To walk in Manizales is to climb or descend. The only exeption to this is walking the main street, Carrera 23, which runs the entire ridge that the town in situated on. The ridge is narrow, and drops off steeply to either side, so much so that some of the streets connecting barrios on opposite sides of the ridge travel under it by means of tunnels or are bridged by viaducts.
I was heading for Ecoparque Los Yarumos in hopes of some views of the city and perhaps a few birds as well. There is a cable car to the park, but it is closed for some long term maintainence. To get there, I descended the ridge to the North and then began to climb up the steep hill to the Parque. I arrived to find the park seemingly deserted. There was no one at the first ticket office. At the next gate was met by a smiling senorita. When I explained that I wanted to look for birds, albeit in broken Spanish, she called for a Ferguson and I was soon in the capable hands of Jorge, who was to be my guide.
WIthout benefit of English, Jorge showed me around the grounds, including the zip line and wire rope bridge through the canopy. We saved that part of the excursion for later. Jorge led me through some of the paths in the canopy cloud forest. The first thing I learned was what not to touch. A very common tree in the cloud forest is a species of Manzanitas which is extremely toxic. The bark contains some nasty poison that adheres to the skin if one touches the tree. From Jorge's description, the reaction of the human body to these toxins is a very very nasty rash with lots of itching. This type of manzanitas can be identified by the horizontal bumps on the bark. Since I plan on more explorations in this ecosystem, I took careful note and a photo.
Don't touch this one!
There were lots of birds moving about in the canopy, but I could not get any clear views. Jorge showed me a small clearing with a large rock near the trail. Around the rock was a collection of the broken shards of what were once large snail shells. This was a feeding spot of the baranquilla, an amazing bird that I have yet to lay eyes on. The baranquilla snatch the snails from wherever they find them and then bring them to the rock to crack them open. Clever birds.
Enough of sedentary bird watching, time for some more adrenaline based fun. We tromped back to the Parque building and I was assigned a new Ferguson, the zipline expert. The zipline was well over 200 meters long, crossing a deep gully carved by a stream. I strapped on a harness and off we went. My Ferguson knew exactly what he was doing, the gear looked good, and they used a double pulley system with two points of attachment for redundancy. All of the gear was familiar to me so I felt great about flying over the canopy. Once rigged, I stepped off the launch platform and away I flew. This was a fast line and I was zooming through and over the treetops, gaining speed the whole time. I slammed into the airbag at the end of the run with a lot less force than I had anticipated. Nice setup!
The route back was a three wire bridge with an overhead safety wire. Easey-peasey. Rigged up, we clambered our way back across the gully.
The view looking down.
Midpoint photo shoot. My Ferguson was a lot more cordial than he looks.
The only dissappointment in the Parque was a section of trails that had been closed off due to landslides. This is a regular occurrence here during the rainy season. I did get to spot a great little bird that looked like a North American song sparrow except that it had a cardinal-type crest. I have tried to look it up but with no luck. Google tells me that Colombia only has one sparrow, the house sparrow, and that is definately not what I saw. Further research required I suppose. I did get some great views of the city, along with the rain clouds that would play a part later in the day.
The Zona Rosa area of Manizales
Looking towards El Cento the historic district.
Back down the hill I trudged and then back up the ridge to town. It was time for two things: lunch and coffee. I found a row of street cafes, was quickly taken in hand by a very energetic waiter, and soon I was tucking into a min-paisa platillo. If this was the mini-, I am not sure I am ready for the real thing.
Busy lunch time cafes along Carrera 23, also know Avenida Santander.
The mini-paisa. This will set you right for the rest of the day.
Cleaning my plate and downing a second limonada, I did not think I would need to eat again for a week. I did need coffee and in this town that is not a problem. I found a great little espresso joint and enjoyed a lovely machiatto. Ready for more walkies, it was time to head down Carrera 23 to the historic district.
The clouds were close and low now, and the first few drops of rain were pattering down. Unlike Seattle, I have found that a few drops of rain in Colombia are usually a clear sign to take cover and to do so quickly. Unfortunately, I was a good ways from anything that looked like shelter. Being a proud Northwesterner, I do not run in the rain. I probably should have. 100 meters from a large, promising looking storefront, the deluge opened up. This is not Cartagena or Panama and the rain is definitely not warm. Pretty close to soaked, I joined the growing club of Colombians taking shelter. It was a good long wait for a break in the flood, but patience is born of necessity.
Temporary delay of game due to flooding. Some new members of the club were heading our way.
Back out on the streets, it was still drizzling a bit. In the shops lining the old city, I made a purchase that would make me blush in Seattle: I bought a bumbershoot. Hell, most Colombians carry one, so when in Rome. It was a good use of eight bucks.
Don't tell the folks back home, k?
Having walked my ass off, I was not giving up without seeing the Basilica (every town's got one) and the Parque de Bolivar (ditto). Manizales boasts a statue of Bolivar that is unlike any other in Colombia. It is a modern sculpture which depicts the Great Liberator as a Condor. Even in the rain it was quite stunning.
Enough being enough and having walked a good few miles, I headed back towards TuCasa. The rain let up and I was entertained by the usual bustle of the rush hour shenanigans. Buses, Taxis and two-stroke scooters dashed about through the puddles, splashing pedestrians while the wet air pressed the exhaust fumes down to ground level. I finished off the day with a very, very fine Cuban cigar smoked on the back steps of the hostel.
A Partagas Serie D No. 4 This is one of my two or three favorite Habanos in the world
I have enjoyed Manizales. Tomorrow I am going to shock my system once again be heading South to Cali. More importantly, I will be heading down to Cali, way down. The foreseeable weather forcast for Cali is 88 degrees everyday with a chance of thunderstorms every day. Cali, me amigos y amigas, is famous for one thing: Salsa!! Salsa is hot and so is Cali.
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