Traveling slow
This year we have been forced to stop our accelerated pace of life, but there are many people who, for years, have decided to see life from a different, internal, and authentic perspective. This is how the slow movement was born; it invites us to look inside ourselves through sustainable actions in various sectors including slow food (with kilometer 0, the consumption of local products), slow schooling (with the inclusion of history and local characters in educational programs), slow parenting (as parents reduce their working hours to dedicate more time to their children and transmit their values to them).
The slow movement has also reached the tourism sector through slow traveling, inviting the traveler to connect with the traditions of the place they visit; These traditions have infinite variables depending on the destination. The slow movement is directly related to the absence of rush; here, the busy schedules and frenetic rhythms of the traditional way of travel are avoided. The slow traveler does not want to visit many destinations in a short time; on the contrary, prefers to focus on one destination and get to know it in depth through direct contact with the local community.
Today we will meet Isa Calvache who will share with us the variety of traditions that Córdoba offers, from the historical agricultural activity (such as the vine, the olive tree, the orange or the pasture), the handicrafts (such as silver or leather), to intangible traditions that show the local life forms like the Cordovan patios. In Córdoba, a slow traveler not only wants to eat the emblematic Cordovan oxtail but will go to the pasture where the shepherd will tell the traveler that his cows are happily raised under holm oaks and give certified organic meat.
As Isa defines it: “The slow journey is not a long list where we mark everything we do: quite the contrary, the marks are made in the heart by the experiences lived, and people visited.”
In all activities, the traveler seeks to connect directly with the local population; they are the experts who will transmit valuable information to the traveler and that will allow a real immersion in the local day-to-day: accommodations offer a unique charm when the owner welcomes visitors to her/his home, local producers give their organic products to taste directly from where they are produced, artisans show their skills in workshops where they share beautiful pieces that travelers can purchase and take home. Slow tourism allows all income from visits to stay in the destination as well as being intrinsically linked to traditional ways of life, thus ensuring its perpetuation.
Isa shares that she knew about the slow movement on a trip to Italy where she met her wine suppliers: this is how she discovered that there were slow wineries that exhibited not only at large international wine fairs but also in small slow food halls. That was the origin of her interest in the slow movement. Years later, she decided to create her own business having 3 clear basic ideas: It had to be based in Córdoba (the land that had seen her leave 20 years earlier); It would be aimed at a Japanese audience (to take advantage of his long experience with this market), and it should be related to slow movement.
This is how Caracol Tours was born.
For almost two years, Isa dedicated herself to a search for local suppliers from different sectors, who would offer quality products representative of the Cordovan traditions, guaranteeing the availability of their product in the medium and long term (since one of her main markets is Japanese) and the essential characteristic of its suppliers: their human quality; personal relationships are essential to achieving the immersive experience travelers desire. Now, after six years, Isa continues to work with most of the suppliers that Caracol Tours started with.
One of the great challenges for the slow traveler experience is to offer the same product constantly, Isa has found fantastic products but available only for short periods, which makes certain experiences difficult for travelers who plan their trips well in advance. Currently, slow tourism is an attractive segment for Spaniards as well; even the people of Cordoba themselves seek to enjoy their free time in connection with the traditions of Cordoba.
A slow traveler seeks experiences that involve sensory enjoyment, beyond the view that reigns in our day to day; activities in which smell and olfactory memory are essential, such as wine and oil tastings; workshops with artisans where the texture of the leather is touched (very different depending on the animal from which they come); visits the countryside where the ear is excited by cowbells, shepherd's whistles and bellowing of cattle.
The key is to remove the hegemony from the eyes and complement the enjoyment with the rest of the senses.
One of these incredible sensory experiences is the tour of the organic fields of Cordoba orange, where travelers can enjoy a healthy breakfast based on freshly squeezed orange juice, oranges cut with extra virgin olive oil from Cordoba, and bread with Organic orange blossom honey from the same garden. It is an activity that Isa carries out in alliance with Juan and César, producers of organic oranges whom we will also meet soon.
Route: Entre Naranjas - Caracol Tours
