Photos of Andean Cock-of-the-rock

When Connie and I made our Christmas to New Years Eve trip to the Antioquia area of Colombia, one of the towns we visited was Jardin.  We stayed there overnight and the following morning got up early to visit a small private bird refuge.  There, we were able to view and photograph several Andean Cock-of-the-rock birds.  This bird is found in mountain forests of the Andean countries of South America.  It is the national bird of Peru.  Colombia is a popular destination for birding as it has more species of birds than any other country on earth.

The Andean Cock-of-the-rock is a bird with bright red-orange plumage on its crowned head, chest and upper back, a gray lower back and black primary wings and tail.  Its feet are yellow.  Most unusual is the large fan-like crown above its rather small head and tiny bill.  

The bird can be challenging to photograph because it perches in the dense vegetation and not out in the open.  I used a 300mm lens (the longest I have with me in South America) to photograph the birds.  I made many exposures to obtain a few good images of the birds with unobstructed views.  

Connie's Post_Comuna 13 Part two

Experiencing the steep streets of Comuna 13 together was cool. And, due to an untimely ankle fracture, one of our group got to experience Comuna 13 from the perspective of a wheelchair. 

In the late 1990's through 2011,
government projects to improve 
living conditions in Comuna 13 
culminated in the completion 
of las escaleras eléctricas, 
a 1260 foot long escalator 
with six sections. 

This escalator was
inaugurated on 26 December 2011. Its purpose is to ease residents daily trek up and down the steep mountainsides.  In the picture to the right, you can see the orange edges of the six sections of the escalera.   

Prior to 2011, 350 narrow concrete steps and small streets too steep to drive a car up provided access to the narrow alleys. We did dodge motorcycles roaring up the streets on the day we visited, December 31.

Residents are constantly benefitting from this innovative outdoor escalator. It has made the Comuna accessible,  increased community pride, and is now a tourist attraction as well. 

When we got to the top of las escaleras, we found a big crowd gathered.  There was a holiday atmosphere in the streets.  We and many others watched some skilled break dancers / rap artists put on a show. 

We arrived at the top and found a large crowd gathered
 and loud music playing 

Black and White C 13

They had a constant dialogue going and were constantly in motion. 
Later we saw some 6 or 7 year old boys doing pretty good break dancing with rap by themselves.

The break dancers had a collection jar; people were very generous. They also had T-shirts and other items for sale.  And there were many beautiful T-shirts and other memorabilia.

Further along in the streets of C13, graffiti recognizing individuals and groups appeared.

Many different animals are painted into this lion's head image: a lion, a penguin, an octopus, and about 8 more animals.

We had our picture taken at the
 'Wall of Love'

Some guy we didn't know took over pushing
the wheelchair

 As we concluded our visit, it began to rain -- hard.  All the buses returning to the San Javier Metro stop were full to overflowing.  We decided to walk back, downhill. All along the way through the streets, people helped us over and over with the wheelchair. 








         End of Comuna 13 Post

Connie's Post. Christmas Travelers_ COMUNA 13 part one

Location of Medellin

Debbie, DeVon, Brian, and Steven

Connie’s Post. Christmas Travelers: December 2019. Clair and I travelled with 3 others to the Colombian Department [state] of Antioquia whose capital is Medellin. This region of Colombia lives in perpetual summer, rain almost daily, flowers of all types blooming year round; temperatures were in the mid-70’s. Medellin is the second largest city in Colombia; its population is about 2.5 million people. Medellin has 16 comunas or districts. We visited the district of COMUNA 13 on 31 December. We arrived by Metro at the San Javier Station and recruited Steven, an English teacher during the school year, to help us find our way. He led 3 young French women and us on our two hour tour. Steven was knowledgeable, articulate, and very helpful.

Outside the San Javier Station

Food is always available

Others looking to be a tour guide

 Also called San Javier Comuna, this district has about 160,000 people and is famous for its history of la resistencia and its wall murals and graffiti. 

Here, people make a distinction between murals [painted on with a brush; less expensive] and graffiti [applied with spray cans of paint, even as many as 50 cans; expensive]. 

We are all immigrants

Historically, in the 1950’s and 1960’s, migrants/immigrants coming to the city from rural areas sought land but ‘we were told by the government that there was nothing for us’ so they themselves tamed the steep, densely forested land on the western edge of Medellin and created living space. During the violent political period of 1980’s and early ‘90’s, Comuna 13 refused to be co-opted by the guerrillas, nor by the para-military groups, nor by the drug dealers, nor by the government. Still today, they are proud of their resistencia. In graffiti, the image of the hummingbird [colibrí] stands for independence/ resistance and also for ‘your wish’ ‘your hope’. 

   Eventually the government recognized the ownership of the land among people who had built brick and concrete homes and lived in them for 30 years.
Land rights and ownership were granted and basic community and sanitary services began to be provided. 

Graffiti images are tremendously symbolic.  Many show a violent or sad past on the left and a hope and looking forward to the future on the right.

Colibrí

the lotus flower symbolizes peace

the phoenix

 

The images speak of hope and expectation of rebirth [re-nacer; the phoenix], searching for peace [lotus flower].

Someone cannot just come in and start to put up graffiti. The plan for your wall art has to be submitted to a committee, approved, and your art has the use of the wall for about 6 months.

Some graffiti are messages of protest [Amazon burning].

C 13 Resistencia

Amazon Burning


[continued in part two]