As a young anthropologist, Dr. Deltgen went to Colombia, SA, to conduct field research into the use of hallucinogenic drugs among Tucano Indians. He spent the months leading up to his departure into the tropical rainforest at the finca of Pancho Sierra, a German pilot, who had defected from the Nazi Airforce and ended up as the chief of Colombia’s domestic flight system, which he first developed from scratch and later had to tear down, when the old DC-3s kept falling out of the sky with no money for new airplanes.
Sitting in Pancho’s backyard drinking “Cuba Libre”, Pancho told Deltgen stories from his life, first as a Ranchero in the Llanos Orientales, where he became the guardian of law and order among throat cutters of all flavors and later as the Manager of Colombia’s domestic Rescue Team that went out to collect human and airplane remains each time another DC3 fell into the jungle. Pancho became Deltgen’s mentor and guide who helped him to make the transition from the social welfare society of semi socialist Germany, where everything was neatly regulated to the dog-eats-dog society of Columbia where might made right. Deltgen recounts Pancho’s stories and frames them with reports about events that involved himself.
Each of the 19 chapters of his book is a story in itself. These stories reach from funny to cruel and from serious to ridiculous. In style and content, Deltgen’s stories remind of “La Voragine” by José Eustasio Rivera or the Mexican stories of B. Traven. They are not for the faint of heart or for people with a weak stomach. But they sure are entertaining.
English Version. ISBN-13 : 978-1511992138
German Version. ISBN-13 : 978-1514381533 Click here for the Amazon link.