COLOMBIA: TINAMU TO TATAMA NATIONAL PARK AND MONTEZUMA ECO-LODGE, PART I

 March 20, 2023    

Our driver arrived at 6:30 AM and we were ready to go, but our guide from the previous day offered to buy breakfast for us and our driver Mario, so we stayed for the overcooked fried eggs, another tough arepa, and a roll, and then we got on the road at 7:00 AM. 

We were in a much bigger vehicle than the one that brought us to Tinamú, a van with four rows of seats. Bob was in front, I was on the second row, and Sav sat on the elevated back row. The beginning of the drive leaving Tinamú on the one-lane dirt road was rough riding, but eventually we got to a divided highway, tough it had way too many hairpin turns. After we passed through the large city of Pereira (which we had flown into from Bogotá two days before), the road eventually became even rougher and narrower, but the scenery, at least was spectacular.

I slept for at least an hour, maybe two, of the 3.25 hour drive as my protection against motion sickness, but I woke up occasionally to look out the window. Bob said I missed a fabulous section of terraced farmland where coffee plants were growing. Savannah also drifted off to sleep occasionally.

By the way, our drive Mario looked just like Savannah's other grandfather (also named Bob). She and I made that connection independently. 

There were quite a few sections of the road where the right shoulder was partially or wholly washed away by mud and/or rock slides from the towering cliffs on our left. At least once there was a large boulder in the road that Mario could barely get around.

We eventually made it to the town of Pueblo Rico. Mario said the "Rico" part didn't refer to the town, which was very poor, but rather to the setting. I was surprised to discover when I was writing this post that it has a population of over 14,000, and many of the residents are indigenous people.

We got out of the car and bought a few Cokes before transferring our luggage to a 4x4 truck for the last part of the drive.

The final section of road to Tatamá National Park, our next destination, was mud and rocks and streams. Only a 4x4 and an expert driver could navigate that road. It took us about 40 minutes to reach the lodge from Pueblo Rico.

Should you trust the skills of a driver who has a doggy wrap on his stick shift? We had no choice. At this point in the trip, we were so far away from civilization that he could have taken us anywhere, or beat us up and left us at the side of the road, or held us for ransom. It turns out that he was a nice guy and a pretty amazing driver.

View out my window.

It's a little hard to see, but yes, that is a man and a horse blocking our way.

Here comes a river to ford.

Yay! This rocky river had a bridge!

We finally arrived! The Montezuma Rainforest Reserve and Eco-lodge (where we would be staying) are part of Tatamá National Natural Park.

Like the Tinamú Reserve, the Montezuma Eco-Lodge has plenty of see and nectar out to attract the birds, but at Montezuma it is right next to the eating area in the lodge (see photo above).

That meant we had a great view of the feeders. We couldn't have had better seats for the show.

We followed our luggage up to our room, a five-minute walk from the lodge. It was fairly large and had all the basics but nothing fancy. This was just OUR room. Savannah got her very own room next to ours.

Some of the walls weren't really walls--just plastic-covered lattice with curtains inside for privacy..

This Indian mallow plant was just outside our door. It has exotic red-veined, tangerine colored flowers.

This beauty, a close cousin to the flower above, was not very far away. It is the Brazilian bellflower.

This was on our veranda. At first we weren't sure what it was, but then we figured it was there to keep all the moths and other flying bugs away from our door. In the evening, however, when the grounds people put a light behind it, we realized it was there to attract flying things so that we could look at and appreciate them.

The variety of moths and other flying things was phenomenal.

Our granddaughter, who is not squeamish about bugs in the slightest, was really into the moths.

 After unloading our stuff and admiring Savannah's courage, we returned to the lodge for a delicious lunch of white bean soup, chicken and vegetable hash, sweet potatoes, a chunk of avocado, and rice. Bob thought it was one of the best meals ve had eaten in Colombia. I would go that far, but in was better than any meal we had eaten at Tinamú.

After lunch we went on a long walk with our guide Fernando, a likable fellow who spoke very little English. For the most part, I did okay as the translator for him and Bob, but it is certainly helpful to have internet and a birding app access.

It was hot and sunny and we did not see many birds, but we saw lots of butterflies and the jungle/rainforest itself was really beautiful. 

The leaf-cutter ants has plenty of work to do in this tropical forest, but luckily we found an umbrella that had not yet chewed up.

Yes, that brown "leaf" below right is actually a butterfly.

After a couple of hours, Sav and I decided to go back, leaving Bob and Fernando to enjoy a more leisurely return. We stopped to appreciate the hummingbirds swarming the feeders at the lodge. Colombia has 360 species of hummingbirds, the most species of an country in the world. Seventeen of those species can only be found in Colombia.

When we got back to the lodge, we spotted a black and white bird we hadn't seen before perched on a branch near the lodge.

We were surprised when it flew up to one of the posts on the balcony railing.

Then we saw it hopping down the stairs like it owned the place.

Well, it pretty much did. Read on.

Later, we returned to the lodge and found Bob talking with one of the owners of the place. She told us the property was originally a family farm, but then they had the idea to add the birding/eco-lodge piece. They are on the third generation now, and many of the cousins work there in various capacities.

As she was walking, I noticed the black and white bird again. It turns out it is her pet! It is a black-chested jay that she has raised since it hatched three years ago. She named it Pojito, and it pretty much flies wherever it wants to, but interestingly, where it wants to fly is just around the lodge. During the night it sleeps in her room so it is safe from predators, such as other more aggressive birds. It can say its own name!

Jays are organized in families, and this bird's family tried to claim it when it was young. It would be gone with them three to four hours a day, but then it began to pull out its own feathers, which really limited the distance it could fly, so now it seems happy to just stay at the house. Bob tried to touch it, and it got pretty upset, but it will land on its owners hand or shoulder like a parrot.

While we were chatting, I noticed a critter crossing the road. Bob says it is an agouti.

Dinner was just as good as lunch had been. We had squash soup followed by roast beef in a great sauce, a salad, a potato, and rice. We had blackberry-grape juice that was fantastic and a little square of chocolate for dessert.

We hung around the lodge until it started to get dark, then walked up to our rooms. The staff had moved the moth net closer to the road and further from our doors. It was a National Geographic experience to see the thousands of moths and other bugs sitting on the cloth. So many varieties!