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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