On Sunday, September 26 in 1993, we both got up early at 6:00 AM as I had to drop Pieter off at the Atlanta airport for his flight to Medellin, Colombia.
Sunday night spent at Hotel Inter Continental in Medellin, Colombia
Now it is spelled:
INTERCONTINENTAL just click it.
On Monday morning the 27th, Pieter arrived at Santa Rosa de Osos, Antioquia which was about 2 hours north of Medellin.
The road through the Andes Mountains took Pieter to Yarumal where the SETAS mushroom farm was being built.
The reason Pieter got asked to go there, was for assessing the situation for a USA importer of mushrooms, Fred Giorgio for Giorgio Foods.
The mushroom farm was being designed by Gerard Derks and built by an Italian company.
Here it is coming into sight...
Coming closer for getting a better overview...
And still closer...
There it is...
Pieter had to evaluate its layout and technical functionality and write a report later.
Pieter stayed at the hotel near this Cathedral.
Catedral - Parroquia Nuestra Señora de Chiquinquirá Santa Rosa de Osos, Antioquia, Colombia. click for info
The hotel Pieter slept for one night (luckily!) was a kind of a prison room. A hatch with bars in the door and no windows. That's what they called a hotel?!
The shower was with a kind of submersible element, which hung from a wire under the water that came out of a curved pipe.
Because the water ran over the element, it got a
little warm. Of course, you had to watch out for not touching that wire, it could have shocked you...
Quite an experience, the mushroom farm was also heavily guarded... Pieter got to see lots of guns!
Like entering a military camp.
The layout did show several shortcomings, technical errors but in the end, they got it sorted out and at present they seem to have a good operational business.
You can view a short video here:
Setas Colombianas SA click it for seeing the actual finished mushroom farm.
On Tuesday night Pieter was back at the Inter Continental Hotel in Medellin and on Wednesday, I picked him up at the Atlanta Airport.
Happy to be home, that was quite an adventure and one for not repeating...
