Had an early breakfast; well for me it was early = 8:30. By 9 am I was heading back up the mountain on the chair-lift so that I could finish the tour that got cut short by the rain yesterday. On the way up the mountain, I spotted a blue butterfly like the ones in Costa Rica. Unfortunately I wasn’t quick enough with my camcorder to get it on film. Today my guide was Erika and she was extremely knowledgeable on all her topics. I was added to a group who were admiring the hummingbirds, a Colombian family consisting of the grandfather, daughter, son and his wife and their daughter. Very nice people and I was even able to participate in their joking. We finished with the bonsai section and returned to the butterfly house. Since it was now warm and sunny, the butterflies were flying everywhere; compared to yesterday when their wings were closed and they weren’t moving. They get their energy from the sun, so they were going wild in there; so many varieties, so many colors. One species had transparent wings. Beautiful.
From there, we headed down a different path down the mountain, past a rain forest growth to reach the orchid collection. There weren’t as many as I had thought I would see, but the ones that were there were very interesting, all shapes and sizes from 3 inch wide to less than ½ and inch wide.
By 11:30 the tour ended near the hotel, so I left the group to go shower, change, pack and check-out. By 12:00 I was in a taxi heading to the bus station. Their bus stations run differently from ours. There must be at least 20 different bus companies, some sharing routes, some specializing in other regional destinations. When I left Bogota, they had “departure” and “arrival” boards like we have in airports. Unfortunately the Manizales station did not have these. So here I am in front of a semi-circle of about 20 bus companies trying to decide which one would be the best to get an Express service to Armenia.
What do I see ? A company called Armenia, with only two destinations: Pereira and Armenia. Easy choice ! I get to the ticket office and ask about an Express bus to Armenia: there is one leaving in 10 minutes. YES ! Just had enough time to buy my ticket, get to the bus, get my luggage aboard, and we were taking off. Only 47 kilometres to Pereira and a little less than that to Armenia. The roads were also in excellent condition and were 4 lanes wide in a divided boulevard style. We stopped for about 20 minutes in Pereira to drop off and pick-up passengers. The bus could only contain 16 passengers, so it didn’t take a lot of time. Got to the bus station in Armenia at about 3:15, got a taxi by 3:30, and was at the hotel I had selected by 4:00. Small quaint hotel in the Quindio section of the city.
Got all the info I needed to get to the “Parque Nacional de Café” tomorrow. Went out to find a restaurant and had pizza for a change. No bank in site to get some more cash, but I should have enough until I get back to Bogota for my flight to Peru.
That’s it for now. My computer is acting up so I’ll close fast and not worry about adding pictures.
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