Leonel de Jesús Loaiza Muñoz wears an aguadeño hat from the Coffee Triangle.
Photo courtesy of Embassy of Colombia in Washington, D.C.
Leonel de Jesús Loaiza Muñoz prepares Sassy, the mule, for a coffee loading demonstration with help from Program Coordinator Crisitina Diaz-Carrera.
Photo by Marguerite Quirey, Smithsonian Institution
Leonel de Jesús Loaiza Muñoz.
Photo courtesy of Embassy of Colombia in Washington, D.C.
Sassy, also known as Conchita, was lent to Leonel de Jesús Loaiza Muñoz to discuss arriero traditions and use of mules.
Photo by Francisco Guerra, Smithsonian Institution
Leonel de Jesús Loaiza has been a traditional mule driver for over forty years. His mules carry various agricultural products, especially fruits grown in the farms of Concordia. He has perfected different forms of packing mules.
"I was born and raised in the mountains. I have worked my whole life in the countryside as a muledriver, but no one appreciates us."
