Biking + Birding

This is the 3rd in a series of posts about Colombia. Here’s the first, and second.

Starting in the small town of Salento (which was cute, but infested with tourist shops and, uggh, other tourists, see pic above) we met up with our guide, Juan, to go biking. Since the plan was to ride up into the mountains, with an elevation gain of about 650m, then turn around and ride down, we elected the e-bike option. We may be old, but we’re not stupid.

At the top of our ride, Juan knocked on the door of a farmhouse and the owner invited us in for coffee and arepas. The farmhouse was very basic, just a small kitchen and sitting/dining area. I’m not sure if there was hot water, but there was definitely electricity: a large flat-screen TV took up most of one wall. The owner’s hospitality was warm and genuine.

The next day we had an early 6 a.m. start to go birding. Our guide, Alejo, says that we spotted 20 different species, but I think my untrained eyes only managed half of that. More interesting though was the tiny Ruby Poison Frog he caught, carefully with latex gloves to avoid the toxin in the skin. We also saw a family of howler monkeys, moving about high among the trees (no pics, unfort)

In Salento there is a profusion of Jeep vehicles on the roads. These vehicles, originally made by the Willys company for the US government during WWII became very popular with Colombian coffee growers, who had until then relied on mules. Nowadays, the newer iterations of Willys Jeeps are used as taxis on the sometimes rough mountain roads, but are also available as tourist rentals, and it is a “thing” to drive around the country-side with passengers standing in the back and hanging on to the frame.

It is also a “thing” to have your kids pushed around the main square of Filandia (another small town) in a mini Willys.

Next…. the conclusion.