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caipirinha – Brazilian cocktail made with cachaça (sugarcane rum), lime juice, sugar and ice

caleño/a – person from Cali

campesino/a – rural dweller, usually of modest economic means; peasant

carro – car

casa de cambio – money-exchange office

caserío – hamlet

casona – big, rambling old house

ceiba – common tree of the tropics; can reach a huge size

chalupa – small passenger boat powered by an outboard motor

chiguiro – capybara; the world’s large rodent common to Los Llanos

chinchorro – hammock woven of cotton threads or palm fiber like a fishing net; typical of many indigenous groups; the best known are the decorative cotton hammocks of the Guajiros

chiva – traditional bus with its body made of timber and painted with colorful patterns; still widely used in the countryside

ciénaga – shallow lake or lagoon

cinemateca – art-house cinema that screens quality films

climatizado – air-conditioned; term used for air-con buses

colectivo – shared taxi or minibus; a popular means of public transport

comida corriente – fast food; set lunch

corrida – bullfight

costeño/a – inhabitant of the Caribbean coast

criollo/a – Creole, a person of European (especially Spanish) blood, but born in the Americas

cuatro – small, four-stringed guitar, used in the music of Los Llanos

cumbia – one of the most popular musical rhythms (and corresponding dance) of the Caribbean coast; African in origin

currulao – popular dance of the Pacific coast, of mixed African-Spanish origin, usually accompanied by a marimba

danta – tapir; large, hoofed mammal of tropical and subtropical forests

DAS – Departamento Administrativo de Seguridad; the security police, responsible for immigration

denuncia – official report/statement to the police

droguería – pharmacy

ELN – Ejército de Liberación Nacional; the second-largest guerrilla group after the FARC

esquina – street corner

FARC – Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia; the largest guerrilla group in the country

finca – farm; anything from a country house with a small garden to a huge country estate

frailejón – espeletia, a species of plant typical of the páramo

gamonales – see cacique

giros – wire transfer

gringo/a – any white male/female foreigner; sometimes, (but not always) used in a derogatory sense

guácharo – oilbird; a species of nocturnal bird living in caves

guadua – the largest variety of the bamboo family, common in many regions of moderate climate

guaquero – tomb raider

guayabo – hangover; warranted after an aguardiente session

hacienda – country estate

hospedaje – lodging (in general); sometimes, a cheap hotel

indígena – indigenous; also indigenous person

IVA – impuesto de valor agregado, a value-added tax (VAT)

joropo – typical music of Los Llanos, also referred to as música llanera

La Violencia – Colombia’s main civil war, which began in 1946; also used to refer in general to Colombia’s troubles

lancha – launch, motorboat

llanero/a – inhabitant of Los Llanos

(Los) Llanos – literally ‘plains’; vast plains between the Andes and the Río Orinoco

malecón – waterfront promenade

maloca – large, communal house of some indigenous groups; usually a wooden structure thatched with palm leaves

maracas – gourd rattles; an accompanying instrument of the joropo and other rhythms

marimba – percussion instrument

mecha – small triangular envelope with gunpowder, used in the game of tejo

merengue – musical rhythm originating in the Dominican Republic, today widespread throughout the Caribbean and beyond

meseta – plateau

mestizo/a – person of mixed European-indigenous blood

mirador – lookout, viewpoint

mochila – bucket-shaped shoulder bag, traditionally made by indígenas, today produced commercially

mola – colorful, hand-stitched applique textile of the Cuna people; a rectangular piece of cloth made of several differently colored, superimposed layers sewn together

muelle – pier, wharf

mulato/a – mulatto; a person of mixed European-African blood

multa – a fine

Navidad – Christmas

nevado – snowcapped