Thursday 29 January

Flew Iberia on leg 1 to Madrid and after a couple of hours left for Bogota some 10 hours away on the new Colombian airline, Avianca. The 10 hours went well enough and the flight was good. David Geale awaited us. Met up with Dave Griffiths who’d arrived 5 hours earlier. By 10pm we’d arrived at the Ibis Hotel in Bogota, met Regine, and after a beer went to our rooms by 11.

 

Friday 30 January

Left at 7.15 for the airport in pleasant sunshine at 2,300m. Our Satena flight due out at 9.50 was delayed until 1.05pm so we spent the time kicking our heels airside. The trip east in a 46 seat propeller job was made through thick cloud and as we came down to land in San Jose de Guaviare in Amazonas a light rain was falling. The terminal was of the cattle-shed variety and Police wrote our personal details into a ledger by hand! We then had to complete a form in a choice of languages – Spanish, French and Portuguese – somewhat disconcerting as none of us knew what we were signing. Our accommodation for the next few days was literally just across the road from the airport, aptly named Hotel Aeropuerto, a small sized establishment but with fitness centre, pool and wi-fi in each room, just a shame it didn’t work! Check-in was quite quick although I had to get one of the cleaners to unblock my revolting toilet, and at 3.30 we piled into a long jeep and drove through San Jose to Lindosa through the rain. Our driver was Gonzalo and the local guide Danielle, a pleasant young guy with limited English. Fortunately, the rain stopped as we arrived though conditions remained overcast. The river here flows over ridged and pitted limestone sheets, very interesting formation. A few butterflies put in an appearance and it was good to get off the mark. Danielle’s keen eye was appreciated particularly for a Heliconid that had landed high up over the path. On returning to the hotel around 5.30 some had coffee and some had beer agreeing to meet at 6.30 for dinner. Around 7.45 the table split-up and I went to my room.

 

Saturday 31 January

Left around 7.30 for the short drive through the town and the stilted wooden cabins to an area known as Buena Vista. In mostly overcast conditions we butterflied across the plank bridge following the path at the edge of the wood and river where several Euthalasia orifa kept us occupied for a while. Rain began to patter on the leaves overhead just after 9am, gathering intensity until we eventually had to return to the truck. It soon eased and we resumed our patrolling until time for a sandwich and banana lunch.

 

Things perked up in the afternoon as sunshine made an appearance. This time we ventured through the inhabited clearing to the accompaniment of a constant chainsaw, stopping for a while as its victim crashed to earth. Despite this, howler monkeys, macaws and various noisy parrots, kingfishers and a toucanette testified to a still rich fauna. At a muddy spot I photo’d a large colourful skipper, initially mistaking it for a moth. The others were unable to locate it. Was ready to return at 4pm as we clambered into the truck, refreshing ourselves at the hotel with a passion fruit juice. Back in my room I managed to get some life from the wi-fi and emailed home. A heavy rainstorm ensued flooding the road edges. Shower, cold, and a shave but managed to smash the glass holder and in bare feet found the fragments. Dinner at 6.30 = actual eating half an hour later and I chose the chicken, bacon, mushrooms and chips as last night. The storm had reduced the temperature such that I needed to put on my Berghaus top! 

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Sunday 1 February

Slept well again and down for the usual breakfast routine at 6.40am. Still very cloudy and wet after last evening’s downpour with huge puddles at the roadside. Quaint milk delivery - motor bike with a large churn either side of the back wheel and milk ladled into customer's jugs. At the police roadblock on the edge of town we were checked out by what looked like 16 year olds with rifles and allowed to continue. Today our drive was fairly lengthy through cattle country to the Laguna Negra area, specifically the Reserva Playa Guio accessed by a short boat ride to the lodge. Several 'prehistoric' birds noisily watched us from the high trees. Butterfly activity was slow so I spent some time roaming the chicken coop and forest edge keeping a wary eye on the large tethered pig that hadn't yet worked out how to lengthen the radius of its rope. Shortening it, no problem! Meanwhile, David had entered the forest spraying shrimp water onto large leaves.

 

Once inside the forest I cautiously crossed the dilapidated wooded plank bridge and photographed some Riodinids until I reached the sugar cane clearing missing a large Caligo that flew up from my feet and disappeared into the trees. Time now to stroll back. Two species of Chorinea had been attracted to the bait and were intent on enjoying it = plenty of photos but it remained generally very quiet. Around 11.15 I got back to the lodge and sat on the steps in the shade, very weary, and wondering if I was beginning to 'feel my age'. Surely not! Hung around until the others arrived for our noon lunch consisting of chicken sandwiches and bananas. After lunch we returned by boat to the truck and I decided to join Pat and John Banks in the vehicle whilst the others walked along the cow-pat track to another location allegedly about one kilometre away. This was a good decision as the distance was actually 4km in the open and in sweltering heat! The track was good for pierids and marpesias enjoying the cow shit and a couple of Kite Swallowtails had also joined the feast. This was pretty poor habitat - cattle pastures where forest had once been and lawns leading down to the Negra lagoon. Apparently, anacondas are not uncommon here. I was pleased to depart at 4pm returning to the hotel some 40 minutes later for the peace and cool of the room ahead of dinner at 6.30pm, etc

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Monday 2 February

A light shower around 4.30am left the ground damp. Usual start to the day. At the police check they decided that they'd like to see our passports today and as none of us had them we needed to return to the hotel to pick them up. Jobsworths! The Estadero Pica-Piedra was our destination this morning, an area of Pre-Cambrian geological formations. Once again, the day got off to a slow start and as Pat, Dave, Adrian and I didn't see where the others had gone we spent some time puzzling things out. Then Les appeared saying that the 'forest was no good' and we'd be wasting our time going there. After a while David Geale came down with news of some good Riodinids - so we went to see! The woods were dodgy underfoot due to roots, boulders, chasms, and slippery rocks and I wasn't trusting the soles of my trainer-boots. At the extent of my walk into the woods I reached a fantastic limestone arch forming a natural bridge, very high, over the river emerging from a cavern way below.

 

In humid and overcast conditions we made it back to the vehicle at noon for lunch and all voted to return to Buena Vista for the afternoon. The weather was hot and sunny but cooler in the forest and although a few nice species were seen, the overall picture was quiet. I found myself musing about my inability to remember the names of very many species and my efforts to learn Spanish seemed to have been a complete waste of time. Dispiriting. Distant thunder rumbled around 4pm as we met up at the truck and the sun had disappeared. A Poker beer back at the hotel, and some laundry handed-in, preceded heavy rain falling for an hour from 5.45. The tiled path alongside the pool was very slippery as I headed to dinner at 6.30.

 

Tuesday 3 February

Got up to a grey, rainy morning. Set off in the rain for the one hour drive to the Experimental Research Station 'El Trueno' at Sinchi, a remnant of protected forest in the Guaviare region. At least 75% of the road was unfinished, being an orange mud track, in places very slippery, as evidenced by the bus that had got its rear wheels down in the camber. We spent all day at this site strolling the rides until 4pm spotting some good species but, once again, numbers were low. On the way back several of us got out of the car to push another vehicle up the hill, getting mucky boots in the process. Dave managed to fall forwards into the orange mud as the car began to get a grip!

 

Back at the hotel I was puzzled by lots of bites around my ankles, underneath two layers of socks and my ankle-high boots. No culprits were evident and, uniquely for me, I was reacting to them. 

 

Wednesday 4 February

We'd packed pre-breakfast and whilst the Banks stayed in the hotel the rest of us made a final visit to Buena Vista. Danielle popped in at breakfast to say goodbye (i.e. pick up his tip). This turned out to be the best morning of sunshine so far as we spent a couple of hours on the track making two sorties to the 'muddy patch', and back. I'm sure Les and I saw Philaethria dido flying high above us but as it never came down I guess we'll never know for sure. Back at the hotel we said our thanks and goodbyes to our excellent driver and good egg Gonzalo, showered and changed, then walked across to the airport to check-in for the internal Satena flight to Bogota. The check-in desk was basic requiring each of us to open our suitcases for inspection before they were despatched: the old scales with the sliding weight bar weren't put to use, sadly. Once the gate had been opened we experienced a novel security system - an officer let us enter singly to attend the desk where another official handwrote our personal/passport details into a ledger and took a cursory peep inside my rucksack.

 

Our 40 seater propeller-job left on time at 11.30am for Bogota flying over many ox-bow formations below before beginning the ascent to our destination. Our descent into the vastness of Bogota was over huge, extensive glasshouses mostly growing flowers - roses etc - for export to the USA. The city lies on a high altitude plain fringed by higher mountains. The arrival airport is big and modern where we queued for lunch at the excellent 'Crepe and Waffle' restaurant. Around 2.30 we located Hernando, our minibus driver, for the journey east to Santa Maria taking a good hour to escape from Bogota's traffic. The vegetation became very dry as we headed down the mountainside - reminiscent of Mike's Mexico trip in 2009 - and in due course we stopped for a coffee at Listo el Pollo, a roast chicken roadside restaurant. Here I also bought a bag of plums to share with the others. As darkness fell, the road deteriorated presenting a real challenge for our driver (and us) and long tunnels became frequent. The road was also now noticeably wet.

 

Eventually we reached our next hotel, La Esmeralda, at 7pm after 4 hours on the road, a bungalow complex with fairly basic accommodation. The restaurant was closed for refurbishing but David quickly located one very close by in the town. Tough beef and chips was the only available choice, so we had that, washed down with mango juice. Back in our foyer Regine and I enjoyed a beer each, courtesy of my fridge, as she didn't have one! Applied creams to my bites and knuckle and was in bed by 9.15pm.

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Thursday 5 February

Cockerels sounded reveille at 5am and I got up at 6. Breakfast was taken at 7am in the nearby town restaurant, and superb it was too! Bowl of fruit, 2 fried eggs, mango juice and coffee. A pleasant start to the day, and several attractive birds seen in the grounds.

 

We met our new local guide, Adrienne, a birder with little or no English, sporting a Borussia Dortmund shirt, then drove a short way south from the hotel down to the Rio Cristalino, crossed the temporary wooden bridge, and continued for another 10 minutes max. A path led down through a grassy field towards the river below and initially things were exciting with some nice hairstreaks and a long-tailed chorinea-like Riodinid. But activity then slowed  such that we decided to go back up to the vehicle for an early lunch, even though it was hot and sunny, and then return to the temporary bridge. Being so close to town, we were not in any kind of decent forest and the whole day felt disappointing. We used the vehicle to drive back up the hill to the hotel, arriving by 3.15pm for a shave and a shower. At 5pm we were due to meet some guy from the hydro company whose private grounds we'd be visiting tomorrow, but when he didn't show we went to the nearby bar until dinner a couple of doors away at 6.30. He showed at 7.30 but only talked to David, arranging to see us on Saturday to let us enter through the locked gates.

 

Friday 6 February

Another short drive today, about 15 minutes max, to an area within the hydro catchment forest, a lovely habitat containing some lovely stuff, top of the pile being an Agrias claudina showing its upperside whilst imbibing shrimp bait. A Memphis was similarly obliging. Around midday activity ceased and I reckoned we'd only had sun for about 35% of the time. Another feature of the morning had been the large wasp nest, football-size, on which the entire surface was clothed with adults arranged in military ranks.

 

Got back to the hotel at 3.15 and I opted not to accompany Adrian, Dave and Les down to the river. Met at the bar at 6pm, enjoyed a couple of Club Colombia beers, tucked into beef, beans and chips at the restaurant, and was back in my room at 7.30! Photos again, then lay on the bed to watch the second half of River Plate v San Lorenzo (1-0) on the wall-mounted TV - pretty rough match!

 

Saturday 7 February

Drove up through the town under a very overcast sky before bumping down a concrete road to the river, stopping where a pedestrian suspension bridge was the only way ahead. The habitat was pretty degraded, not good at all, though we saw a couple of decent skippers attracted to cow pats. Adrienne hasn't got the hang of butterfly habitat/locations yet. Much of the vegetation either side of the path had been cleared for cattle grazing. Back at the bridge a Callicore pitheas showed up and excited us all, lifting the mood. We pushed on back up to the top road and continued to a military base where we were allowed through the gates to stroll the track beyond. But this was, by definition, hardly pristine. The sun was hot on the occasions when it broke through.

 

After lunch we all agreed to go back to the Rio Cristalino crossing down from the hotel but this was also disappointing, mainly due to lack of sun (and too many people, including kids in the river and folks washing their motorbikes etc). I took my leave of the others and walked back to the hotel arriving about 3pm, then whiled away some time looking at my shots, watched some Harry Potter and soccer on the TV until 5pm when we gathered for a couple of beers pre-dinner. Usual routine. The restaurant owner/head lady had bought us some fish for a change of diet and made a special shrimp sauce, and very good it was too. 

 

Sunday 8 February

Rain during the night resulted in a grey start. A mere 10 minutes out of town we entered through the guarded gates of the hydro plant into lovely riverside habitat, protected from development and incursions. Kind of ironic that such a major engineering project would also protect rich forest. Rain began to fall around 10am and we had to return to the vehicle. The rest of the morning was a series of 'in' then 'out' and early sandwiches. More drizzle. Got out again at 2pm, but not for long. Shame. But we had picked up an interesting Euselasia and three nice pierids.

 

Departed at 4pm, rooms 15 minutes later, shower, beers at 5.45, dinner, and to round things off Adrian and I went back to the bar and had a Club Colombia Negra 'para el camino'.

 

Monday 9 February

Today would be a long transit day. Packed before breakfast at 7 and an hour later our journey started. Our first pit stop was at Listo el Pollo again and then a long haul to the outskirts of Bogota for lunch: I ordered trout which took an age to arrive, so meanwhile a few of us patrolled the nearby railway line in pursuit of an orange-tipped Colias and also a Pyrgus skipper.

 

We reached the airport at 2pm and I said a few words of thanks in Spanish to Hernando before giving him our whip-round. Luckily we were able to get the earlier (3.45) flight to Pereira only to discover that it had been delayed due to bad weather! In the end we departed a few minutes earlier than our original booking arriving in an overcast Pereira at 6.10pm in a 27° temp. The Hotel San Fermin lay deep in the city centre and our two drivers' local knowledge of the one-way system was essential. A nearby restaurant provided dinner and by 10pm I was in bed. My room faced the street, noisy and busy until the small hours, with no sound diffusion. 

 

Tuesday 10 February

Getting up at 4am wasn't as difficult as I'd imagined and a good shower helped me wake up. Coffee and biscuits in reception was welcome, and unexpected. At 4.45 we set off in the dark and rain in two very smart 4x4s, mine being a Hilux 3 litre, driven by Cesar who fancied himself on the F1 circuit. Through deserted streets we made good progress out of the city, passing many landslips and road repairs into Pueblo Rica where we waited for the other car to catch-up. In another 40 minutes we'd be at Montezuma in the Tatama National Park arriving in low cloud and light rain at 8am after 3¼ hours on the road.

 

A nice breakfast and warm welcome awaited us from Lea and her family. The weather began to clear as Adrian and I walked separately up to the bridge at La Clarita but not until I'd made a brilliant spot (even though I say it myself) of an Anteros resting underneath a low leaf - how I saw it, goodness knows! It was good to be back here, even if the butterflying was quiet. Lunch was taken back at the lodge at 1pm as light rain fell. Afterwards, we set off for the nearer Rio Claro but didn't get very far as the rain deterred us. By 3pm the afternoon was over. So we sat around the table drinking coffee, looking at photos and hummingbirds, until Pablo turned up around 4.30 with a bunch of British birders. They are a strange lot, immediately training their lenses on the hummingbirds and watching them intently for ages as if they'd never seen them before.

 

My luke warm shower was OK as rain pattered on the tin roof through dinner as well, and some moths came to the ordinary lights. I think I'll flog my Pentax and Sigma lens on e-bay as it had real difficulty focusing and the 'hunting' process was a real pain. The rain was hammering on my roof as I hit the sack at 8.30.

 

Wednesday 11 February

Woke to the sound of the river, like constant wind through trees, and got dressed at 6 ahead of a 6.30 breakfast. The sky was clear, the ground dry, and the air full of birdsong. Walked with Regine up to La Clarita whilst the others went in the vehicles and although it was still early, and therefore quiet, the exercise was good! A group of army guys had been camping at La Clarita and were still milling about with their various armaments when I arrived. I continued up for another 400m or so but there was little 'doing'. Les and I decided to head back on foot to the lodge and arrived at 1pm just as the others showed up in the cars. The morning had been disappointing with little sun.

 

After lunch I strolled back to Rio Claro with the same outcome - a strange absence of variety and volume. David maintained that there is little seasonality at Montezuma but our experience this time was very different to August 2013. I felt that I am beginning to close the chapter on Latin America now, and mentally swinging towards the journey home in 4 days time….

 

Dinner was convivial, and good, as usual; a few moths got photographed along with a suicidal rhinoceros beetle. 

 

Thursday 12 February

We convened for an earlier breakfast at 6am in anticipation of taking the cars to the wireless station summit at 2,500m, just above the tree line. The morning looked promising. It took 75 minutes for the cars to cover 13km up the rough track and we arrived in low swirling cloud. A few Satyrs greeted us but conditions weren't ideal being cool and quite breezy. We walked down the track, the vehicles catching us up from time to time. Eventually they moved ahead and we continued to walk down to where they'd be parked. This coincided with some warm sunshine and several butterflies, some of them new to me. Then the low cloud rolled in again and spoilt things.

 

Lunch was brought up to us by motorbike and taken at one of the birding stations, the Bosque de Niebla, at 2,000m. Not much was happening in the subdued conditions. The next stop was at a sunless La Clarita and even David's bait wasn't working! I followed Les on foot back to Montezuma. But we did have an enjoyable finale to the afternoon - a Eurytides columbus was disturbed from its trackside drink completely unseen by us before it flew. We cursed the fact we'd missed it. Then we set up another two, again perfectly camouflaged. And, unbelievably, there go another two from under our noses!!! Fortunately one of them returned to drink and we got our shots - but look, there's another, wings open! A total of 6 individuals had been taking minerals within a 20m stretch of trackside run-off. Back at the lodge we had coffee, then a shower, dinner, and drew lots for the remaining two beers for which I was out of luck. But the winners split their cans so we all had a taste.

 

Friday 13 February

A bit of rain had tapped on my roof during the night, but not much, and we awoke to pretty much a clear blue sky for the first time on this trip. At 7.30 I walked alone up to La Clarita behind David who'd been spraying from the Rio Claro bridge. Rio Claro doesn't see the sun until around 10am when it peers over the ridge so my walk was more for the exercise, as usual. It took me an hour to reach the others and another hour for the sun to break through, and when it did the butterfly activity was good. There were Adelphas, a Yanguna, Euselasias and others including the attractive Riodinid, Menander pretus, but the star of the day was a Consul panariste attracted to one of David's leaves and intent on staying there - it even sat with open wings for a time - what a sensational butterfly! My lunch was waiting for me in one of the cars at the Rio Claro bridge after which I strolled back to base with Les, latterly to be joined by Regine, reaching there by 3.15. It was now overcast and had been for a while and light rain had begun to fall. A power cut meant a delay in showering but normality returned around 6pm just as the light was fading.

 

After dinner Adrian presented Lea and her staff with the proceeds of a generous whip-round and we sorted out our individual beer bills (somehow) with David. Packed my suitcase, all in all a pretty decent day, especially for a Friday 13th!

 

Saturday 14 February

Usual start to the day under a blue sky although it would be cut short at midday to begin the long trek home. This was a repeat of yesterday except a faint shadow preceded me up to La Clarita indicating decent sun. Definitely more UV was coming through even though the sun was not yet hot. For some of the way I chatted to a young biology research student who was studying some bird nesting behaviours in a specific area beyond La Clarita and she made the walk every day, good for muscle tone she said. Butterflying was steady. At 10.30 Les and I began the return leg, once again to be joined by Regine who had been ahead of us. We'd been sunless since 11.15. A sandwich awaited us, and then I finished my packing as the #2 dog curled up on my bedroom floor blocking the exit - I reckoned it knew we were going and just wanted to show its disappointment. It remained on the floor as I stepped over it, first with my rucksack and again with the suitcase. We said our farewells to the team and at 1pm set off for Pereira and an evening flight to Bogota.

 

A couple of landslips were being cleared by JCBs which caused us to wait but we were still making good time and on the outskirts of the city we pulled in to 'Bonny Mix' for a delicious ice-cream. They do a soft scoop vanilla with a ladle of a wide variety of toppings - I chose fresh passionfruit and it was excellent. Local knowledge is essential to find the airport, which we duly reached at 4.45pm some 2½ hours before departure. Our Avianca flight left on time for the short 35 minute hop across to Bogota, a large plane with only 30 passengers aboard. A thunderstorm was flashing away to the north and for a while I thought we might be in for an interesting time.

 

The Ibis Hotel, with its superb showers, would be home for us tonight and although it was getting late we met for a meal and a beer, my Club Sandwich being very acceptable. Before going to bed I checked in for tomorrow's flight on my laptop.

 

Sunday 15 February

The noisy disco immediately across the road from my room kept banging away until 3am, keeping me awake or near the surface throughout. But I was awake at 6am, as usual, so went down to print off my boarding passes on the hotel's computer in the wi-fi area. We met for breakfast at 8.30 and tucked in to a good and varied buffet spread. The minibus came for us at 11am. Sunday in Bogota is 'everybody get out and cycle/jog/walk day' and for mile after mile the roads were thronged - quite fantastic spectacle! Bus lanes had been closed and given over to the people.

 

The Avianca check-in process was excellent and we were quickly airside. Not being very hungry I opted for a Burger King kiddie's meal, and then window-shopped for Charlie's 3 ahead of the 2.30pm departure for Madrid. Leg room was poor so I didn't get much sleep on the 8½ hour flight and then had to walk miles and catch a train to another terminal.

 

By now it was early morning and our Iberia flight was on time into Heathrow despite having to make 4 loops before landing - this annoys the hell out of me! We touched down at 9.50am, went straight through a deserted immigration area, picked up my suitcase quickly, collected the car at the Meet & Greet, and reached home at 11.10, a mere 1 hour 20 minutes from landing - amazing!

 

Back to reality on a cold, grey, February day.

 

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