SFF Iguaque

In the north of Boyacá Department, near to the tourist town of Villa de Leyva is the Flora and Fauna Sanctuary of Iguaque (SFF Iguaque in Spanish) a protected area of forest and paramo in the eastern cordillera of the Andes mountains. Having been to the area last year, we decided to stay in the wooden cabins in the reserve.

After parking lower down and a steep 15 minute walk, there are several large and well-maintained cabins with 6 or 8 bunk beds and bathrooms. It's not often fully occupied and you might get a cabin to yourself, but it's not guaranteed. The food is very good, but at around 2900m up, it does get very cold at night and, as they did not light the fire in the restaurant cabin, the only option was to get warm under the many blankets in the bunkrooms. The accommodation costs around 38,000 pesos per night per person (around 13 GBP). They also charge for parking and entry to the park - extra if you are a foreigner!

The forest is large and there are plenty of birds. We were very lucky to find a nest of Chestnut-breasted Chlorophonia (Chlorophonia pyrrhophys), given away by the noise of the chicks begging for food. These are beautiful but not common birds and this area is not in their range according to  Cornell Neotropical Birds. However, many birds are under-recorded in Colombia and are more widespread than books or other sources will suggest. I managed a few shots of the male at the nest, but sadly the poor light and my shoddy camera work did not do their fantastic colours justice. Google an image and you'll see what I mean.

I was also very pleased to see a new hummingbird for me, the Amethyst-throated Sunangel (Heliangelus amethysticollis). This little gem was very close, but we didn't have the camera. When the light catches its gorget, the throat-patch, you can really appreciate the amethyst colour. There were lots of other highland hummingbirds around , but you need patience to get to see them well.

Andean Guan (Penelope montagnii) are common and easy to see here, but these were new to me. Other new birds included Blue-and-black Tanager (Tangara vassorii), Black-banded Woodcreeper (Dendrocolaptes picumnus) and Black-crested Warbler (Basileuterus nigrocristatus). Photographing them in the forest is a challenge though! At night I could hear several distant White-throated Screech Owls (Megascops albogularis), but little chance to see them.

Most people stay only one night at SFF Iguaque in order to make an early start for a hike up to the Laguna de Iguaque, and small mountain lake in the paramo at around 3700m - around 12,000 feet. The hike is only around 4 km, but fairly rough and steep.

Climbing up at this altitude you can feel the thinner air and your heart pounds readily. I guess those that live at higher altitudes like in Bogotá or around Boyacá are better adapted than us! It is best to take plenty of warm clothes and sun-block too.

The lake is very picturesque. There are 6 or 7 other lakes in the area which can, apparently be hiked in a single day, but you'd need to be in good shape to do that. I didn't see much of the birdlife higher up - only Black-chested Buzzard-eagles (Geranoaetus melanoleucus) and a few others I'd seen before. The local name is Paramo Eagle which is apposite. The views from here were spectacular in between the clouds. The only slight problem was that Elena slipped and rolled on the rocks on the way down, but luckily with no serious injury and we got down OK.

As the first night was very clear and dark, I got an amazing view of the stars from the cabins. It reminded me how impoverished is the night sky in Britain.

Coast

We spent a fantastic week of holidays up on the Caribbean coast of Colombia; Cartagena, Parque Tayrona and the Santa Marta Mountains. The drive from Bucaramanga to Cartagena is very long and hot; about 12 hours, mostly around 30C, and although some of the roadside towns aren't very attractive, the countryside is really pleasant.

Cartagena de Indias is a large city with several faces; the old city, the modern skyscrapers lining the shore, and a busy commercial area inland. The walled old city is a UNESCO world heritage centre and you can see why it's popular with cruise ship visitors. There are plenty of hotels, restaurants and cafés, and most of the old buildings restored to good condition in bright colours. We visited the museum in the Casa de la Inquisición, which upstairs had some excellent displays explaining of the history of the original (exterminated) indigenous inhabitants, the slave trade, as well the colonial Spanish aspects of the city and it's fight for independence.

We also visited the iconic Castillo de San Felipe de Barajas fortress which overlooks the city. The statue is of Don Blas de Lezo, who looks like a classic peg-leg pirate, but was in fact the Spanish Admiral and governor of the city who led the successful defense against the major British attack on the in 1741. The city was well fortified and the British fleet, led by Admiral Vernon suffered a crushing defeat, despite their overwhelming force.

We then drove along the coast past Barranquilla, through the narrow strip of land between the sea and the huge Cienaga (Swamp) of Santa Marta, to the entrance of the beautiful Tayrona National Park. The park is situated on the coast and just below the Santa Marta mountains, and has fantastic sandy beaches as well as protecting coastal forests. Parking at Cañaveral, we walked about 1 hour to Arecifes where we rented comfortable hammocks for the night at about 5 pounds each. They had no mosquito nets, but fortunately I brought my own, so no bites at all for a change. Some of the parks facilities leave something to be desired, but it was well worth it. There were plenty of people on the path into the park, but they spread out, so it didn't feel crowded.


We took a great morning swim in the warm sea at "La Piscina" a beach where it's safe to swim & snorkel because of the surrounding reef. Other beaches have strong rip-tides and many people have drowned. It was a shame we only had 1 day in the park.

From Tayrona, we drove a short while to the small town of Minca, about 650m up in the Santa Marta mountains and about 15km from the city of Santa Marta. The town has a fresher climate than the coast, is surrounded by forests and small shade-coffee plantations and is making big efforts to become a major eco-tourism centre with reasonable quality accommodation, and good food. It has a friendly feel and is very peaceful compared to the big cities. It also has a several great waterfalls to visit. 

Driving up from Minca to the El Dorado bird reserve higher up in the mountains is an experience in itself; the road is the roughest I´ve ever driven, but our little 4x4 made it. The reserve lodge was very nice, with great food, but we missed out on any views of the mountains because of cloud and rain. We walked up towards the San Lorenzo ridge, but didn't have time to make it to the top. From there, if you are very lucky with the clouds, you can see Pico Bolivar and Pico Colon, the highest points in Colombia at around 5800m, covered with year-round snow. It was a great experience to visit the mountains, and again I wish we'd had more time there, though the weather was not always good. Apparently Dec-Feb is the best time to visit, with much more chance of clear, dry weather, but with global warming, Colombia's climate is much less predictable.

Of course the trip was great for animals and birds, and I'll put some pictures of those in the next blog entry.