ride them straight off and continue on
our way. After a little highway riding,
Ricardo led us to some dirt roads that
brought us into town the back way,
and we had a great time riding past
all the coffee plantations and back-
packers walking along the road who
watched us with jealousy.
As we got closer to town we noticed
a heavy increase in "Willys", the local
nickname for old model Jeeps that are
used to transport tourists all around
the area.
Willys have a special place in the
local culture, and there were all kinds
to be seen, especially in the town
square. We spent the afternoon in-
dulging in some craft beer and fancy
tourist food.
After the sun had set Ricardo told
us he had a special surprise for us.
He led us to an unassuming building
in the middle of town and explained
that we were going to play Tejo. As we
TRAVERSE 18
soon learned, Tejo is a unique Colom-
bian game that is sort of like a mix of
bowling and lawn darts. Except when
done right, there is an explosion. The
goal is to throw a hand sized, heavy
stone towards a small ring embedded
in clay. The ring has several small tri-
angles called mechas placed on it that
are filled with gunpowder. If you hit
them right, there is an extremely loud
bang followed by a flash of light from
the igniting gunpowder. It was a dif-