Villa de Leyva, Colombia March 15, 2015 Latitude 5.63º
N
Even now, the words “Villa de Leyva”
bring back a flood of warm, lovely memories.
Sandra and I left Bogota with the idea
of spending one night in this lovely old colonial town of 5,000
people. But as things change once you get to a place, we actually
spent two nights in a splendid, old hotel that had been beautifully
restored. It was mid week and we were the only guests. Wednesday
would be “Villa de Leyva” day, so we started early.
Just outside of town, and up, were two
museums containing a wide variety of marine fossils. Imagine. We
were close to 8,000 feet in altitude and yet the museum we visited
housed an almost perfectly preserved fossil of 12 meter baby
Kronosaurus. There were other fossils in the museum—ammonites,
imprints of leaves and grasses, crustaceans. 130,000,000 years ago,
before tectonic shifts, Villa de Leyva was a sea bed. This area of
Colombia is noted for its easy availability of fossils and has been a
center for research for some time. Across the road from this museum
was a research center that was used by interns studying Paleontology.
We were given a tour in both English and Spanish.
From there we climbed higher up the
road to a 2,000 year old grouping of monoliths. I'd never seen a
monolith in my life until last October when I visited three sites in
Portugal. And now, this...a continent and an ocean away.
The grouping was about the size of two
football fields. Twice a year—in March and September, when the
monoliths cast no shadows, the monoliths were used to determine the
time of year to start the planting season. Some of the monoliths
were phallic in shape, so there must have been some ritual associated
with renewal and it is thought that religious festivals occurred.
There is even an almost perfectly preserved funeral mound.
What is most interesting is that this
grouping was almost identical to ones I saw near Evora, Portugal,
last year. Fascinating how parallel ideas emerge more or less at the
same time civilizations away from each other.
Again, we were the only people there
which made the place even more appealing.
It was noon and the sun was warm and
inviting. We took advantage of the nice day and walked the trails
around the site. We were in a large valley and all around us were
mountains that easily topped 10,000 feet. The air was dry and I
could tell the area around Villa de Leyva was arid. Cactus grew in
abundance. There was a deep silence to the place. Off in the
distance, I could hear an occasional car climbing the narrow road. I
could hear the crow of roosters from a nearby farm. The smell of
eucalyptus permeated the air in the midday sun. All around us were
large numbers of cactus, willows, oaks and pines. The place just
oozed atmosphere.
In front of us lay the valley floor of
Villa de Leyva. Rising up from the village were the trails and
winding paths that zigzagged up the hills and mountains.
The whole place was rather magical.
But the day was waning and storm clouds
were moving in and there were still two more places on our list—The
Convent of Ecce Homo and the small village of Santa Sofia.
The convent was founded in 1620 by the
Dominicans and was only recently vacated. Again, we were the only
visitors, and we were in no hurry to leave this spectacular place.
What greeted us as we entered the building was the floor to the
entrance that was “paved” with hundreds of 130,000,000 million
year old fossils—leaves, flowers and ammonites. Inside, was a 15
foot fossilized serpent. Simply amazing!
Since the departure of the brothers, an
external addition has been made to the convent. There is now a hotel
on the grounds with beautiful gardens surrounding the few buildings.
Oleander, hibiscus, poinsettia, geranium, daisies, and amaryllis were
in abundance. At this latitude and this altitude almost anything can
grow. What a beautiful place this would be to spend a few days. Add
a bike and it would be a great place to take off on the many trails
that criss-crossed the area.
But it was late afternoon and we could
see storm clouds building in the mountains before us. We still had
one more place to visit—the little village of Santa Sofia, further
up the road. We arrived at the end of the school day and heaps of
kids were mingling in the town square. They could be kids
anywhere—sitting with their friends, young couples making out,
younger kids playing football.
Sandra went off in search of something.
I found a bakery and bought some yet again tasteless Colombian bread
and a bottle of juice. I sat on a bench in the square. It was
sprinkling lightly but I was under a tree and the rain didn't affect
the wonderful view of kids playing and interacting with each other.
Being the only gringo in the
lot, I attracted a bit of attention. three boys approached me
wanting to practice their English. It was bad, but I had to admire
them. Most kids that age are loathe to open their mouths.
By now it was getting darker and at
this latitude night falls quickly. It was only a 12 kilometer ride
back to Villa de Leyva, but it was raining and we both felt better to
leave before nightfall. On the way down I had an opportunity to
observe, more closely, the numerous farms that dotted the
countryside. Many of the crops—tomatoes, potatoes, corn--thrived
in large “greenhouses” made of plastic. I'm not sure why they
were covered the way they were. Perhaps the sun was too strong.
Perhaps hailstorms had the potential to ruin crops.
Once back in Villa de Leyva we rested
before walking into the center for dinner. We were the only two
guests in a nice restaurant that overlooked the vast square. Again,
it was a meal full of carbohydrates—a piece of meat, yucca, fried
plantain and rice.
During our meal it began to
rain—heavily. I don't think this is a common occurrence in this
part of Boyacá.
All the staff gathered on the balcony to watch rain splash the
square. It was a lovely sound as it bounced off the roof of the
restaurant.
By
the time we were finished eating, the rain had stopped. The lights
of the village glistened against the wet cobblestones. It was a
beautiful sight.
No
sooner, it seemed, had we arrived when it was time to leave. Villa
de Leyva was a place that beckoned to stay longer, explore its
trails, ride a bike to Santa Sofia, search for fossils.
But
our time was limited and we had to leave. Sadly. But this town had
my name written all over it and I knew I'd be back—sooner than
later.
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