Saturday, March 7, 2009

Happy Valentine's Day

I awoke to a birdsong that I had never before heard, that of the Bananaquit, which I later came to call the Banana-cute, because they were so adorable. Yes, I know there isn't a photo of one shown. My camera takes great scenery shots, but two of the guys on the trip had very nice cameras with long lens. So, we made a deal and agreed that my part would be to capture the essence of Venezuela, and they would focus on the birds. I'll post bird photos as soon as I get them.
We weren't actually staying in Caracas, which is on the other side of these mountains. We stayed near the airport as we would be flying to Puerto Ordaz on the banks of the Rio Orinoco the next day.
The Marine Iguanas were quite skittish so I was pleased to be able to capture this. The reason for their fear of humans: If they can be captured, their legs are tied behind their heads and then they are attached to a stick and held up by the person who caught them -- sold along the street - for food. Obviously, this didn't sit well with a certain wildlife afficianado.
Even though the real ones get eaten whenever possible, there are still revered as shown by this little Iguana Park.

We found this colorful lizard living in a pile of trash in the corner of the park. He was beautiful, and also skittish.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Fantastic!!! Leja

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