Day 847
The Garden of Recovery
Tom is on the mend, and normally he would want to be back on the road. Today though he listened to me, and his body, and has taken an extra day of rest. We had discovered that in Ibague we could visit the Jardin Botanico San Jorge. Though only about a mile from our hotel the taxi driver had never heard of it. Nor had the street vendors the driver stopped to ask. In the end Tom directed him with the aid of good old Google maps.
We were enchanted as soon as we entered. Using fallen branches, with seeds in a hollowed-out log, they had created a bird feeder. Dozens of stunningly coloured birds fed in front of us, that alone was worth the entrance fee.
We wandered along the paths, stunning plants, flowers and butterflies all around us. It was just what Tom and I needed, an oasis of peace in the natural forest. As we left, though 100 miles from our planned spot to watch the solar eclipse right on the totality line, we still got a wonderful view. A little cloud just added to it.
Tomorrow we head south to the Tatacoa Desert, with two flat days of cycling to get there. That hasn’t happened since we left Cartagena!
