We wake up early for our horse ride. I am on Arrocera. She is 10 years but still has plenty of energy. We stop at a small water hole, where Wilmar, our guide, goes for a dip and we run into some fellow tourists from Japan and England.
Wilmer takes a dipWe continue on to an Ostrich farm. In the wild, there are eight females for every male. I ask what happens to the other males. Apparently, when males meet, they fight to the death. The survivor is the Alpha male.
Funny looking birdThe alpha male chooses the alpha female. He chooses her after she dances for him.
Alejandro feeds the ostrichAlejandro feeds one of the females. They are bizarre looking creatures. When they attack, they use their feet and they kick really hard. “Hard enough to kill a lion,” Sanda tells us. They also can run up to 40 km per hour.
Stray dogs in townWe ride back to town, pack up and check out. I realize that we never gave them our passports or credit card when we checked in. Alejandro had to hunt down the parking lot attendant to pay him. People seem to be very honest here. I feel safe in this town, where there are unarmed policemen on every block whose purpose seems to be giving directions, rather than patroling.
After a snack at Pasteleria Francesa, a french bakery in town, we hit the road. We take a shortcut on the way back to avoid driving through Tunja, the capital of Boyaca where there is traffic and little to see.
The selection at Pasteria FrancesaWe weave around the mountains on a small country road. We are at a very high altitude, in the clouds.
Alejandro weaves around the mountains
About three kilometers away from the main road back to Bogota, we hit a road block. There is a line of cars and trucks, standing idly. We wait a few minutes and decide to see what is going on. Apparently they are fixing a portion of the road. It’s unclear how long we will have to wait, but the alternative route will take us back to where we came from and an extra hour. Alejandro reminds me that we are in a third world country. It is very easy to forget. Colombia feels very developed.
A road block we hitI look on google maps and see a road that could get us to the road to Bogota. We check it out and it’s a one lane dirt road. Bad idea. We get back in line at the road block. I pull out my Spanish book and practice lecion número cinque. After thirty minutes we start moving.
The back road we tried to take to avoid waiting endlessly for the road block to clearWe can’t come back into Bogota until after 8pm tonight because of a rule called Pico y Placa. Two days a week, you can’t use your car between 7am and 8pm in Bogota. The days you’re restricted on depend on the last digit of your license plate and today is one of the days that Alejandro’s car is restricted. They have this rule to deal with the severe traffic problem in Bogota. The timing works out well though and we cross into Bogota at 8pm.
Alejandro has been a great host. I am so thankful to him for showing me a beautiful part of Colombia.
He drops me off at the JW Marriott, where I plan my trip to Buenos Aires. I leave on Saturday morning. See more pictures.
Thursday, March 3, 2011
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