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    In February of 1998, we spent a couple of weeks in the friendly country of Colombia, culminating with the solar eclipse which we viewed from the upcountry riverport town of Mompos.  Before the eclipse, we toured the country's Caribbean coast:  Cartagena,  fortified seat of Spanish colonial power, beautifully preserved (safe for tourists), and the second oldest city in the New World; Barranquilla, home to Colombia's oldest and wildest Carnaval--which happened to fall on the days preceding the eclipse;  and Santa Marta and Tayrona National Park--white-sand beaches, palm trees, snorkling...

Mompos on eclipse day was full of hippies, astronomy nerds, and soldiers.

Magdalena River--a two-hour boatride brought us from Magangue to Mompos.

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 Tayrona National Park