December 5 - Colombian Conservation

Kathleen and I walked around the rock wall separating Claudia and Robin’s house from Colombian Highlands and found Robin backing the contraption out of their yard. We headed off to Iguaque where Robin was going to have a few words with the guy at the desk. We were likely overcharged according to Claudia.

Upon our arrival, the guy came ambling over to Robin. The conversation seemed calm and cordial, and afterword Robin told Kathleen and I we were visiting the sanctuary for free this day. Bird life was busier than yesterday with clear sunny skies. We again walked up the path beyond the tent camping area and then walked in the forest where we were under the canopy. Often along trails, roads, and edges of clearings the forest appears dense and impenetrable. However, once you wade through this dense wall of vegetation you find yourself in fairly open understory with a dense canopy of tree foliage 20-30 feet above your head. Don’t believe the Hollywood movies of a machete wielding native breaking trail for the intrepid explorer. More often than not, you can maneuver about without touching much vegetation. And no, not everything is going to bite, sting, or leave you with a rash making you look as if your skin is melting off. We actually found very few insects bothering us. Kind of a bad sign actually as that lends evidence to the poor precipitation issue.

We found sitting in the forest quite pleasant even though the birds went quiet. We spent a couple hours discussing various environmental issues. Robin had considerable apprehension about the state of affairs between Colombia and Venezuela. The two countries are not best of friends. Couple this with squabbles over natural resources, the cocaine trade, and a dose of paranoia and you’ve got the makings of a possible conflict. Some governments can be so narrow minded they could look through a key-hole with both eyes. This is what made Claudia and Robin leave Central America. They just didn’t feel comfortable living in those countries given the drug trade and treatment of the environment.

By early afternoon we were heading back into Villa de Leyva. We discussed Colombia’s need to capitalize on the country’s huge bird diversity; more than any other country - perhaps in the world. Colombia has 1,870 species of birds spread out over several diverse habitats from alpine down to tropical coasts. Indeed, Iguaque has a lodge that Kathleen would dearly enjoy a couple nights stay. Colombia is struggling to become an eco-tourist destination if they can only shake out the drug trade plague. They’re working hard at this.

Robin dropped us off at his house and Kathleen and I eventually meandered off into town. Big doin’s in Villa de Leyva for the weekend as the 23rd annual light show was gonna happen. Lots of lights, liquor, music, and people from Bogota. The quiet little hamlet of Villa de Leyva was turned into Las Vegas and Spring Break within a matter of hours. What is with the Paris Hilton style of sunglasses?! Everyone wandering about lookin’ like some kinda insect. A concert stage sprouted up in the plaza and speakers the size of minivans began belching guitar riffs and drum beats that could have been heard from Mars. Time for us to leave.