Pueblos Patrimonio de Colombia

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Preparations for Semana Santa in Mompos

I am loathe to admit it, but, March 2012 will be given over almost in its entirety to preparing for Semana Santa or Easter Week. With Palm Sunday falling on April 1, we will then have 7 chock-a-block days of processions and visitors to town. Yes, this is Mompós’ window of opportunity to market herself to the masses and it is of course both culturally and economically very significant.

When I arrived here in the Easter of 2007, there was but one other “gringo” in town. I was writing an article about Mompós and Semana Santa that I later published in the South America Explorers Magazine and my fellow countryman was writing the Footprint Guide to Colombia.

It seemed astounding to me that there should be only two Europeans in town during such an important festival that is billed in Colombia as one of the big two when it comes to Semana Santa. If you want to see something authentic and original then you head either to a) Mompós, or b) Popayan.

And this is how it came to pass that I opened up my own hostel/ hotel. I was struck about how few people came but, over the years, I have begun to understand a little why Mompós is the way it is. It’s just that this town is a truly Colombian destination. We can always sprinkle a few foreign tourists into the mix to add variety, but to Colombians, Mompós makes up part of the collective national identity of what it means to be a Colombian.

Now, I am fully aware that we are entering dangerous waters with this last comment, but, Mompós is there on the historic maps of Colombia, Mompós was the place settled by the Spanish Conquistadors, this town was an obligatory stop along the Magdalena River, Simon Bolivar saw it as strategic and so we can say that the very creation of Colombia owes itself in part to the situation of Mompós. Not to mention that Mompós was the first town in Colombia to declare absolute independence from Spain. There is spirit here and there is belonging.

So, we are painting the rooms in the Casa Amarilla, the outside, the corridors, checking the air conditioning units and basically attending to a full overhaul and inventory of anything necessary. And while I see the importance of this date as a shop window for our business, I am somewhat resentful of the way that it all unfolds.

Back in 2007, I rented a room in a private home for the festivities and found this to be a fine way of enjoying the processions and having my own personal space. I also went and checked out most of the other hotels in town and found that I was quoted different prices in the same establishments from one day to another. There did not seem to be any coordination to the marketing of Mompós and it felt that I, as a tourist, was being taken advantage of.

And for the most part, there is too much truth to this. In Mompós those who come to visit are treated as a captive clientele. This is the way that tourism has developed here since there is no balance to the high seasons and business owners obviously need to make as much money in these 8 days in order to make their company somewhat economically sustainable.

Of course, the idiocy of this is that the client feels ripped off and then won’t return and won’t recommend the place to neither his friends nor his family. So, when we opened the Casa Amarilla in 2008, my big effort was not to make too much of a big deal of Semana Santa.

How often am I stopped in the street in Mompós and asked after reservations for Semana Santa? Not to make reservations you understand, but, the suggestion that we must be earning a great deal for this period of the year and this must be great. Yes, work increases and income increases, but the idea has to be that every day of the year or at least once a month, we are all working towards an equivalent of Semana Santa that allows us to maintain quality, maintain cash flow and ensure economic self-sufficiency.

It is a dangerous thing to balance one’s books by estimating the earnings generated from one week.

And so, I leave this March newsletter and update with the following information.

We have the following rooms still open for Easter:

MASTER SUITE: king size bed, air con, fan, fine bathroom, private sitting room, balcony and roof terrace, breakfasts, wifi and Cable TV: 300,000 pesos per couple per night.

2x SUITES: double bed, air con, fan, fine bathroom, breakfasts, wifi, and cable TV: 210,000 pesos per couple per night

3 beds in DORMITORY: fans and internal bathroom, breakfast: 25,000 pesos per person per night.

*Minimum stay of 3 nights and deposit of 50 per cent required in advance.

Antique Map of Northern Colombia

A few days ago browsing antique maps to see if I can find one to have have printed and framed, in order to hang in the Casa Amarilla, I came across this excellent website: www.bigmapblog.com Here I was able to find an old map of Northern Colombia with Panama included and of course Mompos located along the Magdalena River, showing its importance.

the Casa Amarilla Hotel/Hostel, Mompos, Colombia

the Casa Amarilla Hotel/Hostel, Mompos, Colombia, a set on Flickr.

Unpretentious accommodation in a colonial mansion in Mompos

Video of the Casa Amarilla

Notes on the Meeting with the New Mayor and Secretary of Tourism

February finds us entering low season once again, but you wouldn’t know it were you visiting the Casa Amarilla in recent the weeks, and obviously despite a slight dip in numbers we are maintaining a steady flow and keeping one eye on reservations for Semana Santa.

Ah yes, Semana Santa, the bloated uber-season for Mompós whence businesses can traditionally charge the earth to visitors and truly treat them as captive clientele. More about that in March’s blog. Reservations are arriving and we expect by the end of this month that we will have the house full for the period April 1-8.

But, rather than digress about Easter week which is still a ways off, I wanted to report back to everyone about the meeting held between hotels and workers in the tourist industry and the new Mayor of Mompós and the Secretary of Tourism recently.

Frankly put, this was our first opportunity to get some face time with two people who hold some key details regarding our town and the industry in which we work and while there were some causes for celebration, I couldn’t help feeling a little let down overall.

First the positive:

1. The Mayor and the Secretary of Tourism have acknowledged the problems of access into Mompós. While I admit that this would bring in a huge flow of tourists, I was sure to comment that this infrastructure wasn’t the be all and end all of solutions to problems in Mompós. Simply put Mompós is not ready for mass tourism and to be rushed in this manner would be damaging.

2. There was significant feeling that that the drains, education and waste disposal had to be dealt with. How often have tourists complained to us about the state of the waste disposal in Mompós and the absence of trash cans?

3. The idea to recommence Carnival de Mompós once again. This is very positive were it not for the blind faith instilled by the organizing committee to launch it all during the same dates as the Carnival de Barranquilla. They maintain that this is the way it has always been; this to me is not a reason.

4. It seems that the Mayor is aware of tourism as a growth industry but between him and the Secretary of Tourism there is perhaps a very steep learning curve to best.

And now some of my Thoughts

When politicians are convened and convene those in their keep to talk about the industry in which we work, they are surely meant to treat us lightly and pander to our sensibilities. This did not happen and more than once we saw their real naïveté towards tourism, in fact, I am not sure I would even class it as that, really it was a complete lack of understanding.

How can the Secretary of Tourism open his discourse by talking about cattle farming? Not one person in the room has any interest in cattle farming. I am well aware that this is the number one source of income at the moment but as I have said, with the plans to renovate the town and create it as a key tourist destination, it will be tourism that surpasses everything. Treat us with the respect we merit!

I made mention of the fact that the highways and byways and methods of access were a problem but that repairing them was not going to be the blessing that everyone else seemed to think. My comment “Mompós has been protected by its situation, we now have the opportunity to create a town where tourism benefits the most needy and from a platform of sustainability that will not be damaging” was met by deaf ears and blank looks.

Ridiculous comments were made by the Secretary of Tourism whilst quoting something said by a friend of his in mentioning that: “Venice has water everywhere and smells of drains”. This did not fill me with any inspiration but it did give light to the fact that perhaps there is some value bestowed upon Mompós.

At the end of it all, there was a much for muchness about the meeting. The Casa Amarilla came, spoke, listened and in turn was not listened to. That’s fine, we can deal with this, and the very fact that there was a meeting at all is more than the last administration offering 4 years to the Mompós tourism industry. So, we shall keep our heads down, fly beneath the radar and continue to help Mompós grow in a sustainable and un-damaging manner with regards to the appropriate type of tourism needed to benefit the town.

New Year, New Challenges in Mompos

So, 2012 is here and for those of us not too concerned about the Mayan prophecy that everything as we know it is going to come to an end, it's business as usual!

Christmas and New Year were great celebrations here in the Casa Amarilla and we even had the infamous band "Abundio y sus Traviesos" fresh from their adventures in Washington DC playing their cumbia and chande music on the roof terrace to see in the New Year.

And now, with the flood waters receding we find ourselves confronting a year of hard work and definite growth. Our reviews on TripAdvisor (read the newest one here) are testament to the hard work put in by the whole team here. And while we suffer the ignoble onslaught from other businesses, we continue to fill the Casa Amarilla and provide a service that helps Mompos and the region.

I have mentioned on various occasions that we strongly believe in the trickle down economic effect of tourism and how we can help Mompos and the most humble Momposinos. And for the most part we feel that change is taking place and this is a positive social aspect to our work.

In other news we are trying to maintain our lead here in terms of social networking and various other free publicity media. We now have a tumblr photo site to accompany our twitter (@CasaAmarilla), facebook (La Casa Amarilla Mompos) and original website (www.lacasaamarillamompos.com).

And while there has been a change of administration in the political hierarchy in Mompos, and this in itself is positive, those of us in the tourism industry hold our collective breath to see if the new Mayor has any interest in us at all. The obvious statement to make is that before long the only meaningful income for Mompos will be tourism, so we remain in the wings, watching and waiting.