TRY
SUBSCRIBING ON THE RIGHT AGAIN > > > >
It
appears that it is working again. THANK YOU all for your patience and support.
******
Sunday Dec 16, 2018
The family of Carlos led us on a scenic road trip today. There was me, Cristina, Gilma, Carmen, Alejandro and Jose David in our car. We followed Chucho and Angela (parents of the kids) riding on their motorcycle at 50 kph.
We met Carlos & Nancy at the ferry at Mestisal because they came from a different direction, don't ask me why.... The ferry was a strictly manual operation, no electric winches, nothing. They just had a large crank to move cables to angle the ferry to use the rapidly moving current to cross this wide river. They charged 35c for people/motorbikes, and $1 for vehicles. The vehicles had to move forward and back on the ferry to allow the ramp to rise and fall. I went across with Chucho, Angela and Jose David to meet Carlos and Nancy on the other side. The rest were too chicken to cross.
I took a video with the Canon and like the way it turned out....
While waiting for the ferry I had spotted this gorgeous Golden Hawk nearby and managed to get some decent shots of it. What a magnificent bird!
Then we went for lunch at a place selling Vino Don Jose Onofre, run by a pair of sisters married to Canadians, one who lives 6 months in Fort Nelson. This was a great spot with a huge play area for the kids. The meals were mostly around $7.25 and almost everyone had a red Tilapia (fish) while Cristina and I shared a 3-meat meal and could not eat it all.
buzzards
We climbed our way on pavement, then on a narrow gravel road, up and around mountains to La Represa de Bolivar (literally "The Dam" of Bolivar, the town way below), a flooded mountain valley way above.
On the way up we came across some sated turkey buzzards near the carcass of a horse or a cow. I didn't see the carcass from my side of the car.
The resulting lake was so huge that I could only capture it all by using the panorama mode on the Lumix. The Dam itself is concrete, very long, and the markers near us showed the level at 1408 ft. People were fishing near the edges and, although I didn't see any catches, Chucho said the fish could be about 18 inches in there.
Coming down on the gravel is treacherous on motorbikes but luckily we only had one minor skid by Carlos and nobody fell. The way back seemed so much longer as Carlos had the lead and was not doing much better than 40 kph. Once we got through Tulua I zipped by and we stopped at the cemetery briefly for flowers then we dropped everybody off. It was almost dark by the time we got home to feed the dogs.
I hope you enjoy the pictures. That was the day’s excitement.
Al
******
© All my work is COPYRIGHT protected and may
not be used in any way without purchase, or without my permission.
If you want to borrow a picture to share with family and friends, Facebook
or whatever, at least PLEASE give me credit for the photo.
NOTE that you may click on any photo for an ENLARGED VIEW.
 |
| This is a pretty wide river to cross |
 |
| Very scenic drive here |
 |
| Waiting at the one-way ferry "terminal" |
 |
| Cristina, Gilma, Carmen, Jose David, Angela, Chucho |
 |
| Never surprised to see what comes down the road |
 |
| Loading a John Deere 4030 on the other side |
 |
| I happened to spot this Golden Hawk |
 |
| I kept edging closer to get better shots |
 |
| What a gorgeous bird! |
 |
| Then he decided to leave as traffic came |
 |
| Gorgeous and effortless in flight |
 |
| Lovely wingspan |
 |
| He found a new place to watch for prey |
 |
| Jose David got picked up by the cops |
 |
| Manual winch to change the angle of the ferry to use the current |
 |
| Carlos and Nancy are waiting to cross on the other side |
 |
| Lots of turning to angle into the bank just right |
 |
| Nancy & Carlos on board |
 |
| A gorgeous day for a ferry ride |
 |
| Waiting for 2 more bikes and a car |
 |
| The peanut gallery is watching |
 |
| Probably a kiskadee? |
 |
| Angela, Jose David and Chucho |
 |
| The chickens waiting for us on the other side |
 |
| Photographers shooting photographers |
 |
| Getting off back on our side |
 |
| The Golden Hawk headed for the other side |
 |
| 3-meat lunch for $7.25 for 2 of us, with leftovers |
 |
| The Dam is way behind that mountain |
 |
| This restaurant had a great play area for the kids |
 |
| This restaurant did a roaring business |
 |
| Gilma enjoyed the outing |
 |
| Turkey Buzzards with a carcass nearby |
 |
| Small roadway above the dam |
 |
| Deep valley flooded for hydroelectric power |
 |
| The lake is too big to get it all in one shot |
 |
| It is B-I-G |
 |
| They don't let much water out right now... |
 |
| Beautiful area across from The Dam |
 |
| Another place to enjoy the views |
 |
| Shot through my cheap sunglasses |
 |
| Some of our group |
 |
| Nancy, Carlos, Chucho, Anglea, Carmen |
 |
| Turkey Buzzard in flight #1 |
 |
| Turkey Buzzard in flight #2 |
 |
| Turkey Buzzard in flight #3 |
 |
| Turkey Buzzard in flight #4 |
 |
| Cute island |
 |
| The dam is pretty long |
 |
| My irrepressible wife with someone's dog |
 |
| Guys fishing beside The Dam |
 |
| I love rustic fences |
 |
| Yeah, one more shot |
 |
| A single shot just can't get it all in |
 |
| This is one large lake with tons of water |
 |
| Nice island, again |
 |
| Nice sunny day |
 |
| Only a panorama can show the size of it |
 |
| This angle shows The Dam as well |
