I had seen the center of Pereira yesterday during my desperate search for the battery charger and I wanted to go again today with more time, a better mood and a full battery. The time to recharge the battery took longer and longer every day but the battery had to last until I have a quote for the cost of repair. I had the perfect technician yesterday at the electronics dealer; he was very professional and very knowledgeable and had given me already an idea of the problem; the circuit board in the body of the camera had a defect, probably due to humidity or rain and did not transmit the signal ‘Camera off’ or ‘Stand by’ anymore, a problem that can be fixed but may be too expensive. Seriously, honestly, unfortunately, I needed a new camera.

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Pereira was not the most historic city and maybe not the best organized city but I liked the atmosphere in the center. Pereira was full of life, full of people, the streets were extremely busy and so were the squares, the squares at the churches, the town hall or the regional government.

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I noticed the extreme contrast of rich and poor in the streets and so today would become the day to overcome my barrier to take direct pictures of people, today mainly poor people; some have an incredible expression, more intense and meaningful than most actors or politicians. I was sad about the amount of poor people but was animated as a photographer.

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I walked up and down the streets all morning, had my first Colombian potato at a place I had noticed yesterday because of the amount of sauces available. I had only 1 potato but with 8 different sauces; pepper, garlic, mustard, pineapple, mango, maracuja, tomato and guacamole. For the afternoon I had the choice to go to the Zoo or to the nearby historical mountain village of Salento. I decided for the Zoo and walked in the midday heat for about 3 kilometers to the airport, had a quick look inside, had a drink and continued to the entrance of the Zoo which was just opposite.

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I saw a security but something was wrong, the parking of the Zoo was empty, the main entrance gate of the Zoo was closed, the counter of the Zoo was closed. I thought a Zoo does not close for lunch, never ever but maybe this was the case. The story of the famous Zoo of Pereira was, that the famous Zoo of Pereira was shut down definitely.

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Theoretically I still had the time to make it to Salento but now I did not want to spend 15.000 Pesos for maybe just driving back and forth. I had now all afternoon to take pictures of the activities in the streets, at the squares, the restaurants and the churches. I had the time but I did not have a full battery. I had to search for a plug first and found one in the children game center on the third floor of the shopping mall opposite the Bolivar square.

I spent 20 minutes and gained 40 minutes of battery, enough to walk the square several times and visit the church. I went back to the shopping mall spent another 20 minutes and gained 39 minutes of battery, enough to walk the square again and again. The square now in the evening sun was the meeting point for artists, chess players, balloon sellers, ice cream stands and a Gringo.

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I had enjoyed my day watching people but I hated watching at the battery meter and realize that every time I watched the energy percentage had gone down. I walked back to the bus terminal. I had found a bench in the waiting area on the second floor which was close enough to a plug and with views to a Tv. A lot of the modern buses had Wifi and their parking area was exactly opposite that same bench; I had to switch Wifi each time a bus left the parking but the bench was definetely the cheapest cyber within the bus terminal. The bench just 2 rows further up had been the bench for the night yesterday and would be the bench again for tonight. Happy birthday Mother!

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