COLOMBIA – LAND OF CONTRAST

foreign [Music] [Music] I visited Colombia really began in this room a book full of pictures and a country I had never seen for all my years of traveling each page was arresting and Vivid but it was the Magnificent hekendama Falls that caught my fancy and held it until its pictured Splendor finally became a reality for me [Music] [Applause] [Music] but there is a beginning Colombia land of contrast gateway to South America the crossroads of two continents as I plan my trip I couldn't help noticing that the map of Colombia resembled a cornucopia a Horn of Plenty and as each vacation day unfolded it seemed almost prophetic out of Colombia come most of the world emeralds vast stores of gold silver platinum and petroleum the national flower of the Republic is the Orchid the very symbol of luxury Colombia is easily accessible by a luxury liner and only a few hours away by air foreign for a glimpse of the coast the first sign appeared in the water sharply and dramatically defined the line where the blue Caribbean meets meets the muddy water of the mighty River of Colombia the Magdalena [Music] brings us to Baran Kia the portal city of Colombia [Music] the moment of arrival is always a thrill I could hardly wait to stretch my legs in the warm Colombian sunshine and it didn't take me long to take real advantage of it only minutes from Baron Kia is a sporty Beach of Prado Mar famous for swimming boating [Music] the resort is popular with visitors and the Leisure loving Colombians alike marantia is bustling Cosmopolitan more signs of progress and prosperity the bank of the Republic boasts architecture that is both contemporary and functional I really felt at home when I saw this air-conditioned Apartment Store this modern building is a factory for processing tobacco another large export [Music] down on the docks coffee is being loaded aboard ocean vessels Bound for foreign ports all over the world the Magdalena is the Mississippi of Colombia so it shouldn't be a surprise to see an old Mississippi type Stern wheeler loaded with gay and festive passengers Bound for upriver ports [Music] the Magdalena besides being a main cargo artery provides interesting trips for tourists [Music] and strangely enough much of the cargo is loaded on steel barges and nudged along in front of the steamer [Music] foreign [Music] Kia along the coast is Santa Martha getting there in our little arrow taxi plane is half the fun skimming low we catch sight of a village built in the middle of a lake this is a year-round home of these fishermen we're still flying over the lowlands but our plane affords This Magnificent view of the northernmost range of the Andes the Sierra Nevada de Santa Martin lofty and rugged the snow Crown Peaks rained proudly Over The Verdant Tropics below in this land of contrast one finds great banana plantations at the very foot of the Andes [Music] we land our plane on a golf course no trouble at all no matter how they hang them at the corner market bananas grow upside down this giant spray machine protects the trees against harmful insects and disease [Music] the beautiful Harbor serves Santa Marta to the oldest city in Colombia nearby are many Estates this is San Pedro alejandrino here's Simone Bolivar died in 1830. this Monument immortalizes The Liberator who fought four in one freedom for five South American republics including Colombia foreign Cartagena we cite la pulpa crowned with its ancient Convent La Popa has signaled the approach to Cartagena for centuries the moats and thick walls guarded the renowned heroic city of the Spanish Main and made it the most powerful Fortress in the Americas [Music] torrented Sentry boxes stood against countless pirate attacks nearly 300 years were spent building these walls [Music] foreign s beneath the walls held political prisoners during colonial days what song Felipe what tides of world history have swirled about its proud and defiant ramparts foreign good reason why Cartagena is Colombia's foremost tourist attraction is a beautiful hotel Del Caribe and its luxurious bathing beaches [Music] outside the old wall the city reflects the Quicken Temple of Life today [Music] but the heart and history of Cartagena really lie Beyond The Arches of the Clock Tower [Music] wait a minute I want to get a picture of this policeman with his strange umbrella signal let's go on through the arch to the plaza and to the narrow streets balconies and quaint peace of the inner city the Inquisition house what dark and tragic events must have taken place behind the sturdy studded doors Pedro claveer Church stands in memory of a Kind priest who devoted his life to better the lot of the slaves of Cartagena turn Inland from the coast Medellin is the first city on our picturesque trip to Kalyan postal before visiting Bogota [Music] I like comfort and the hotel nutaburra more than met my requirements foreign greeted me from my window the next morning girls with skirts like exotic flowers in patterns on the lawn about the fountain [Music] at luncheon we were treated to a fashion show given by some young Senoritas of Medellin wearing original Colombian fashions pretty in the Sun [Music] Marine enjoys a constant spring-like climate it has smart modern downtown areas and Broad shaded boulevards [Music] the residential sections are some of the loveliest I've seen in Colombia they range from Colonial to Ultra Modern and speaking of homes I have never seen anything like this shades of Egypt the Pharaohs would be Green With Envy [Music] the Colombians are great Sports enthusiasts I couldn't leave Medellin without visiting the new stadium the national game is football soccer to us I saw it played as it was meant to be played and I don't mind telling you I got just as excited as this Avid crowd hey watch that goal line [Music] I had time to go out to the famous race track I lost no time in getting down to the paddock to look over the thoroughbreds I guess I'll try my luck on the ninth [Applause] no matter which way they run I lose getting out into the country I discovered this Finca a state as appealing as a little Swiss Chalet what luck that we stopped here Colombia's call the land of orchids see why [Music] around Meridian you see some of the real Colombia Here Comes what looks like Roundup time foreign [Music] don't mistake this man for an ordinary cow puncher he is an awesome dado a wealthy Rancher look at his bright clothes and notice the Cario bag on his hip further on I visited a coffee plantation the young bushes are carefully shaded to produce the famous quality and flavor of Colombian coffee foreign it takes 100 pounds of berries to produce 20 pounds of coffee [Music] on route to the Gold Country we again see below us the familiar Magdalena riverboats [Music] father on WE cited this monster dredging the river bottom for gold foreign this I'll have you know is not a piece of cheese but fifty thousand dollars worth of unrefined gold these nuggets were picked up at random herobox care to take a stroll another Treasure of Colombia is the bargains in the fascinating shops where a peso goes a long long way hand fashioned brass stirrups orestry boats intricate baskets sand blankets bags with daily woven flowers and straw anyone in the market for a stuffed alligator I noticed that men wear Curry old bags I'd like to take one home with me he's wandering putumayan Indians with their solemn faces and show like ruanas are here for Market Day guests they haven't adopted the carry out fashion yet foreign this leather Artisan is working on the 10 pockets of the carrier these handsome bags were originally used by landowners to collect samples of coffee beans when inspecting their plantations [Music] almost too soon we are airborne and on our way south to Cali the Lush kalka River Valley a spring [Music] river scene intrigued me for his bamboo and down here it has many uses [Music] scaffolding for buildings like this there's Beauty everywhere in Kali crossing the bridge here's a familiar sight Cali has a quaint charm will end by the Spanish type architecture reminiscent of early California missions [Music] Old haciendas Dot the countryside this one was the setting for a famous Colombia novel called la Maria [Music] around here sugar cane is an important crop I've never seen a cane feel at close hand before but believe me I kept my distance when they started swinging those razor sharp machetes [Music] before we started back for the hotel I couldn't help pausing to watch the day's sweet Golden Harvest being drawn in heavy wagon loads to the mill we arrive at a luxurious Alfred's Real Hotel what a delightful surprise the finest inviting pool of all places on the roof no wonder it's a popular social spot all year round you don't have to be in Columbia long to hear that Kali is famed for beautiful girls don't you agree foreign [Music] near the Ecuadorian border just a few miles from the equator is The Bleak mountainous region where many Indians live it's like stepping into another world it must be blue Monday at this icy Mountain stream life is primitive and hearty the land is tilled for wheat potatoes and corn but there's no particular season grain Fields lie patterned in the sun waiting for the Harvest [Music] Harvest is the time for getting together and celebrating with a local Fiesta farther down the valley I finally saw for myself Las lahas the Fable church built on the side of a cliff each year thousands of pilgrims come to this beautiful Shrine seeking miraculous cures [Music] At Last I arrived in Bogota Colombia's capital [Applause] off the highway near the airport these grotesque and toothy figures greeted me there are copies of prehistoric Indian statues found in San Augustine far to the South what a contrast between these ancient monuments and the modern Monument to learning the National University Bogota is called the Athens of South America and has long been a center of learning and culture [Music] as we approach the city we're greeted by rows of charming flower stalls reminiscent of Paris Street vendors this bouquet cost me only a few centavos but it's true The Apprentice policeman nonchalantly directing traffic on Carrera Septima as only a youngster [Music] [Applause] The Heart of the City is the large Plaza boliva around which the original city was built this Cathedral is on the site of the first buildings in Bogota [Music] will gatanos enjoy their green parks when business is slow this lad philosophically reads ltmpo the Spanish exteriors of many churches hide the gleaming art Treasures of centuries past [Music] this unusual window is El camarin Del Carmen a colonial architectural Jewel [Music] these smart stepping soldiers are part of the select presidential Battalion which guards the palace when the president is in Residence astronomy is the oldest science and here is the oldest observatory in the new world completed over a century and a half ago some of the ancient Treasures are housed here on the national museum this austere Stone building once served as a prison [Music] the bank of the Republic houses the famous Museum of gold these solid gold artifacts illustrate the Exquisite craftsmanship of Indian Artisans of the pre-columbian era giant earrings and breastplates of War gold was plentiful and useful to the natives who never dreamed of its value to the conquistadores El Liber everywhere I saw statues of Simone Bolivar father of the Republic this wall encloses his beautiful estate shaded by stately trees Kinka Bolivar a National Shrine Columbia 2 has its Battle Monuments here I was standing at the very site of the battle of boyakar where Bolivar defeated the Spanish and assured Colombian Independence hotel window Bogota spreads out for Miles along the base of the Andy and out into the Great Plain called the sabana a sparkling modern city in Bogota the contrast between the old and the new was striking [Music] on all sides there's evidence of progress everywhere there's building going on foreign watch over the city are two Guardian mountains on the left with its gleaming white church and on the right a statue of Guadalupe spreads her arms In Perpetual blessing I chose a sunny Sunday afternoon to ride the blue inclined Railway to the top of montserrate yes [Music] it was built by Swiss engineers and at times you travel at an 80 degree incline olgatanos make quite an outing of this breathtaking trip taking the whole family in a picnic lunch foreign [Music] who would ever think that on the outskirts of Bogota there's a miniature Grand Canyon [Music] at Lake Toto Colombia's most beautiful Lake high in the Andes I found what I had been looking for [Music] I've been wanting to try for some trout and got them is that for a few rainbows the sun may be warm but wait till you hit that water it's really like ice [Music] on the way back to Bogota Bridge is a visible link with Colombia's romantic town [Music] I Came Upon This extraordinary Mountain it's solid salt and even more incredible buried in its recesses is a full-size Cathedral today salt is mine just like coal my visit to the famed Bogota Country Club was really a delight even though I was about to leave Colombia and my vacation days were almost over it was certainly something to tell the folks about back home foreign [Music] would be complete without a bullfight I was impressed by the brilliant spectacle and the grace of the Matador hahaha [Music] [Applause] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] foreign [Applause] [Music] [Applause] um [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] after dark Colombian cities are exciting and gay [Music] we had a final evening dancing at some of bogota's Cosmopolitan nightclubs and so A Farewell to Colombia at the techonama fall beautiful spectacular and unpained the falls and the legends of romance that surround them will always remind me of Colombia the country of mountains and valleys a coast and lowlands of forests and mineral wells of every temperature and climb a country of boundless possibilities and of the strangest concept this is the Republic of Colombia foreign