QueenPuya

I'm back from my fabulous trip through Boyaca, north of Bogota.  Mauricio, Camilo, Diego and I spent two nights in the extremely charming town of Villa de Leyva.  It is as it was hundreds of years ago, with cobblestone streets, Spanish-style haciendas with inner courtyards and a wide central plaza.  And of course splendid Christmas lights, thousands of angels lining the streets.  On Thursday we did the very difficult hike to Laguna Iguaque, which started with several hours of walking through a cloud forest.  I got to see (and photograph) lots of orchids, including my beloved Mansdevallia, the first time I've seen on in the wild.  We also got to see several highly endangered birds.   The road to the paramo went straight up, which about did me in, but luckily I was going so slowly I didn't miss the Puya trianae in bloom!  Cute as a button...  We ate lunch by the Laguna, site of many an Indian sacrifice.  Apparently the local indigenous cultures were very afraid of the lakes and made many sacrifices of blood and gold to appease them.  El Dorado is supposedly a lake full of gold (including a person coated in gold) and the search for it by the Spaniards went right through here, and on the way they founded Bogota.  I find the lakes enchanting, a pleasant reward for so much sweat, plus they are the most fertile grounds for Puya.