On some level I knew that the Carnaval de Negros y Blancos ran officially from January 2 to January 8, but when my Airbnb reservation for the entire week had turned out, on December 29, to be ephemeral, I found a hotel at a good rate in el Centro for the first three nights of my (originally) planned visit. I guess I just assumed that there would be something festive going on New Year’s Day. Well no, […]
When I arrived in Pasto, it was a rainy New Year’s eve. The streets were deserted, except for a few people setting off firecrackers in effigies of the old year–straw-filled figures, dressed like old men. And of course, there were also the corpses of the mascotas that had already been burnt. According to Wikipedia, this practice has been illegal since 2005. I had just suffered through what was, for me, a terrible bus ride–nine and half hours, […]