Our Columbian meal was Cazuela de Mariscos (Seafood Stew), Colombian Arepas, Salpicón de Frutas (Colombian Fruit Cocktail) and Colombian Refajo (beer with pop). The seafood stew was a delicious blend of shrimp, littleneck clams, and swordfish in heavy cream and coconut milk topped with cilantro and parsley – a new favorite. The fruit cocktail was mango, banana, papaya, apples, and grapes in watermelon juice topped with ice cream. Yum! Our drink of Refajo was Colombiana soda, which tasted to us like cherry soda, mixed with beer. It was an interesting combination.
We watched Love in the Time of Cholera, a love story placed in Colombia that occurs over 50 years, from 1880 to 1930 during the fifth and sixth Cholera pandemics. Watching the movie prompted us to research Cholera and it is very interesting how it mirrors what we are going through today with Covid. Cholera still affects an estimated 3–5 million people worldwide and causes 28,800–130,000 deaths yearly. The primary treatment for affected individuals is oral rehydration salts (ORS), the replacement of fluids and electrolytes by using slightly sweet and salty solutions. It is spread mostly by contaminated water.
Below are excepts from Wikipedia about riots and fears during the cholera outbreaks. It is sad how similar this is to what has happened during the Covid pandemic.
In Britain, “There was widespread public fear, and the political and medical response to the disease was variable and inadequate. In the summer of 1832, a series of cholera riots occurred in various towns and cities throughout Britain, frequently directed against the authorities, doctors, or both.[6] 72 cholera riots occurred throughout the British Isles, 14 of which made reference to body-snatchers (“Burkers”). Anatomical schools were not specifically targeted, although individual physicians and hospitals were, as they saw the medical authorities as acting in coordination with the state to purposefully kill and reduce the population of the poor and “[weed] out the weak”;[7]“
In Germany, “…riots were reported in Exeter as people objected to the burial of cholera-infected bodies in local graveyards.” In 1893 fatal riots broke out in Hamburg, Germany during the fifth cholera pandemic, because the public objected to sanitary officers trying to enforce regulations for the prevention of spread of the disease.[9] “
In Russia, “The riots were caused by the anti-cholera measures, undertaken by the tsarist government, such as quarantine, armed cordons and migratory restrictions. Influenced by rumors of deliberate contamination of ordinary people by government officials and doctors, agitated mobs started raiding police departments and state hospitals, killing hated functionaries, officers, landowners and gentry.”
On a happier note, there are many beautiful places in Columbia. El Jardín in Antioquia Colombia has brightly painted houses with balconies and flowers. Tayrona National Park has beautiful beaches and rainforests. It is the former home of the Tayrona Indians, a pre-Columbian culture, and there are remains of huts, burial mounds, and ceremonial places. La Ciudad Perdida, the lost city of the Tayrona, is located in the middle of the jungle of the Sierra Nevada. The only way to reach it is by foot through the jungle – a two-day hike.
Minca is a small village in the hills of the Sierra Nevada and one of the most beautiful places in Colombia. It is perched 1000′ above Santa Marta. It is said Minca is said to be a cool place to relax, a great location for mountain biking, birdwatching, hiking, or just watching sunsets.
El Jardín 
Tayrona National Park 
Minca 
La Ciudad Perdida
