One of the things that I love about going on photography trips is that often the photographer leader takes us to places that  normal tours don’t go. 

An example is on a trip to Columbia last March. We visited Barranquilla to take pictures of their Carnaval, a treat for any aspiring photographer. But what really captured my attention was the day we took a small boat to a fishing village built on stilts. Yep, the 300 or so villagers live in homes on stilts over water.  

It was fun to see the different ways the locals get around. We did see a major walking bridge for kids to get to school. 

The families have always lived from fishing. But that is changing and some enterprising community members have put together a community center and even offer  lunch in their homes to attract tourists. 

We stopped at the community center, yep a building on stilts, where we were able to climb up to a  look out to get a view  of the village. I learned that the community has to give permission when a home changes hands. Typically it stays within the family.  

After our looking at the village from afar, some of the villagers demonstrated their dances and, my goodness, one of them gave me a skirt to put over my pants to join in. Yep, it was a bad hair day, make that an awful one, but I had a good time. Like who cared. 

We made our way around the village noting the gorgeous colors. The vibrant painting is typical of much of  Columbia. You’ll see more photos of the colorful scenes in Columbia as I continue to blog about this attractive South American country. What made the colors particularly fun for me was the opportunity to capture reflections. 

We did see normal life going on. In fact, our guide arranged for us to have lunch at a home. I loved it and got a kick out of the painting on the wall and the colorful broom propped nearby. A Columbian still life if you will. 

We had an opportunity to meet with an artist who created little boats for us before we headed out to see fishing in action and a local version of a sailboat. I’ve never seen a sail quite like the one you’ll see below.

For a variety of reasons, DesignDestinations.org has moved to an every other Monday schedule.  Please enjoy this last image. I couldn’t resist  capturing the reflection.

I had the opportunity to visit another village on Stilts in Myanmar. Click here for Inle Lake: Quite unlike any place you know