Noche de los Caballos Bailando

The owner of La Cabaña quickly became a new friend. I left Ibague and headed for Salento and a small milk farm just on the outskirts of the village. Hector and his wife have a nice spread along the Quindio river. He gave me a nice room in the second house along the river. Very comfortable for $25 a night, with breakfast. He told me there were torrent ducks on the river. In the morning I found them. Such fascinating and beautiful ducks. Hector was very pleased. I taught him how to use eBird and I put his hotel as a hotspot on the eBird map. There was a German family staying there as well and one night we all went down to the bar to watch a futbol match, which Colombia lost. Hector ordered a bottle of aguardiente. We drank it all. The next morning I nearly fell out of bed but still was in shape for Hector to drop me off at the Corcora Valley trail to the hummingbird house. It was a 6 hour round-trip hike. I was in awe of myself for having made it. I am beginning to get winded easily, especially at high altitude. But I carry on. Hector took me to the bus for my trip to Manizales, where he has a house. I checked into a very nice one bedroom apartment for two nights near the center of the best neighborhood. Nice restaurants with bad food but great drinks. I made arrangements to go to Rio Blanco, which is one of the most popular birding locations in Colombia. I was told I had to have a 'permit'. A car would pick me up at 6 am. It is only a 25 minute drive from town. I arrived at 6:20 am and met Ben King who owns his own famous bird tour company for Asia. Our guide was slow to get moving and did not speak English so I translated for Ben. Carlos carried a bucket of worms to feed the four species of antpitta present. It began to rain. It was wet and cold. I did add 5 new species but it was a washout. Carlos didn't know his birds that well. Ben was a little irritated too. They just don't understand tourism here. It was a pain in the ass to visit Rio Blanco and they charged me way too much for transport and guide. Ben told me about Cerro Montezuma and said I should visit there. The next day I went to Marsella and stayed at a finca up the the hills. There were nice trails to bird. I inquired about getting to Montezuma and soon received an email saying they were booked until December. Shit. Back to Manizales and a nice cheap hostal near the stadium. Hector was in town so we met for drinks. I inquired how to get to Jardin and received as many different answers. It would have been a 3 hour trip but became 7 hours because I had to change buses three times.

Jardin is at almost 6,000ft and has a great climate. I think this is my favorite pueblo so far. I feel safe and the people are very warm and welcoming. I hired a 3-wheel moto to take me up the the yellow-eared parrot reserve but we soon ran into a landslide which blocked passage. Only two-wheel motos could go over the mud. I told the driver to come back in 4 hours and i went walking up the road. I did see some of the parrots and some great birds but I was not able to get to the higher elevation where the birds I wanted fly about. I intend to stay here for a week so maybe they will fix the road soon. There are Colombian cowboys here who are very proud of their horses. They ride in a prance where the horses hooves hit the ground 40 times for every ten feet forward. Paso Doble? They are very fine horses. Not so much the cowboys. Each night around 6 pm they come to ride around the plaza. I love watching and listening to them. They tie the horses to the bar tables. I actually saw a horse tied through the window of a bar in Marsella. Reminded me of Lee Marvin and his horse in Cat Ballou. I rarely meet people who speak English here so when a young 'Merican couple walked by I invited then to sit. After a few beers I saw and older lady pushing a stroller our direction. I said to the the dummies " here comes that lady selling babies again". They got quiet. When I saw the baby had blond hair I exclaimed that she was pushing blond ones tonight. "Really? That's terrible. Someone should tell the police."

I have to make a decision within the next few days. My flight home is on December 8th. I don't want to come back to the land of the dummies but I know my cancer is progressing quickly. If I come home I would like to stay in Tallahassee or Apalachicola. If anyone has something I could rent for a couple months. I might change my ticket to a date in late January. I have one week to make up my mind and extend my Visa another 90 days. What to do......

Bogotá and Ibagué

I very much enjoyed my stay in Villa de Leyva at the Hostal Renacer. Nearly all those staying there were from Europe or Argentina. One Canadian. I, alone, from U.S.A. I left my bags there and went on a two night visit to Rogitama. This is a plot of land which a doctor bought in 1982 and replanted with natural flora. After 20 years the birds started to return, and then the ocelots and other mammals. It was rustic and inexpensive at $24, which included breafast, lunch and dinner. DR. Robert Chavarro and his nursing-professor wife were very kind. I showed him on eBird, using Hotspot Maps, how I discovered where Rogitama is located. He called me yesterday to thank me, again. It rained a lot while I was there but I saw the black Inca hummingbird, which was my primary target. At dinner a plate of funny-looking chicken was placed in front of me. As I ate it I was told it was rabbit-delicious. I received a 2-hour personal tour of the property and learned a lot from him.

The next morning I took the buseta ( small van) back to Villa de Leyva (one hour) and was given a larger room at Renacer. A balcony door I could keep open all night. Birds singing. Rose-breasted grosbeaks and summer tanagers everywheere. I watched CNÑ for an hour and drifted off to sleep in the queen-sized bed. I awoke at 5 am and shuttered to think what had happend overnight. I went to breakfast and the Europeans frowned at me. It was true. Enough said. That night I went to a bar and was constantly asked how it happened. The next morning was rainy. A good day to travel. After 5 hours on a 3 hour bus trip, I was in Bogota. The Argentinians had told me Explora Hostal was a good place to stay so I had made a reservation there. It was in the Candelaria part of the old city. More Europeans giving me a surprised look. I went to the Gold Museum at 3 pm and was in complete awe. More gold than Joan Rivers had ever seen. The true El Dorado. All pre-conquest and was never looted by the Spaniards. Incredible craftmanship. That called for a drink, so I curtailed my history lesson for a bit of fermented libation. I found a great old house with three fireplaces on three floors of art and books. 'How about a bit of red wine?' I asked. Coming right up sir. Cozy Glass roof with the moon looking down. The smell of the fire took me back in time to my home in Indiana. Cue Mussorsky 'Dawn on the Moskva River'. Cold and damp. I zipped down the stairs out onto the street and found another set of stairs going down. An elegant bar with a stage for music. Campari on the shelf. After four I headed back to my hostal but was diverted one more time to Bogota Beer Company. A very drunk young man wanted to know all about me. There are a lot of drunks in Colombia. Something I rarely saw in Ecuador or Peru. We had a nice chat. I picked up some fried chicken and went to my room.

In the morning the sun shone clearly. I went to an ATM and Juan Valdez for coffee and cinnamon rolls.  I asked the hostal to call a taxi and they had their own comfortable transport in a Great Wall SUV. I went to the bus station and after another 3 hour bus trip I arrived in Ibague, 5 hours later. Twenty hours in Bogota was enough. Ibague is at 4,200 ft and a nice climate. I wanted a nice hotel so I told the Taxi driver to take me to the best downtown hotel. At $34 a night it is very comfie. I posted a request on a Facebook Colombia Birding page and was contacted by several folks wanting to help with my birding pursuits. There is a botanical garden 8 minutes away from my hotel and I was told it was dangerous to visit and to be careful. Colombia is not tourist-friendly. It is a pain in the ass to travel on busses and then I have to be vigilant everywhere I go. Were I to live a full life, I would not return to Colombia. Anyway, A young student offered to accompany me birding to the gardens this morning. We went at 7 am. Oh, they don't open until 8 am. There were many birds, none new for me. He new little about birds. I would have done better without him. We called the taxi and came back to my hotel where I taught him about eBird, also. This evening I went to the plaza where the big church is and watched a procession of well-robed catholics walk into the church. Must have been the Bishop- cue Monty Python. I had 4 beers as they sang. I took out my camera to take a picture of a coffee-making jeep and as I lifted my shirt to put my camera in my pocket a young man saw my scar. "Ohh, what is that from?" Just a touch of cancer, I said. "That ugly scar was cancer?" That ugly scar cost more that $100,000 dollars, I told him. And it is much more interesting and special than your cheap tatoo's. His face went blank. More fried chicken. No Campari to be found. I am in my room contemplating my next pueblo. Armenia, named in honor of the folks the bastard Turks slaughtered. I am heading into the Nevada del Ruiz area where earthquake and lahars have killed many thousands in the last, oh, 25 years. Although I am a true misanthrope, I cry when people suffer. All people, of all races. I wish the Bishop understood why life in not fair. I do. Ama la Vida y'all.

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The Llanos

I took the 8 am bus from Barichara to Sogamoso. By 1 pm I was in my room at the Sogamoso Real Hotel. They are building high-rise condos in Tunja in the middle of cow pastures. 20-story modern buildings in the middle of a field with cows looking up. Very strange looking. Condos are popular in Colombia. Sogamoso is at 8,300 ft and I had a slight headache. My sinus troubles are back, but not as bad as last May, so I went to the drugstore for pills. I didn't care for my hotel in the middle of town so I changed to Finca San Pedro, about one mile out. It's more of a hostal for backpackers but I had a nice room. I avoided the kids, they just weren't very interesting. Mostly from U.K. with a few Swiss thrown in. At 5 am i caught the first bus up to the Lago de Tota. This is Colombia's highest and largest lake at 10,000 ft. The sky had cleared for me and it was a beautiful morning. There are about 10 endemic birds which can be found around the lake. The Apolinar's wren lives only in the reed beds of a few lakes in this area. The spot-flanked gallinule is also found here. I stopped at a hotel along the lake and asked if I could wander the grounds. They were happy to have me visit. Within an hour I had all the birds I was looking for. I strolled down the road to another, more expensive, hotel and walked along their dock. They were very kind and offered me breakfast. I walked back out on the road and climbed on a small bus going to Aquitania. The entire area is very rural with farmland. People were busy harvesting onions from the fields. Beautiful farms and small houses. In town I had breakfast for $3 and strolled around. The bus back to my hotel took 35 minutes. I was tempted to move up to one of the hotels but I am growing tired of unpacking and packing. I walked around town and dodged traffic. Nearly two years in Ecuador and I never saw any accidents happen. One month in Colombia and I have seen 3 people hit on motorcycles and one nearly died. Just today we passed 2 accidents. People here are shitty drivers. Oh well. In the meantime Juan at San Pedro had contacted Nelson Barragan at Juan Solito and told them I would be coming. First I had to take a bus to Yopal, which was  a 4 hour trip. A bridge crossing one of th many rivers had collapsed 2 months before. It became a 8 hour trip. Hot and sweaty. I was upset. Traveling in Colombia is not easy. No one knows where or how to travel. If they say it is 3 hours I count on 6 hours. Nothing seems to be on time. The next day I have to start with a van ride to Paz de Ariporo and then a noon bus to ..???  The noon bus leaves at 1 pm. Packed with people, chickens and supplies. The pavement ends and the road turns to mud and ruts. The scenery is fantastic and I birdwatch the whole way. I see storks, ducks, herons. At 7 pm, in the dark, the bus drops me along the side of the road where a girl on a motorcycle awaits. Thank god I am only carrying a small backpack and my bag is at the hotel. Did I say it was dark? A new moon? It had rained a lot the previous few days so all was mud. I climbed on the back of the moto cursing. I hate surprises. She got lost. We had to part 3 herds of Brahma. After 30 minutes we arrived. I was shown to my room- a nice corner room with windows on three sides. I informed them I do not eat fish and they seemed perplexed. I asked for 3 beers and sat down. The owners wife came to greet me and calmed my spirit. The stars were incredible. A owl hooted from the woods. I was taken to the dining hall a short pass through the field. The owner, Nelson introduced himself and his father. They had a harp and a guitar and played soothing music. They have recorded and their music is on the website for Juan Solito. Plates of food were delivered and I met some folks from Bogota who would be leaving in the morning. Chicken, beef, fruit, rice, bread and juice. The electric dimmed but the band kept playing. I asked for a bird guide at 5 am and was told Julio would take me. I took a cold shower and crashed to the sound of frogs, capybara, cattle and nightjars. The horrible trip was worth it.
Julio didn't know his birds as well as he claimed, but it was okay, because I did. There are 5 species of Ibis here. Parrots everywhere and very noisy at 6 am. We strolled the fields and saw whistling herons and red-bellied macaws, masked cardinals. Troupial! Then a giant anteater crossed the field!  Everything David Attenborough said there would be! I was amazed. We returned for a hearty breaksfast and I walked the fields alone. At 3 pm we crossed the river and took a truck to go see the scarlet ibis fly in at dusk. It took two hours, not one. We stopped at a lagoon where capybaras swam. Caiman love baby capybaras. There were birds everywhere in the savanna. We came to a magnificent hacienda in the middle of a field surrounded by flowers and trees. Nelson's mothers house. She greeted me with cheese and lemonade and a sweet panela candy. A very elegant woman. They own as far as the eye can see and more. 16,000 hectares is almost 40,000 acres. All owned by the family. The scarlet ibis came in at dusk and the trees were filled with roosting herons and ibis's. Now for the ride back, in the dark. I nearly fell into the river getting into the canoe/boat. I wouldn't have minded. The others had left so I was the only guest and they treated me like family. In the moring I went off on my own and birded the whole day. I sat and watched holwer monkeys for an hour. At lunch, Nelson told me he had to go to Yopal on Wednesday and would take me back with him. We got on the road at 8 am. He had a call and started crying when they told him his daughter had a head injury in Bogota. We stopped for lunch and chatted. She would be okay. He took me to my hotel and told me I had a new friend in Colombia. I left Yopal this morning and I am back in Sogamosos. I added 29 new species of birds and saw 149. I dipped on the whistling duck but got Orinoco goose! I am almost at 1,500 birds. I have seen one-third of all species in South America. Next is Villa de Leyva.

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