Colombia: A taste of geography and climate

 Mago Bill, Colombia:The geography is spectacular and the climate heavenly.

        

             Several peaks in the Colombian Andes reach above 10,000 feet. Fewer reach above 18,000 feet. Has a peak of more that 20,000 feet been found. Colombians have built, are building, and maintaining efficient highways throughout their beautiful and sometimes daunting mountain ranges. You may find the percentage of Colombians who live in these mountains amazing.

              

             Colombia on both of our Earth's great seas. If an outline of all the bays, coves, inlets, and peninsulas of Colombian seashores were measured, not counting islands, one might find find there were about 2,000 miles of coast to explore. That would included about 200 miles of good bathing beaches. About half of the coast is on the Pacific and the other on the Caribbean. Perhaps we could communicate about islands latter.                           

 

             Colombian also has large plains, savannas, rivers, and a large piece of Amazon jungle available to you. It has perhaps  four deserts. The Guajira, bordering on Venezuela, the Caribbean and Colombian departments has a true desert ecosystem. Its hard to get bored here.

           

             Bordering on the Pacific, the wonderful Choco is perhaps the rainiest region on Earth. When I was there it rained a bit heavy at night. I remember taking a short walk to a friend's house and getting not unpleasantly soaked on the way, and arriving dry! With its great rainfall, parts of Choco has exuberant rain-forest which gets, even with climate change, gets nearly 365 inches of rain a year.

                

            Many call the climate of Colombia like an eternal spring. However there is a wide verity of weather, climate and temperature here. However, if one feels a bit too cool, one can travel downhill a bit and find a more comfortable warmth. I spend most of my time at between 5,000 and 6,000 feet were some feel a bit chilly at times, but I feel great. Be careful, if you are traveling cheaply at well above 5,000 feet it is still possible to find oneself in a hostle or hotel with water "al clima" for bathing. At the higher altitudes that can be cold.

             

            There is much of interest to learn about Colombia and Colombians. Come on down and find out. 

            

             Thank you for reading.

             

                                                       

 

                                                                         RCS

 

Around Boulder Dam

Mago Bill history: USA: Memories of an early visit to Hoover Dam.

            They begin with times during WWII. You may know WWII as The Second World War. I knew it as The War. But this is not exactly about that war.

            My father was driving us around the U.S. Southwest. It was a big deal, with gas, oil, tires, and tubes being rationed as a part of the war effort. That brings back a lot of memories. Many things were rationed and lines to get them were long. We stood in lines for meat butter, and nylons. My father may have been combining touring with looking into new work. However, I will try to stick with the "Boulder Dam" story.

            Soon we were at that new dam and parked right on it. Then we were going down on an elevator to below water level. I was wide eyed, looking, and listening, perhaps with my heart beating faster than usual. On the elevator were some workmen who were still working on the dam. My father was talking with them. I think they were talking more about the war, the depression, and the president, than about the dam. For the times, a great dam.

            We saw some plaques telling about the great Hoover Dam, the great desert lake that it formed and the electricity that it was providing. The workmen on the elevator were telling my my father that they called the dam Boulder Dam, in part because of the great boulders moved while building it. But mostly the did not like to call it Hoover Dam, because Hoover had been such a bad president that he didn't deserve to have the dam named after him. They did not wnat the dam to be named after him.

            President Hoover had been of the Republican party. The President at the time was FDR, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, of the Democratic Party. Most people liked President Roosevelt and so did the workmen. Both parties were different then from now. FDR is the first president of which I have living memories. I am back in memories of more than 70 years ago, damn.

            I have just looked at an old newspaper online. It was dared March 4th 1929 and in it I read "Herbert Clark Hoover is inaugurated as President of the United States." A bit farher along it goes on. "He announces tht the government should assist and encourage these movements of of collective self-help." That announcement makes me think that he may deserve to have the dam named after him. 

            I do not remember those "movements of collective self help." They were before my time. Still, they have a pleasant ring to them.

            But, I acknowledge that I have liked the name Boulder Dam since that family visit there.

            FDR was our president then and he was OK.

            President Hoover may have died in 1964, I think. If so he live long and prospered. The year 1964 felt like a turning point in US history. The country felt different after that, especially the politics. About that time everyone seemed to have begun to use the word "them" when speaking of the government. Before then I remembered everyone using "us" and "we" when speaking of the government. We didn't say "the government" we said "our government."

            Anyway President Hoover was a Progressive Republican and raised a Quaker. All to the good. He was interested in getting rid of inefficiency in business and government. Sounds good to me. He was president  as our country fell into economic depression. Tough on him and nearly everyone else. He lost some points and votes because he supported the unpopular prohibition of the drinking of alcohol.

            Hoover Dam was part of a good public works program designed as a practical method to get wealth flowing and put people to work. The dam is still a useful part of our national infrastructure. Hoover deserves some credit for that program.

            I might find incentive to write about FDR later.

Writing this little piece has brought many memories to me. I remembered much of the dramatic beauty of the American Southwest, our awareness of economics and politics, the World War, the high hopes, the memories of a child

            We have a lot to learn as we continue to interpret the doings and happenings of our not so distant past. We will need all of our experience, good sense, and cooperative skills as we move into our future. 

Thank you to those who use our comment section and to you who reads our posts.

            RCS

 

 

Colombian geography

Natural regions of Colombia.