peninsula. I also recall the clear water and the tiny shellfish they harvested in Dibulla. Within a year, I wound up being volunteer leader for Magdalena and Guajira, which was a great adventure.

The Ellisons relocated to Aracataca in the Banana Zone. At that time none of us had heard of its incredible native son, Gabriel García Marquez. I made a return visit to La Guajira in 1979, shortly after that beautiful new highway from Santa Marta was opened. What an incredible change that was. No more 12-hour bone-jarring trips from Riohacha around the Sierra Nevada and through Valledupar. Alas, I haven’t been back to the coast since. But someday....

Lee Paquette
leepaquette@sbcglobal.net