Everywhere you turn as you stroll through Cartagena, you see hats for sale. The black and cream striped straw hat called the "sombrero vueltiao" is a traditional hat from Colombia, and in fact, is one of the country's national symbols. Colombians make the hat by hand by weaving cana flecha, a type of cane that grows in the Caribbean region of the country. The word "vueltiao" comes from "turn", which refers to the way the hat is made. A hat's quality is determined by the number of pairs of fibers braided together, as well as its flexibility. The more bendable/packable it is, the higher the quality. The indigenous group known as Zena make the hats by drying the fibers in the sun and then dying the black fibers in a mud mixture for several days. The designs on the hats incorporate symbols of life such as fertility and harvest.
All over Cartagena, people are selling hats of all types, not just vueltiaos...
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Selling hats....from their heads...
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| ...from their hands... |
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| ...from the street. |
