Tepuy Tale

In the background of this photo two shadowy tepuyes stand watch over the Gran Sabana. The tepuye on the left, the pointed one and the saddle between them are the subject of myth. Henry tells its story, "The Gran Sabana is from a God, a woman named Macunaima who was the queen of the Gran Sabana. The tepuye on the left was a great tree with a huge spreading top. Another god was jealous and wanted to take the Gran Sabana and they fought a fierce battle. The God wanted to chop off the head of Macunaima. He leaned back and swung, but his great sword missed and cut into the great tree. The tree and its large top fell, with the top breaking Grande Tepuye into two tepuyes. The tepuye on the right is Roraima, the highest tepuye at 2730 meters. When the tree fell, breaking the tepuye which formerly held all life, the water containing all the life of the Gran Sabana flooded the Earth, bringing life to it. Roraima is suspected to hold the richest diamond deposit in the world, but is currently protected from exploration. Roraima was the inspiration for Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's The Lost World.
Tepuyes Tramin on the left, and Ilu on the right, north of Roraima. Mesas of pre-Cambrian rock, part of the Guayana Shield and nearly 3 billion years old, the tepuyes tower majestically over the Gran Sabana. Those who have explored their summits describe them as being from another place and time, unlike anywhere else. Geologically separated for millions of years, many of the plants and animals found on the tops are endemic, adapted to weather extremes of wind and rain. The rock formations, similarly affected, have eroded into otherworldly formations. Henry once climbed Roraima with the help of a guide. It took two and a half days.

La Gran Sabana

Birding with the boys, near the top of theEscalera, just below La Gran Sabana

Sam at the waterfall

Birding the Gran Sabana

Only two stops had any crafts for sale. This young lady took a leisurely approach to marketing.

Tour leader, Jim Black, with Henry our host at Barquilla de Fresca Lodge.

City Life

Photo by Mark Watson.

They call them Chavistas, those that post the plethora of pro-Chavez signs. Toward the end of our trip, we found out that everyone who posted a Chavez sign for the referendum was paid. The referendum was a vote to allow Chavez to run for unlimited terms. In the big cities, where people have greater exposure to the outside world, the referendum was defeated. But, in the small villages, where people live on bare subsistence income, it was overwhelmingly passed. With all the wealth from oil, every Venezuelan citizen received a certain amount of money. Local industries closed and almost all goods were imported. Rural people view Chavez as the great patron of the country. Now, with the diminished oil prices, there is little money, but still no industry, and country-wide shortages of many basic items, such as sugar, which is produced in Venezuela.
Fruit for sale everywhere, especially bananas. Many of the fruit-loving birds, such as the tanagers also hung out at the fruit stands, eating their fill.

Bananas for sale.

Pink Houses

It's a Jungle Out There!

The Guayana Trail. If it looks hot and steamy, that's because it is, along with a bumper crop of chiggers! We quickly learned about protective measures when one of the guys showed up the first day with bites over all of the lower parts of his legs. This particular location is a footpath that leads from Venezuela to neighboring Guayana, within walking distance. The land belongs to the indigenous people, but we were assured it was fine for us to be here.
They grow big spiders and webs in the rainforest.
Epiphytes cover nearly every surface. In some areas, these hardy little plants even grew on the utility lines.

Photograph by Mark Watson.

As I thought about all the marvelous birds we saw on this trip, there is one that brings a smile to my face each time: the Scarlet-horned Manakin. We watched the male perform his unique courtship moonwalk dance in the style of Michael Jackson deep in the tropical forest. I’ll never forget the abandon with which he danced – as if no one were watching. Check out another manakin species dancing and then check out the shorter clip of this little fellow.

Strawberry Ice Cream Ecological Region

Henry's establishment in the little village of Las Claritas in Bolivar state, Strawberry Ice Cream Cone. Just like the name implies, he did indeed provide ice cream for dessert. He and his wife also raised and sold miniature poodles, just in case you were wondering about the dog in the photo. Check out his website, particularly the Diversity page where there are video clips of many of the birds that we saw, some even with impressive audio of their calls: Cappuchinbird, White Bellbird, Crimson Topaz, Guayanan Cock of the Rock and the fabulous Scarlet-horned Manakin.
Henry has an impressive garden with many hummingbird feeders that attract a wide array of hummies, as well as many other species. He actually has Harpy Eagle on his yard list! Here, we saw toucans, parrots, and many other treasures, including a giant morpho butterfly. (Stay tuned for bird/butterfly photos)
Even with my little zoom lens I was able to get close enough to this highly sought after hummingbird, the Crimson Topaz. Note the long tail.
Note the size of the bird relative to the hummingbird feeder. It gives a good reference to determine the large size of this fellow.

Into the heartland, El Corazon

What a view! This stained glass window formed one entire wall of the Caracas airport.
Welcome to Ciudad Guayana. From here, we would drive south to Bolivar state and the little village of Las Claritas which would be our base for the next 5 nights while we birded in Canaima National Park, the Lost World.
Angel Fall is the tallest waterfall in the world, flowing from the top of Auyantepui, the largest tepuy in the Lost World. We didn't actually get to see it, lacking a helicopter or the several days it would take to travel there, but this large mural was on the airport wall in Puerto Ordaz.

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.

A Quilting We Did Go!

It's that time of year again, time for the 16th annual Hawks Aloft Quilt Retreat. This year we were thrilled to have running water at the cabin, so we could actually really retreat from the big city. Above , you see Michele Hymel stitching the last seams on our quilt top.
As always, Ruth, ably assisted by Sam Sanborn, cooked up a delectable Friday night feast. Sadly, Ruth had to go home early so she missed the Saturday night festivities.
Veteran quilters, Steve Elkins and Patty Phillips, cranked out block after block using foundation piecing techniques.
After a full day of sewing, Quilter Mary Chappelle, takes a break.
We welcomed newcomer, Nancy Cella, to our little group. We liked her a lot, and we hope she will return next year.
Our youngest quilter was Lindsey Porter , age 12. She took to quilting like a duck takes to water.
Our cutting team, Ed Chappelle and Mike Hymel, take an afternoon break.
Oops! Another Lindsey photo!
Master quilter, Anita McSorley held down the fort in the sewing kitchen.
Chellye Porter also learned to quilt and cooked up a fabulous breakfast with her fellow kitchen slave, Lindsey.
In the end, we were 13 strong, the largest group so far! And, we finished the quilt in just over 6 hours, also a record. Shown above, from left to right: Sitting: Patty Phillips, Sam Sanborn, Steve Elkins, Yours Truly with Gabby the dog, and Nancy Cella. Standing: Ed Chappelle, Mary Chappelle, Mike Mymel, Michele Hymel, and Anita McSorley. Not shown: Ruth Burstrom, Chellye Porter and Lindsey Porter.

Now, the quilting begins, but I won't be a part of that for a while. Ed and Mary are layering it, then moving it along to Patty for the anchor quilting. Then, it's off to Michele for more quilting.
Me? Well, I can't quilt right now. I am off to Venezuela along with Sam to search for the world's largest eagle, the Harpy Eagle! Wish me luck!

Cartwheel Constellation

Donna and I finally finished our latest quilt, Cartwheel Constellation. The pattern is scheduled to appear in an upcoming issue of American Quilter Magazine, so keep a watch. I don't yet know which issue. In addition to the borders you see on this quilt, I also designed a series of other borders that I will post as soon as I edit the images down to a manageable size. This quilt measures 50" in diameter. All the quilting was done by Donna Barnitz. The hand-dyed gradations are by Starr Fabrics and the hand-painted fabrics are by Skydyes.