Radical Avenue

An April morning drizzle poses no threat to visitors at the Botanical Gardens. The jungle canopy keeps park benches next to the lily pond warm and cozy. Peaceful interludes get interrupted quickly in Medellin. Groups of inquisitive children in matching polo shirts emblazoned with school colors are everywhere.

Colombian youngsters like to test pink skinned strangers on their mastery of the English language. Hello. What’s your name? How are you? What time is it? I enjoyed the Botanical Garden’s bamboo forest, orchids and butterfly exhibit, but the entire place is a plant lover’s nirvana.

One of the water parks in Medellin is located next to the municipal airport. Parents watch Taca and LAN commuter flights leave while kids dive into the wave pool. Every barrio has a heavily forested block or two, usually fed by a stream cascading down from the Andes. And the birds of these woodlands display their colors proudly. Bright red, yellow and green feathers, even the pigeons look more fluorescent in Colombia.

After hours crowds congregate in the clubs and restaurants of Parque Lleras. Sports lovers watch soccer matches at the new stadium. The local taxis will take you wherever you need to go, but please don’t slam the doors. It is considered highly impolite.

Medellin offers accommodations for all budgets. I recommend the Black Sheep Hostel in Patio Bonito or the InterContinental in El Poblado if you’ve got some extra spending money. You can dine every day on white linen, at KFC or on a folding table in a one room tienda. But don’t leave without trying a glass of freshly squeezed orange and mango juice with a hint of lime. Scintillating.

Once again I find myself distracted by the fetching young ladies in the white uniforms with golden trim. The cleaning crew in the Museum of Antioquia bears a striking resemblance to their cousins over in the metro station, the same spotless white shoes and stockings, the same efficient manner, brown hair pulled back in a ponytail, hands constantly in motion. Cleanliness seems to be an obsession in Medellin. I feel curiously obliged to leave a gum wrapper behind on a bench somewhere.

The third floor of the museum is dedicated to Medellin favorite son, Fernando Botero. In the bullfighting room, one of the matadors has a tiny demon hovering just above his right ear. I wonder if some angry bull got the better of this poor fellow. The museum also features an exquisite display of antique gold jewelry and an extensive collection of contemporary art from Latin America and the Caribbean.

The scene on Botero Plaza just outside the Museum of Antioquia is more chaotic than the rest of Medellin. You’ll laugh at the tourists amusing themselves around comically disproportioned nude sculptures, sway to the rhythm of bands playing accordions and guitars and catch a sales pitch for cotton gloves in five brilliant colors, one for each finger.

A couple of blocks to the west, the restaurant called La Terraza serves up tasty consume soup with a small arepa. Diners enjoy their lunch on the upstairs terrace and see reflections of the crowd passing by below in the plate glass exterior of buildings across the street.

When you drop a 200 Peso coin into the offertory box at the old white church near Botero Plaza in downtown Medellin, a miniature yellow bulb will illuminate beneath one of the faux candles in the quiet display. It works differently in the Mission church at San Juan Bautista, California. At the Mission you must first drop a copper into the box and then use a match to light a single candle.

I’m not sure which approach I prefer. In San Juan Bautista, I ponder the staid traditions handed down religiously through generations. In Medellin, I wonder why the Paisas go their own way.

On Sunday, transportation officials partition four lane roads into two lanes for cars and two lanes for bicycles. Bikers climb through the financial district on Poblado Avenue, and then stop for fresh cut mangoes while mechanics repair cycles along the side of the street. It takes patience and a keen eye to spot the green and yellow parrots flying overhead in peaceful Medellin. Professional bikers opt for the screaming Andes mountain trails waiting just outside of town.

Workers in trimmed white uniforms polish the silver metal doors of electrical panels while you sit in the Medellin metro stations. But you never get a chance to watch them for very long, as the trains buzz through every five minutes or so. This trains running on time idea might really catch on some day.

Smiling faces greet awkward visitors at every turn through the barrios. It’s safe, serene and ahead of the times here.

Coho salmon have a place to call home again in northern California, thanks to the Nature Conservancy. The Conservancy recently shelled out $14.2 million for the 4,136 acre Shasta Big Springs Ranch, including the entire length of Big Springs Creek. Big Springs Creek sits in the shadow of snow covered Mount Shasta, which feeds icy cold runoff into the stream all summer long. The cool water is an ideal environment for frisky young salmon.

Coho are more sensitive to water temperature than other salmon species, and are listed as an endangered species in California. In fact salmon populations have dwindled so severely that ocean fishing for salmon was prohibited in California and Oregon last year and will probably be banned again this year.

The Nature Conservancy’s restoration project also protects the habitat of chinook salmon, steelhead trout, Pacific and Klamath River lamprey, Western pond turtles, greater sandhill cranes, bank swallows, neo-tropical migratory birds and bald eagles. Score another one for nature lovers.

Right Whales
Arrive early to find a good spot for whale watching in Cape Cod, Massachusetts this year. Right whales are returning in force along the northeastern US coast, to the delight of binoculars merchants along the shore.

The Cape Cod guests weigh around 40 tons and were once considered the “right” whales for hunting. But the harpoons stopped flying years ago, so these waters are a lot more whale friendly these days. And Cape Cod Bay is now a tourist destination.

Irrawaddy Dolphins
Asian and American biologists were pleasantly surprised to find a population of 6,000 Irrawaddy dolphins thriving in the jungle rivers of Bangladesh. The Irrawaddy are one of the world’s rarest species of freshwater dolphins. They have big round heads and can grow up to 8 feet in length.

Irrawaddy dolphins love the brackish waters of rivers and bays in Southeast Asia. It turns out that the forests of the Sundarban at the delta of the Ganges and two other rivers on the Bay of Bengal are perfect for them.

Hillary Clinton has found a comfort zone in her new line of work. Having toured the planet as first lady and senator from New York, Ms. Clinton needs no introductions on the world stage. She can get down to business straight away wherever she goes.

In less than 100 days under Secretary Clinton, the State Department has reversed course on several key foreign policy initiatives of the previous administration. Her changes include dropping use of the term “war on terror”, sending top aides to meet with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, and now, new diplomatic contact with Iran.

Special Ambassador Richard Holbrooke held a “brief but cordial” meeting with Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Mahdi Akhundzadeh recently at a conference on Afghanistan held in the Hague, Netherlands. Foreign Minister Akhundzadeh expressed his government’s interest in working with the US and its allies to help build a more stable and prosperous Afghanistan. “Iran is fully prepared to participate in the projects aimed at combating drug trafficking and plans in line with developing and reconstructing Afghanistan.”

In other words, the US and Iran may start openly cooperating against common enemies in the region. A sustained alignment of Iran, the US and NATO would give Afghanistan time to develop its own national security structure and isolate the Taliban even further into northern Pakistan.

Afghanistan needs foreign investment secured by the Netherlands conference to help pay for schools, hospitals and infrastructure. Investments like that take years to pay off. It’s hard to envision US troops leaving Afghanistan any time soon.