Word: terrain
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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...just before sunrise on a recent summer morning high in the Boyaca mountains of central Colombia. Already the steep terrain was bustling with prospectors called guaqueros, or treasure hunters. They were seeking their fortunes in the Cosquez cut, a mountainside excavation rich with dazzling gems -- emeralds...
...water. Rangers are still taking inventory of plant and animal life, charting soil types and reviewing mining claims. The public has taken a role in park planning through a series of town- hall meetings. Among the suggestions: erecting campsite fences to keep out cows and banning fat-tired all-terrain bicycles from trails...
...inability of the CIA, whenever confronted with a Soviet defector, to know whether he is a font of information or a plant aimed at disinformation; and the too often paralyzing fear among senior spooks that a highly placed "mole" has compromised everything. Quammen traverses this established terrain with skill, deftly interweaving plots, achingly conveying the ordeal of a "hostile debriefing." A retired spymaster at the center of the story remarks that "history is the control of appearances." Quammen stirs readers to care about the truth behind the truth behind the truth...
...include meadowlarks, a splash of yellow on their underparts, and vermilion flycatchers, and four or five different hawks, the Cooper's sparrow hawk and the red-tailed being the most prominent. In the cottonwoods down by the San Pedro River there are eagles. And skittering across the sere terrain are deer, weasels and badgers. Beneath the dinner bell by the back door is a sign: SINGING WIND BOOKSHOP. HEADQUARTERS FOR BOOKS ABOUT THE SOUTHWEST. STUFF OF DREAMS MAKE UP BOOKS...
...Soviet bloc and the West on a propaganda tour aimed at dispelling "rumors" of intense fighting in the area. Unfortunately, the tight security around the reporters only betrayed the government's fear of the guerrillas. Soviet-made Mi-24 helicopter gunships whirred protectively overhead, sweeping across the surrounding terrain. From a distance came the echoes of explosions. And a few miles away plumes of smoke snaked into an overcast...