Our meeting about Cerulean and Golden-winged Warblers started on Oct 21st, 2008. The conservation planning part of the meeting took place in Bogota, Colombia. I arrived late on the 19th to participate in a pre-meeting planning session, and then to spend the remainder of the day touring Bogota. The only way we traveled in Bogota was by cab and on foot...you could not have PAID me to drive in that CRAAAAZZZZY traffic!!! 3 painted lines of traffic were easily 5 (and sometimes 7) lanes of moving vehicles!!!! Motorcyles squeezing between cars, taxis squeezing between buses, and CRAZY people on bicycles. I've always been a fan of roller coasters and adventures, but the 'pucker factor' was extremely high whenever we set foot in a cab!!!
Colleagues on their maiden cab voyage. There were 4 gringos and the cab driver stuffed into this cab, and they didn't hold the record for this trip! This was the 19th, and we all went to bird watch in the Botanical Gardens in Bogota.
There were street vendors everywhere in Bogota--selling food, sunglasses, cell minutes (they would hang 8-10 cell phones from a tree or fence and let you buy time!), snacks, etc. There were also a few "artesinas" which were street markets that sold crafts, t-shirts, handmade goods, etc. The most amusing vendor is pictured below though.
Unfortunately, this picture is blurry, but hopefully you get the idea. I snapped this from our cab window as we ran through a red light (yikes!). This guy had pots, pans, hubcabs, utensils, and I think you can see the kitchen sink if you stare long enough. It was all carefully attached to a "trailor" and pulled by a bicycle. Clanged like crazy as he rode down the street!
Once we got the first bit of birding and touring under our belt on the 20th, we started the meeting on the 21st. We met at the headquarters office for the "National Federation of Coffee Growers of Colombia" with the famous 'mascot' known as Juan Valdez! Yes, he does exist. I think the current person that is the official 'Juan Valdez' is actually the 2nd one they've had. Anyway, we had a jam-packed agenda and were treated most graciously by our hosts. The coffee was free all day! But the most impressive drink(s) in Colombia are the fresh juices--there are so many types of fruit down there, and they all make incredible juice. I drank fresh juice at breakfast and lunch every day, and don't think I had the same kind twice!
The three pictures above are from the Juan Valdez headquarters. (top) The podium sports the famous logo with Juan Valdez's likeness, the burro, and the Andes Mountains in the background. (middle) A picture of their beautiful courtyard...it was hard to tell you were in a city of 8-9 million people as you sat out here! (bottom) This series of tubes led you from one building to the next at the headquarters.The meeting itself was great....luckily, there were english-to-spanish and spanish-to-english translators for the presentations, so none of us were totally lost. Personally, I do fine translating text, but I have trouble keeping up with those that speak Spanish as their primary language...they talk FAST!!! The most important thing that came out of this trip was a meeting that me and 3 other U.S. conservationists participated in; we met with the president of the Colombian coffee federation for ~1 hour and talked about developing a coffee-coal partnership to benefit migratory birds that breed in the Appalachians and winter in Colombia. They agreed to help us develop such a partnership, offering staff time, financial support, etc. Very exciting!
Welcome to the Cerulean and Golden-winged Warbler meeting in Colombia!!!
The next part will be titled "Festivus" and will talk about our incredible trip to San Vicente de Chucuri, where the Cerulean Warbler Reserve is located.
