United Fruit Company Infrastructure

Now – why might one pass through Colombia’s “Zona Bananera”? It could be that one is

a. in the Banana business
b. simply en route between Mompox and Sta Marta
c. a devotee of the writings of Gabriel Garcia Marquez
d. a WHS “collector” trying to tick off another of Colombia’s Tentative WHC a.k.a “United Fruit Company Infrastructure”

Well, in Dec 2019, we fitted each of the last 3 and the very last was in fact probably the least rewarding of the reasons for being there. However, in support of the attempt by this community to review all TWHS I contribute below what we discovered - on both d and c

This site was added to Colombia’s T List in its 2012 update – along with 11 other of its current 16 TWHS. The UNESCO entry states “Zona Bananera is a relatively recent municipality, but, traditionally, it also gives its name to a region.” – However, all of the towns listed are situated within this “recent” municipality. If you travel along Rte 45 from Aracateca northwards you will pass through its eastern boundary but you really need to go a few kms west of this road to towns such as Orihueca and Rio Frio – both of which we visited. The former is described in the UNESCO entry as a “town with four streets and six alleys had a telegraph station; it was a station for the Magdalena Railroad, whose road still goes through …