Siso, HK3W will be active as 5K3W from Colombia in CQ WW WPX RTTY Contest, 14 - 15 February 2026/
He will be in SO Category.
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QSL direct, LOTW.
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Colombia
Despite the fact that Christopher Columbus discovered many interesting places and even entire continents in his time, by some strange injustice, only a relatively small area of the New World and one of the provinces of Canada are named after him.
The entire New World discovered by the navigator was named America, which is consonant with the name of Amerigo Vespucci, who traveled to these places after Columbus. Unlike Columbus, Amerigo did not mistake the new lands for India, but clearly understood that this was a completely new continent. Well, sometimes the laurels of victory go to someone else...
The country of Colombia, located in the northwest of South America, bears the name of its discoverer with dignity, and here there are such incredible things that no other part of the planet can boast of. Be proud, Columbus!
Cocorna, Antioquia, Colombia. Author - Pedro Szekely.
A piece of the red planet
Thanks to its simultaneous access to the Pacific Ocean and the waters of the Caribbean Sea, the climate, landscapes, flora, and fauna of Colombia are diverse and unique in each of its parts. For example, no one could ever have imagined that soil erosion in a tropical forest could turn it into a desert and create fantastic, alien landscapes. Anyone who comes here will definitely lose their sense of reality.
The Tatacoa Desert, which is a sacred place for locals, is the most beautiful desert on our planet. Tatacoa is very reminiscent of the red Martian landscapes and evokes indescribable feelings, resembling a gathering of some fairy-tale, mystical characters in robes, intricate structures, and winding beds of dry rivers. In the desert, or rather, in the dried-up tropical forest, you can walk for hours and find no words to express your delight.
At night, Tatacoa is no less beautiful. All around is ringing silence, peace, and myriads of sparkling points in the sky. The stars in the bottomless dome of the sky above Tatacoa are so bright that it is not surprising that there is an observatory in the desert. The crystal clear air, very rare rains and, as a result, the practical absence of water evaporation, as well as the specific location of the desert in relation to the equator, all contribute to the observation of constellations, meteor showers and star clusters.
It is also interesting that one part of the desert is not red at all, but ordinary gray. It is less impressive, but “mystical heroes” can be found at every turn in this part as well. The transition from the inconspicuous gray part to the bright red part seems to separate two different worlds.
Tatacoa also has a huge variety of cacti, large and prickly, under which various snakes can easily bask in the sun. Poisonous ones, too.
Taranga, Magdalena Departament, Colombia. Author - Samuel Kreuzer.
A true artist easily changes styles
Another magical place in Colombia is the multicolored Canoe Cristales River. What can be seen in the waters of this amazing river from mid-summer to late autumn exceeds all expectations.
The crystal-clear water reveals amazing avant-garde paintings on the riverbed, created by an artist who, standing nearby on the bank, “painted” realistic trees and grass.
What elements of this unique painting, which makes your heart beat faster at first glance, lead to such intense aesthetic emotions? It turns out that the green algae that densely fill the riverbed take on different colors during mass blooming, and these bright, intertwining whirlpools create spectacular and unexpected patterns that become the object of admiration for everyone who comes to get a closer look at Canyo Cristales. The river looks especially delightful in sunny weather.
Among these colorful strokes are round wells of regular shape, where there is no algae and where you can swim, diving headfirst into the purest water, which has the properties of real distilled water. The final chord is sounded by the beautiful waterfalls, cascades of which are found along the riverbed of the Crystal Stream, as its name is translated from Spanish.
Some call this 100-kilometer-long river the river of five colors, some call it the river of seven colors, and some even call it the “liquid rainbow,” but those in the know can see many more shades here. And, as in the case of the red desert, nowhere else on the planet can you find such an open-air “art gallery.”
Carnival, Barranquilla, Colombia. Author - Louis Vest.
The Valley of the Accelerates
The wax palms growing in the Kokora Valley really resemble teenagers in a period of rapid growth, when they no longer understand what to do with their long arms and how to move their suddenly grown legs. They stand there, restless, skinny, but very cute, and you want to reassure them that everything will soon fall into place.
The same is true of the Kokora palms, which are as thin as a twenty-story building. There is a constant desire to thicken their trunks so that they feel more confident up there, high above the clouds.
These palms are called wax palms for a reason. They used to be useful to people. In the days when no one had heard of electricity, local farmers made candles from palm resin. But then electricity rapidly entered every large house and every small hut, and the wax palms of the Cocora Valley, apparently wanting to be part of the discovery of electricity in some way, tried to resemble tall electric poles, but went a little overboard.
Here are a few small, even microscopic pieces of the puzzle that make up beautiful Colombia. Well, go there yourself to find your piece. You won't regret it!
