To travel in Colombia has been a great pleasure, to get to know the people, the cultures, the pueblos and of course, the food. I don't get out as much as I used to, I keep pretty busy, but once in a while its nice to "get out of the house".
There doesn't always have to be a waterfall involved, but in Colombia, there usually is.
This part of the San Cipriano River, in the Valle de Cauca region, was declared a nature reserve in 1979, and since then the local community have adapted and learned to live with the new and occasionally changing restrictions. Its an interesting thing to see, and imagine, someone secretly planting a yuca patch on the edge of the woods.
Despite the restrictions, or maybe because of them, the town seems to be doing alright; it's full of happy, beautiful people.
The road to Buena Aventura is blocked currently by a national strike, and similarly it seems like we can't just "go back" to Cali, at least until some negotiations happen; I couldn't imagine a nicer place to be "stuck" on our travels.
Everyone seems happy, the spirits are high, the birds are new and different - the water is fine and fresh.
So we are just walking around, enjoying every moment as if it was the plan to hang around here so long. The truth is, there is a lot to see, and the birds are almost all new, so there is also a lot to learn.
Of course, my old friend Thraupis episcopus is here, he likes to say hi to me, where ever I end up - I assume to help me get my bearings. If you know one bird, you can learn the rest, so mi amigo azulejo just wants us to know,
Don't worry, you know me.
I have to admit, there is pretty good cell phone signal in this little town inside the far corner of the nature reserve, I'm a little bit jealous that when I go back home our megabytes won't work nearly as good. I'm sure it has something to do with population density, I'm thinking of asking someone now just how many people live around here.
Of course I am always a sociologist, always saying hi to everyone and asking them questions about life and stuff; today I had many good conversations with locals and on top of all the juicy details I got, we also found the local birding guides.
One is set to take us "out" tomorrow before the crack of dawn.
I'll try to keep you all abreast of my adventures in the jungle; there are many exciting things happening all over Hive in the meantime and I feel a little "behind" with some of them.
But it is what it is, some days you write a post, and some days you wander through the jungle on the Pacific Coast of Colombia. Such is life!
And I hope you are enjoying yours.