MOSTLY WHAT I LIKE

MOSTLY WHAT I LIKE is a way to live.

I'm back from 2 weeks in Colombia, trecking through the southern and northern ends of the Sierra de la Macarena and Cano (one day I'll learn to write the n ~ together) Cristales or the Crystal River called the river of seven colores or the most beautiful river in the world.

The expedition was made up of Oliver L. (OL), Gustavo V. (GV) and yours truly. From Bogota we drove to Villavicencio, Meta, then flew to the town of La Macarena. There was heavy military presence in the town and a couple of Hercules aircraft were parked at the end of the air strip. After checking into our clean, comfortable hotel we took a 30 foot dugout canoe powered by a hundred horse outboard and motored up the brown Guayabero River to a rocky landing area for the bouncy jeep ride and walk to the Crystal River. Along the road we passed by four cement bridge structures that were built by the FARC guerillas as part of a road they were constructing in the middle of the National Park.

The river was clear but low and the mosses were only red and purple. At their height they bloom in seven different colores. Oliver took hundreds of photos underwater of the fish and may have discovered a new fish species.

The diving was superb, the water clear and the day hot and sun drenched, fantastic for underwater photos.

We spent a week in the Llanos grasslands around San Juan de Arama and the jungle area of the Sierra de la Macarena.

I have gotten a lot of writing done on WALKING TO CRYSTAL RIVER: A Pilgrimage To The Most Beautiful River In The World.

A brief but life changing trip.