2016 Aug 13-15
Nota: publicado en Inglés: vamos a
editar e incluir versión en español pronto.
We took advantage of a “puente”
to head for los llanos in order to take a break, relax a little, and with the
hope of seeing some birds and exploring the area further.
The road network in this region is essentially one good
surfaced road from Villavicencio east to Puerto Gaitán, and on to Puerto Carreño,
a number of surfaced side roads which head off the main road into the llanos, and a lot of small unsurfaced
roads, of various levels of passability, which make their way either between
the surfaced roads, or to isolated fincas,
without much indication as to which of these is the case. Hence taking more or
less any unsurfaced road is somewhat of a guess, in terms of whether it will
connect to other roads or simply dead end at a finca.
We left Bogotá on Saturday, and after leaving Villavicencio
left the main highway east to explore some minor roads. The moment we left the
main road traffic reduced to very little, and it was possible to see some
birds.
On the banks of the Rio Metica it was a pleasant surprise to see a
spider monkey. We continued via the back roads, arriving at Lagos del Menegua
at the end of the afternoon. In the morning we got up at dawn and headed to the
Lago de Guacamayas in search of birds, typically much more active at dawn. We
saw relatively few, however enjoyed the tranquil morning, and the views across
the llanos.
At midday we headed out to explore the area south of the main
road east, finding our way down deserted tracks and finally reaching the Rio Yucao
and the entrance to El Tesoro, which turned out to be the end of this
particular road, with no way out other than to return, at least to the top of la loma.
We took an alternative track
from this point and were lucky to come across a Giant Anteater near the track,
northwest of Rancho Bravo. We stopped and cautiously got out; the Anteater was
initially spooked however the wind was in our favour and so our scent was blown
away, so that when we kept still, the Anteater calmed down and continued its
search for food. We spent 30 minutes enjoying our proximity to this marvellous
creature, see how it opens up the earth to consume the ants. We were amazed to
be so close, as little as 1 m from the animal at times. Finally it got wind of
us and took off across the road and within less than a minute had disappeared
completely. We had hoped to see a Gient
Anteater for a long time, and had been fortunate to see one in the Pantanal,
however this was our first in Colombia.
We returned to the main road, and decided to head east and see what Puerto Gaitán was like. We had not previously travelled east of Lagos de Menegua, and so this was new to us. Puerto Gaitán is a small town on the banks of the Rio Manacacias, which flows into the Rio Meta a short distance further north. There are river trips available, and it’s possible to see the pink dolphin, however apart from this, the town offers little reason to return. Returning westwards we experienced a torrential downpour, however once this had passed, made good time to the Lagos.
The following day, we joined a
small group: Gustavo our guide, a family of three, and ourselves, for an
“eco-walk” in the finca. It was good to walk through the original ecosystem ,
now sadly heavily damaged by cattle raising in the area. We saw few birds,
although did see a passing toucan, and on our return, woodpeckers. However we
saw a group of spider monkeys making its way through the trees, and passing
directly over our heads. There were 20 or so, and they didn’t appear concerned
at our quiet presence. It’s always wonderful to see monkeys In the wild. We
heard howler monkeys, and saw them briefly, later in our walk.
After breakfast and a shower we
left to return to Bogotá, via back roads, at least initially. We identified a
route which looked as though it would lead us parallel to the main highway back
to Villavicencio, however after finding our way an hour or so south of Puerto
López we found that the unsurfaced road had turned into a muddy track, which in
turn became a series of mudholes, and so, discretion being the better part of
valour, decided that getting terminally stuck on a road which didn't
necessarily lead anywhere was not a good plan, and backtracked to the main road
again to head for mamona in Villavicencio and the return home.
Photos may be used for
non-commercial purposes with credit to alanymarce@gmail.com
