Feliz Cumpleaños Janet

Colombia ~Birdwatching Travel Tips

Not all birds are pretty

Always expect the unexpected or never expect too much. 

Always bring dry bags for your equipment.

Never NEVER forget to use bug spray!

Colombia ~ Cowgirls of Finca La Luna

Thanks to yet another of Claudia's cousins we met Andres who owns a 3000 acre finca (ranch) in the Andean outback.  He invited to join him for three days of horse back riding and watching the wild macaws at his finca. Without a moments hesitation, we both of course said yes! He told us it would take several hours by car and then three hours by horse to reach his finca.  Great!  What he didn't tell us was that we would be riding on very narrow and sometimes undetectable trails down, down, down deep into a valley and then up, up, up over a ridge, time and time again.  This wasn't your typical trail ride and we LOVED it! 

Yup, we're going waaay over there

The trail....

When it was time to mount our gallant steeds and we learned there was only one horse and the rest were mules.  What? Ride a mule! Oh how undignified! Patti claimed the horse so I got a mule... what luck for me!  We quickly learned why the vaqueros in this mountainous region preferred to ride their sure-footed, strong and steady mules instead of their less stable but more glamorous cousin, the horse.

Blazing the way

Omar - our vaquero

Janet on her trusty mule

After three hours in the saddle we were all glad to arrive at the finca, dismount our trusty steeds, have a shower and relax before heading out to find the rare and endangered Military Macaws.  What a truly amazing experience!  We counted over 15 pairs of macaws in the air while many more were hidden in the trees and bushes along the canyon wall.  Watching the Macaws fly was simply magical; they fly in tandem perfectly mirroring their partners moves while loudly announcing their presence. 

       



                     

                  Andres 

                      

  

 

                        

 

               

Lunch in hand

 

The next day we rode down to the Cauca River to check out the gold miners.  There is gold in the mountains around Finca La Luna and this means there are squatter tents lining the edge of the river. Some of the squatters have lived there for decades, eeking out a living panning gold.  One gold miner showed us his small packet of gold flakes that would net him a whopping $100 for two weeks of work.

         

     

All to soon it was time to hang up our cowgirl hats and head back over the ridges and through the valleys back to the city. This was truly one of the highlights of our journey and we are now hooked on riding horses or mules as the case maybe.  Thanks Andres, we'll be back!

      

Happy Vaqueros

Colombia~ Cowgirls in Jardin

You have got to see and hear this little town of Jardin Colombia to really appreciate our experience.  When we arrived we were immediately enchanted by the colors, the cowboys with their great hats, and the fantastic Colombian coffee.

 

 





  

 




 It was total ‘eye candy’ everywhere; we didn’t think it could get any better until we heard the horses coming down the street. This was not the usual clippity-clop that is often heard from the poor and abused street horses used to haul around tourist in oversized heavy carriages.  This was the precise rhythmic sound of prancing horses. These were the Paso Fino Horses of Colombia and what a show they put on every Saturday night and well into Sunday morning.  The cowboys and cowgirls prance on these magnificent beings from bar to bar where they are plied with shots of aguardiente followed by cervezas. By the end of the evening the far more intelligent and responsible horses take their riders home. 
  




 

The following morning we drank coffee with our new friends exchanging stories that were incomprehensible to each other but no matter, we were all laughing and enjoying ourselves and the ongoing show. Before we knew it we had been offered a chance to ride a Paso Fino Horse around the square, Wow!  I guess if these horses can handle drunk cowboys they can handle a couple of newbie cowgirls! So off we went!