Colombia | A “sound path” to “see” birds with your ears

(Cali) Aveugle depuis l’âge de trois ans, Juan Gabriel Soto est désormais capable de reconnaître les oiseaux qui peuplent les riches forêts du sud-ouest de la Colombie.

Avec six autres aveugles qui se tiennent à une corde, Juan Gabriel, 39 ans, marche le long d’un sentier d’observation de 400 mètres dans la campagne proche de la ville de Cali.

Un guide audio leur apprend à reconnaître les sons des oiseaux qu’ils entendent en chemin.

« C’est une façon de voir les oiseaux avec nos oreilles […] to feel them,” says Juan Gabriel, who lost his sight to a blow to the head as a child.

“You learn little by little because there are really a lot of species and a lot of different sounds,” he adds, after taking the guided walk for the third time.

On the first round, he did not identify any birds, but over time he “learned” to distinguish the songs of the hummingbird, the capercaillie, the tanager and the sparrowhawk.

“There are birds that produce five to eight sounds. Learning to identify them, to develop this sense is a task that is not easy”, explains Stiven Santander, 29, also blind, who walks on the path following the rope.

Finally alone

With some 1,900 recorded species of birds, Colombia is the country with the greatest diversity of birds in the world, according to the Humboldt Institute.

Before taking the forest path, walkers handle plastic models of some of the birds they are going to listen to.

Attracted by small plates of food, the real, colorful flesh-and-feather birds perch on either side of the path.

According to the NGO Rio Cali, which supports the initiative, there are more than ten such educational trails around Colombia’s third largest city.

The initiative targets the “7.1% of the (local) population who have a visual impairment”, explains Herman Bolaños, of the Regional Autonomous Corporation of Valle del Cauca (CVC), the public body that supports this “inclusive tourism”.

For Juan Gabriel, the tour also offers the opportunity “to be on the trail independently, to walk alone” in the forest. “It’s the first time I’ve experienced it,” he says enthusiastically.

“Away from the city, where there is so much noise, so much pollution, you can clear your head,” adds Stiven.

According to the NGO Rio Cali, this “sound path” is the first of its kind in South America and is inspired by the story of Juan Pablo Culasso, a blind Uruguayan famous for his ability to distinguish the songs of more than 3000 birds. .

“All visually impaired people have the right and the duty to come and enjoy this space”, concludes Juan Gabriel, a smile from ear to ear.