Popayan, Columbia

I can't say that I was particularly enamored with Popayan. It is known as 'the white city' because it is just that, white. I am in love with color. This is a Colonial city with very plain architecture, red tiled roofing and paved streets. Some of the balconies are nice but, to me, just another city. It was much more fun under the streetlights with a good camera. I wandered, peeked into churches and drew some pictures on the Parque Calore. In the afternoon, I hiked up the hill to an overlook with a hero-on-a-horse statue and ran into Niko taking photos. Perched on the statue was a beautiful bright yellow bird. I saw a huge black bird in a tree near the university and an unusual black-white-brown one on the path to the statue. Otherwise, there are plenty of pigeons perched on the church in the square. I am not seeing the bird-life that I expected in this country. There was a demonstration in the square, a very short march with two banners carried by a small crowd of enthusiastic college-aged participants and, against the wall, a long row of police with riot shields. It happened, few paid attention, and it ended and was immediately forgotten. The most exciting part of my Popayan visit was leaving it. Our short bus careened along high ridge roads, through beautiful spring-green grasslands where I saw a couple long-drop waterfalls. Next was a high rain forest, not an incredibly tall canopy full of chattering monkeys, but a lower, dense growth of plants that you don't see every day. There were clusters of deep red trumpet flowers, large, bright yellow daisy-shaped flowered trees, huge dagger-type grasses, elephant ears, ferns, fern, and more ferns, huge ones. There are no people living here. When I looked out the other side of the bus it was all dense clouds. It’s a good thing because that sheer drop can be very scary at high speed on a rutted dirt road. Miles later, we dropped down into cropland of coffee and sugarcane. In a village alongside a river we were transferred to the back of a pickup truck filled with people, huge sacks of oranges and with a bunch of bananas tied on top. Onward to San Augustin.

Mountain bus stop on a drizzly day.

So close to the edge!

Another good traveling companion.