Paujíl Natural Reserve is known for its special bird, the Blue-billed Curassow. However, Scott and I will remember it most for its remoteness and travel challenges. Getting there and back was a chuckle, for sure.

Here we are in a town picking up wine and goodies, watching the multitude of scooters with entire families riding along.

Nearby we mounted up into a Chiva ("goat") , so named because it can go about anywhere and other cars just can't. These bus-like units are truck chassis with diesel engines, 4-wheel drive and benches built in for passengers. The roads they contract to travel are unbelievably rutted and washed out dirt, and birders just can't get to Paujíl without one.

I fell in love with our driver and his wife. We exchanged "snacks" and smiles. They were lovely like all Colombians we met. Juan, our bird guide, is on the left. The logistics he had to manage for this trip were truly complicated.

Isn't this a cute picture of our driver and wife, taken from my position on the bench on the second row.

Neither Chiva nor driver was dismayed by log bridges.

The countryside in this area was amazing; "hilly" can't begin to describe it. The livestock took it in stride.

With this view I finally discovered one use for the shoulder scarf worn by so many Colombians. Works as a horse whip.

Blue-and-Yellow Macaws...usually paired up.

More scenery. Lots of deciduous trees. 

Northern Screamer

Well, we're at the gate, but no longer in the Chiva. Every one of us and all our luggage is stuffed into a small pick-up and from here we experienced an up-and-down journey from Hell...some semblance of broken-up cement suggested a one-time road, but, well, no...couldn't call it that. The poor little pick-up (although it had been souped up for just such a purpose) could hardly make it, and there were some strange sounds emanating from the wheels.

We made it, though, and our guide, Juan, trailed in right behind us in a scooter taxi. This is the thatched dining room and the yellow kitchen building.

Here is the bedroom building...thank goodness there was air-conditioning here. It was hot and there were no windows in these rooms.

The Blue-billed Curassow came around to be fed. This bird is so endangered that a decision was made to provide for its food in order to keep it on protected grounds. It's working so far. This is a male with the blue bill gobble thingee.

He has a substantial tail that he can flash around.

This is a female with a less exciting blue bill...but hey, she's showing a pretty good crest!

This Grey-necked Wood-rail shared the corn put out on the ground for the Curassow.

The last time I saw this bird it was in Belize in a mangrove swamp.

I really love this guy.

This one seems to be sending some kind of message.

Straight-billed Woodcreeper

Yellow-backed Tanager

There were a couple of pet parrots picking around. They'd been rescued as babies and raised by the compound folks.

I met up with this guy while wandering about on my own.

Orange-chinned Parakeet

Yellow-tailed Oriole

White-fronted Nunbird, found on one of our guided walks

White-fronted Nunbird. Quite a bill he has on him.

Cinnamon Woodpecker

When it was time to depart, our guide decided we'd make our exit in a boat instead of the little white pick-up that could. Note the man in orange is wearing the handy, almost ubiquitous Colombian scarf. 

We then rendezvoused with our Chiva driver friends and their beastly Chiva who had come back to pick us up and return us to the highway where our bus was to meet us.

On the way we found some birds

Rufescent Tiger Heron

Common Black Hawk

Black-capped Donacobius

Black-bellied Whistling Ducks

White-headed Marsh Tyrant

Once we met up with Hermes and the van again, we traveled along a very good highway followed by a decent but very curvy road up further in the Magdalena Valley to San Vincente de Chucurí so we could have access to the Cerulean Warbler Reserve the next day. I'm so grateful for our fine driver.

We stayed in a darling little hotel, La Quinta Tibigaro. I loved this old quaint place and met the lovely young manager, Isabel. We became friendly and we still correspond on WhatsApp or Facebook. We birders got up the next day to drive further up, up, up to the Cerulean Warbler Reserve. Here we did three things: 1) Enjoyed their hummingbird and tanager feeders 2) Took a moist and slippery hike through wet grass, mud, and cow pies to see the more secretive Black Inca Hummingbird, I couldn't handle both my camera and my balance, so I left my camera behind on this hike. So, no pictures of the Black Inca. 3) Had a delightful lunch at the center. We did not see Cerulean Warblers. Apparently they don't hang out in accessible places on the Reserve. Scott and I got lost on the way back from the Black Inca, but met up with some farm girls who showed us the way back to the reserve.

At the center, it was said that this was an Empress Brilliant

Brown Violetear

Female Black Mango

Green Hermit

Thick-billed Euphonia

Lemon-rumped Tanager

Bay-headed Tanager

Female Thick-billed Euphonia

Crimson-backed Tanager

Golden-fronted Woodpecker

Collared Araçari

We bid farewell to our little hotel (and the chocolate the grandmother makes from local cacao beans) and bus-traveled our way back to the main highway where we went straight northish for a while, but then had to turn off again on a very good, but extremely curvy mountainous highway to Ocaña, 3600 ft elev, for the next adventure.

Rio Claro Natural Reserve is at approximately 1,000 ft elevation, much lower than Bogota, and has more palms and other tropical vegetation. Our little sleep buildings were cute and the rooms large and comfortable. There were no bugs to speak of. 

This was a hysterical encounter on the birding trail the first day. An enormous, aggressive bull was being herded up and over the hill by a cowboy on horseback.  The bull was "held in check" by a single rope around the horns...not too reassuring given his size and his snorts and feints in our direction. We were told by the rancher to get the heck up the hill and after we did that, he told us to get FURTHER up the hill and hurry the heck up..his bull was getting feisty and impatient. We did so, but Juan stood guard in front of us all brandishing a stick he had found.  Driver Hermes, on the other hand, was the first one up the hill and the furthest one up. I never let him forget that during the whole trip. 

Happily, no one was hurt. It was a serious encounter, but it was really funny, too.

This Bay Wren, beautiful as it was, would not let me get a good picture. Nuts! He is a real stunner.

 Straight-billed Woodcreeper

The first evening we went down to the oilbird cave to watch the oilbirds fly out into the night. Oilbirds are very large and squawk large, too. Entertaining!

These little Purple Honeycreepers were hanging around the dining hall.

As it turns out, Yellow-billed Toucans can and do scream from the treetops. Calls to match their size.

Little Olivaceous Piculets, on the other hand, are tiny, but cute and remarkable for their spotted little heads.

Although seen only high in the trees, the Black-faced Dacnis was a real treat.

This bird kind of looked like a puffbird to me and sat just as quietly as a puffbird does, but it is a Tityra, a Black-capped Tityra, to be exact. The black cap is only barely visible in this shot.

Thick-billed Euphonia

White-mantled Barbet

Awakening to a real flood...the Rio Claro couldn't hold all the overnight rain.

Once the waters receded about 3 hours later, the guide and driver discovered that the van had been completely flooded and Juan's birding scope ruined. They had to put heads together and figure out how to manage, but they were absolute champs about it, very competent.

While they did the difficult problem-solving, the rest of us just fooled around birding. I got good captures of this beautiful female Rufous-breasted Hermit.

and I found this Cinnamon Becard,

a White-tipped Dove

and this charming and cooperative Barred Puffbird.

I couldn't stop taking pictures of this posing guy.

In short order, the tow truck had come and Juan and Hermes had a new van waiting for us to board.  Good-bye, beautiful, if a bit too exuberant, Rio Claro.

Bare-faced Ibis

Greater Yellowlegs

Tropical Kingbirds displaying

Tropical Kingbird perched

Smoky-brown Woodpecker

Striated Heron

After our idyllic stay in the Querceto de Castellini agriturismo, we drove to Florence without difficulty and turned in our rental car.  We took a taxi to the vicinity of our Airbnb, marveling all the way at the driver's adeptness in navigating Florence's busy, narrow and maze-like streets. After lunch it was time to check in to our place, so we dragged our suitcases down the street and up this hill to #5 door.

  This was exciting, because I had been looking forward to this apartment ever since I booked it. It advertised 80 steps up to the apartment (after the hill), but the reward of a terrific view from the apartment balcony at the top. We had packed light, but I still had visions of a struggle on the stairs. But, the lovely young lady who showed us to the room grabbed my suitcase and carried it up all 80 steps for me, despite my protestations. We were glad we had been studying Italian because she was happy to tell us all about the apartment and how to get around in Florence, but she didn't speak English. She was an awesome help, and it was a delight speaking Italian with her. Here are some pictures of our apartment.

Yes, there are more stairs to the bedrooms and bathroom.

The apartment is on the south side of the Arno, just across from all the action, so you can't beat this location.

And the view did not disappoint!  It was everything I had wanted it to be...an amazing lookout over Florence that just took our breath away.

From our bedroom onto the balcony...

And beyond.

We were directed to a wonderful grocery close by, Conad, and picked up enough stuff to cook a nice dinner, wine to drink, etc. and then tucked in for a fantastic evening on the balcony, planning our next day carefully.

On our one day in Florence we crossed the Arno River via the Ponte Vecchio, just two blocks from us...

The Arno was a very important key to commerce in Tuscany.

Crewing on the Arno.

On the other side of the Arno..

At the end of the narrow street appears the Duomo.

 The Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore

Everything is made from marble. I didn't know there were different colors.

The tower at the Duomo Piazza

It was impressive, but we had no time to go inside. By 8 am crowds were bustling and we thought we'd better find the Academia for which we had tickets already. Warning: get your tickets ahead of time or you won't get in.

We got our on-line tickets stamped, then waited in line for our group's time to go in. We first enjoyed the exhibit of musical instruments left behind by the Medicis who were major supporters of music and visual arts in their court.

There were listening stations and we listened to one presentation about Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina who introduced and advanced the idea that you could have more than one voice singing at a time. It was thrilling to hear the choral singing of his music as they played it in your ear after you just viewed the Duomo where it was sung.

Next we began to visit the sculptures, both plaster and marble, as well as the 2-dimensional paintings. 

Women were represented in many sculptures, but often as dead. Many times a wealthy man would commission a sculptor to fashion a statue with his beloved wife lying on her death bed, perhaps with a small child hanging on the bed clothes. 

Women's hairdos were apparently a big deal in the old days, changing from year to year and being memorialized in busts of women wearing various and sundry dos.

These 12th century pieces were unsigned.

 But, the big event of the Academia for us was Michelangelo's David, as it is for many. I was caught off-guard, moving with the huge crowd around the rooms, eventually turning a corner where all of a sudden David came into view out in the middle of the room. He seemed HUGE, and actually made me breathe funny and grab onto my husband's arm. He was that impressive. Granted he was placed high on a 6-ft. pedestal, and that contributed to his seeming size, but even knowing that, he was absolutely spell-binding, and HUGE, and made of the smoothest imaginable marble...definitely worth seeing. David's statue was, for a long time, outside in a park, but was moved indoors to protect him from weathering. We heard, though, that now he is suffering mini-fractures due to the footsteps of so many people pounding the floor of the room he is in. 

Here he is.

Even now I get that awed feeling when I look at his picture.

After David, we found a Leonardo da Vinci museum which we just loved. It had reproductions of many of Da Vinci's inventions, writings, and paintings. There were two large rooms of machines featuring gears, wings, levers, and other machines. The man was an amazing genius and he was allowed to just invent, invent, invent without interference by those who supported his activities. He left a huge body of work.

Two large rooms were filled with all kinds of wooden machines, with every kind of wing and gear, performing all sorts of useful tasks, all inventions of the genius engineer Da Vinci. I'm not sure why I don't have pictures of those replications, but they were hands-on, functional and fascinating, and there were SO many!!

We then visited the Medici Palace which was grand and had a lot of paintings, mostly of Medici relatives and some great statues.

Cosimo Medici

This is a painting in the chapel of Ferdinand Medici where we overheard an art interpreter explaining that Fernando was proud of having met with kings from the far East, so the painting of the three kings painted in his chapel might have a double entendre, representing the three kinds visiting Jesus, but also his (Fernando's)  international association with kings from far-away countries, especially with the dark-skinned king on the horse.

Lorenzo the Magnificent

This one tickled me. A mirror in a painting. See me?

Then we took to the streets to just wander about.

Here are eggplants coming to the city in a van.

Street art.

I wonder what this pharmacy was dispensing in 1561.

Motorcycles can navigate these tiny streets better than cars.

After wandering about for a bit longer we trekked home for another pasta dinner in our adorable apartment. I do regret we didn't have the energy to hike up the hill above our apartment house to the Boboli Gardens. They would've been great. It was just up this hill from our apartment in the green trees and apparently was full of Michelangelo and other sculptures. Sigh.

Florence at night is lit up big time...just filled our little bedroom with light.

Next morning a taxi got us back to the airport and we had to come home.

Florence to Paris goes over the Alps.