Genetics: Santa Marta Gold (lowland) – Samarian Golden – Caturra
Source: Local Sativa from the low mountains of Sierra Nevada, Santa Marta, Northern Colombia
Latitude: 11° N
Elevation: 1000 – 2300 m.a.s.l. (3300 – 7500 ft)
Vegetative phase: 16 – 20 weeks
Flowering phase: 16 – 18 weeks
Height: 1.5 – 2 metres (5 – 6.5 ft)
Aromas: Incense, ripe mandarins, fruity, grape, turpentine
Flavour: Creamy, acidic, fruity, incense
Effects: psychoactive, lysergic, euphoric, psychedelic, potent, long-lasting, clear brain
Yield: high
Phenotypes: 5
Characteristics: loose resinous flowers with a golden finish and large pointed calyx, precocity to grow and flower compared to other lines from the high mountain range.
The effects are powerful, psychoactive and lysergic. In the mountains there were not only the low and mountain lines, there was great diversity, but the most outstanding and the ones that survived these adversities and the most notable are these low mountain Santa Marta Gold and the high mountain one.
The Santa Marta Gold lowland was a line that many farmers and hippie settlers chose to cultivate in the 70’s, 80’s, and 90’s until drug traffickers and paramilitary groups such as the AUC (United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia) and others arrived. Many people believe and are sure that the indigenous people of the area (the Arhuacos, the Kogis, the Wiwas, the Kankuamos, all these descendants of the Tayrona) were the ones cultivating cannabis.
These beliefs are simply marketing strategies to increase sales and create fantastic stories to attract people with little knowledge and far from the reality of how these legendary varieties really grew in Colombia and who were the ones who cultivated them.
These indigenous people from the mountains did not cultivate cannabis, not even at the time of the Marimbera Bonanza (mid 70’s to mid 80’s during which large amounts of dollars entered Colombia as a result of the activity of drug trafficking gangs that were dedicated to the illicit cultivation and export of marijuana on the Colombian Caribbean coast). When this happened and they were invading their land and many people arrived near their artisanal towns, the option they took was to move away and for this reason they went further up the mountains and settled in other places at higher altitudes.
Since they found bothersome the contact with people alienated from the world and globalization. In their thoughts, religious beliefs and medicinal uses they do not use or have used cannabis. In fact they see it as something bad, not even as medicine. We write this completely sure because this was told by a real “Mamo” from the Sierra Nevada of Santa Marta. The Mamos are the spiritual leaders. They are very attached, almost spiritually, to the coca leaf and the sierra mountains which they claim to be the heart of the world. If something happens to the mountains, it affects the entire planet earth.
For them Cannabis is not important, they like the Coca leaf – “Mambear Coca”, as they say which means to chew coca (a hollowed gourd they call poporo contains crushed shells with a stick, they transfer powder from the crushed shells to the coca leaves they have in them. the mouth. The high alkalinity of the shells reacts upon coming into contact with the coca and thus stimulates the active ingredients. The leftover powder is placed on the neck of the poporo, and over time it ends up turning into a thick collar, this provides them with a stimulating and energy effect). The coca leaf is indispensable and spiritual for them.
The cultivation of cannabis in the lowland in the Sierra Nevada of Santa Marta was because many locals in the area opted for this genetic since it was a variety a little faster, shorter and precocious than the highland Santa Marta Gold that produces finer floral spears. They share similar aromas and flavour with more productive flowering. This Sativa from the low mountains of the Sierra Nevada of Santa Marta in Colombia was cultivated in the departments of Magdalena, Guajira (Palomino) and César. They called this variety “Caturra” (similar to a variety of coffee that is called like this, Caturra coffee which, due to a mutation that has been stabilized, is small and almost dwarf. In Colombia the word “Caturra” refers to people of short stature therefore this low-mountain Santa Marta Gold was locally marketed under the name Caturra in the 90’s and 2000 since it was also an earlier golden variety with slightly larger yields.
They also called it the “Samarian Gold” because the people from Santa Marta are called “Samario” some called it Pangola. Pangola refers to low quality Cannabis and in this case it is an incorrect term for the Santa Marta Gold variety, be it the lowland or highland because they are both extremely and vibrantly active, euphoric, lysergic with cerebral effects. When they refer to “Pangola” as low quality it is for those crops that were harvested out of these long flowering sativas and in the desire to sell they would cut them in the middle of flowering due to the fact that they lacked knowledge and didn’t know when the optimal time to harvest was which resulted in very low quality cannabis that “stung” the palate when smoking and left a bitter taste on the palate that made you want to spit.
Another way to refer to low quality cannabis when you do not have a good amount of calyxes and resin is “Cafuche” and “Forcha”. These terms were used both for the northern and southern lines of the interior of the country and all corners really to refer to poor quality Cannabis that was coming from all the legendary Colombian sativa varieties but was harvested earlier. This variety was also exported to various places in the world.
Santa Marta Gold from the low mountains is a little faster and finishing earlier than the high mountain one. Both the vegetative stage of 13 to 16 weeks and the flowering from 12 to 18 weeks, these are characterized by its potency and golden colour, the way of producing abundant resin and earliness compared to that from the high mountains. The effect is extremely psychoactive, very potent, lysergic and of long duration with a feeling of satisfaction and happiness. For some they can have psychedelic effects, bright red eyes, a little heavy at the end. When we say heavy we don’t refer to the effect being heavy but to the eyes that might feel a little dull. The plants grow mostly in a conic shape with a very imposing and productive main apical bud. Clear resinous flowers with a penetrating aroma of church incense (frankincense), turpentine, citrus fruit, and tangerine peels. The flavor is exquisitely smooth with a very marked floral and citrus character.
