PHOTOS: Macaws offer feathered 'therapy' to suffering Venezuelans
CARACAS, Venezuela — Looking for an escape from the daily realities of crisis-ridden Venezuela, Carmen Gomez finds solace receiving visitors on the roof of her Caracas apartment building every morning: groups of blue and gold macaws that arrive at daybreak.
Gomez, a 49-year-old alternative medicine therapist, sat one bright morning in May on top of her 11-story building with a can of sunflower seeds and a tray of bananas to await their arrival.
After nearly an hour, two macaws landed on the roof. A third swooped out of the sky and casually perched on her head — releasing two of the typical squawks that often resonate across the city.
"This one decided that she's mine — or rather that I'm hers," said Gomez, who noted she recognizes the bird because of a mark on its beak. "I think they've turned into the therapists of Caracas," she said, unfazed by the bird impatiently pecking her forehead as she peeled a banana.
Long described as a bright spot in a city that has been in decline for years, Caracas's macaws have become a mechanism of escape from the daily grind of finding potable water, struggling with collapsing internet and avoiding crime-ridden streets. (Reuters)
Read full story by Brian Ellsworth and Vivian Sequera
Photography by Manaure Quintero/Reuters
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