Reis door Nieuw-Grenada en Venezuela De Aarde en haar Volken, 1887

A vivid travelogue begins as a small party leaves France aboard the Lafayette, crossing the Atlantic to the bustling port of La Guaira. The author paints the city’s cramped, colorful streets—red-tiled roofs, blue shutters, and crumbling stone walls—against a backdrop of steep cliffs and a restless sea. From there the journey shifts to the quiet harbor of Puerto Cabello and onward to the modest village of Salgar‑Savanilla, where a waiting steamship and a modest railway promise a passage deeper into the interior.

On the rattling train that snakes through swampy lowlands, the narrator meets the lively Colombian artist Villavécès, whose sketches and good‑natured humor bring a personal touch to the expedition. Together they witness towering, root‑entwined trees that resemble giant spiders and feel the sudden, dramatic thunderstorms that roll over the tropical landscape. The narrative captures the sensory richness of 19th‑century New Granada and Venezuela, inviting listeners to share the wonder of each new port, the creak of wooden railcars, and the camaraderie forged on a distant shore.