Pearls of Life: Indigenous Community of Sierra Nevada, Colombia

Indigenous Community of Sierra Nevada Mountains, Colombia

Walking through the mountains of Sierra Nevada in Colombia, you can enjoy the amazing nature, trees and green all over. Among those mountains, far from the road, you need to hike 2 hours each way in order to arrive in the area of the indigenous community of the Sierra Nevada, Colombia. 

This community is different from the indigenous community of the Amazon River or the indigenous community of the Coast in Colombia. Each tribe has its own unique characteristics, customs and way to support their living needs.

I met with the people of the indigenous community of the Sierra Nevada Mountains while I was touring with my friend from Minca and with my daughter Noy. That day, we explored the area and were hiking in the mountains for 4 hours to see hidden waterfalls that most people cannot get into.

On our way back, we were accommodated by beautiful people: a Colombian of the Sierra Nevada mountains and his wife who prepared lunch for us. While going to the waterfalls, we met a group of indigenous who belong to this specific indigenous community, living in the Sierra Nevada Mountains. We asked their permission to visit the village and they said that we are welcome. We took the motorbikes towards the area of the mountain to where that indigenous village exists. When we arrived at the village, a group of children, their mothers and other women welcomed us.

The woman in charge in the indigenous village showed us her shop where merchandise produced by the community were for sale. They were preparing bags from natural trees and wood colored from natural colors, all done by hand. Each bag takes 3-6 months to produce, as it is custom-made by the women living in the indigenous community. The production of the bags is what makes this community unique as a way of living. The process starts from collecting the trees that are being used as raw natural material for the bags. As a second stage, they prepare the natural colors from herbs and mud, used to decorate the bags. Each decoration has a different meaning indicating the origin of the indigenous tribe and the blessing it brings. 

Curious to explore more of the indigenous village, I was waiting for the chief, the Shaman, to arrive. He was the only one that could show us the Maloka, where the indigenous village gather in the evening, to celebrate and perform ceremonies together. 

When the Shaman arrived, I had a 1-1 meaningful conversation, where he explained to me about the customs and the living of the indigenous community of the Sierra Nevada Mountains of his tribe. I learned a lot from this conversation. I found it a fascinating adventure to be honored to sit down on a 1-1 meaningful conversation with a Shaman.  The Pearls of Life from this conversation I had with the Shaman is all about wisdom of living with nature, supporting wellness, and producing merchandise with purpose. More about this you can have 1-1 virtual chat over coffee with me, Carmit, booked directly here! 

You can experience this visit yourself by booking our Nature Tours in Colombia. Contact us directly for booking and more information. 

Sierra Nevada Mountains in Colombia, Book Nature Tour with us!