To the north, the Caribbean Sea. Two hundred metres to the south, the Cienaga Grande. On the Caribbean coast of Colombia, Tasajeras does not have enough space and overflows into the water.

On both sides, the horizon is clear. Towards the sea, this is understandable. On the other side, it is surprising. La Cienaga Grande is an immense swamp that stretches forty kilometres to the foot of the Sierra Nevada. With no waves to distract you and no breeze to cool you off, every day seems to be the same.
When there is no space, the only building land is the swamp. Above the brackish water, wooden huts walk tightrope walkers on their wooden legs, with the cables that bring electricity as their balance. In the village, all the men are part carpenter, part electrician and part everything else as needed.

But in the Cienaga Grande, the men are above all fishermen, that’s all they have to do. As soon as they are old enough to drive a boat, they leave school and help their father. By the age of ten, all the kids already have a boat. But in between casting nets, they pick up their fluorescent plastic guns and play cops and robbers on their four-metre-long boats…
José and Eduardo are not old enough to chase each other anymore. When they leave on their barge, it is to work hard. Fish are their only source of income and competition is tough. Not with the other men of the village, not even with those from the surrounding villages or venezuelan people, there is enough room for everyone. Between the polluted tributary rios and the salinity that increases every time the sea passes over the land, the Muerte of the troubled waters is the main rival.

Both were not born here. They are from Trojas de Cataca, where there are more fish, more snakes and more quadrupeds. This is the Sanctuary of the Fauna and Flora of the Cienaga Grande. There are not many people there anymore, the village is almost ghostly. In 2000, after the massacre of eleven fishermen by paramilitaries who were looking for fuel for their boats, the families fled to the other villages of the Cienaga Grande. José and Eduardo had to start all over again in Tasajeras, building a house, a boat for fishing… It is not the most beautiful boat, but it is a good boat, the water does not seep in.