Anniversary Landslide and More Birds

June 20.
A rather auspicious day–our 50th anniversary. Yes, we think it’s a bit amazing, too. I feel so fortunate–blessed–to have gotten into something neither of us could possibly have anticipated or understood fully at the time that turned out so incredibly well. It’s been quite a ride, and, after some deliberation, Carol and I have decided to go for fifty-one.

Now, back to the business at hand. Morning birding was supposed to be on the beautiful Guacamayos ridge trail, but, because the rain will have made the trails extremely muddy and difficult, we change our plans and head to Puembo Birding Garden. It continues to rain and we pass many landslides that have been cleared from the road. There are many groups of men and trucks who patrol the roads to clean up the landslides, much as we would have snow removal crews. From time to time we are delayed by theses landslides as only one lane is cleared. The experience is actually sorta interesting for us, a view of Mother Nature wreaking havoc.  The landscape is covered by clouds, but we get glimpses of how beautiful it would be in the sun. 

        Puembo Birding Garden turns out to be a great choice, far better than trying to schlogg through serious mud. The sun is out–really, really good news, so we shed several layers of clothes. The Garden is run by a dynamo named Mercedes, who spent time in the US at age five, and so speaks perfect English. She and her husband run a small inn, attached to the beautiful gardens and have a business running birding trips around South America. Judging from the time we spent with Mercedes, these trips would be a gas, and staying in their inn would be a pleasure. The garden is a haven to numerous species of birds and we spent about three hours there, eating a delicious lunch (that included a drink that mixed, orange, carrot and pineapple juices that I had three glasses of) and looking at birds. Here are some photos. 

              We drove the hour back to the Gangotena Hotel, chatting with our delightful guide and listening to music. We sign back into the Gangotena and are told, “Welcome home.” I told Carol that I think I want to live in this place. Spectacular in its own tight, the contrast to a place that had no heat, electricity or hot water for a day and a half is, shall we say, dramatic. We have three hours to clean up, relax, repack (I’ve decided that I’m going to figure out a way not to take my large suitcase for the next three days we’ll be away) and do internet and blogging stuff.

Around 7:45, we’ll walk three blocks for an upscale anniversary dinner at La Belle Époque, which I’d asked our travel agent to book for us. I’m going to go ahead and post this now, and report on our dinner tomorrow.