December 3 - Above Villa de Leyva

December 3 found Kathleen and I waiting to talk to a local birder, Robin Schiele (Shee-lee), who we had been put in touch with through Yvonne of Colombian Highlands Hostel. At 10am, a tall lanky gentleman walked up and introduced himself as Robin. We chatted for an hour about our mutual interest in conservation and birds. Robin was an illustrator for a number of bird books, and college texts on ornithology - www.robinschiele.com. We decided to meet up again at Robin, and his wife, Claudia’s, house at 7am, December 4th.

For the rest of the day, Kathleen and I decided to hike to some view points with benches above Colombian Highlands Hostel to have a look over the valley and Villa de Leyva. We had made previous attempts at hiking to the benches, however, we weren’t successful – okay, we got lost, alright?! So, today, with heavy scrutiny of the map provided at the hostel, we marched off in search of the trails leading to the benches.

Sure enough, we eventually found the proper route and the benches which were just a few hundred meters from where we had gotten lost. We sat and looked out over town, which is best viewed earlier in the day as the sun was still behind us. Walking back down to the hostel we came upon a squirrel. Our first wild mammal!! Most mammals, including squirrels, are not often seen in the tropics as the vegetation is so dense and diverse. And the notion mammals don’t want to be seen, which is especially true if you’re a squirrel as they are on the menu for other critters – both winged and furry.

Villa de Leyva is a quiet tourist town and weekend retreat for Bogota’ians. The cobble stone streets are lined with shops and restaurants satisfying the desires for curios and appetites of all kinds. Kathleen and I had built up an appetite and hiked down from the hill side into town for a meal. If so inclined, a person could spend most of their day wandering in and out of the shops. We’re not. We mostly drifted about the avenues and finally bought some fruit, snacks, and a bag of water before hiking up to the hostel. Remember the bags of water? Kind of a rectangular water-balloon.