5th e-mail
Hi everybody,well I´ll get right to it. Last wednesday i caught the bus from Tilaran to Monteverde. Although it is only 39 kms. it took 2.5 hours, at least. Needless to say the roads are terrible in this region, same in monteverde, going to the reserves takes 20 mins to go the at most 7 or 8 kms. The scenery en route to monteverde was spectacular, rolling hills covered in verdant pasture. The downside of this is that it all used to be rainforest. My first day in monteverde i went to the Monteverde reserve, caught the bus at around 6:30 and arrived just before it opened (7:00). Right from the start I could tell there would be lots of birds and other things of interest. I walked for 5-5.5 hours and saw many many birds, including a quetzal (for those of you who dont know what that is, look it up on the net, very sectacular birds). The story behind me seeing it is this; I was on th return leg and was about 5 mins. from the entrance when I saw a guide and two turistos at the side of the trail looking at something. I asked them what they were seeing and they said they were waiting for a quetzal that had been repiorted there earlier. SO Iwaited with them and within a minute(!) one showed up! It was a male in all its splendor. It was swallowing a small variety of avacado that they apparently like a lot (I can relate! Ive been eating lots of avacadoes here,mostly on bread with a touch of salt, very good). The guide explained that it takes them around 20 mins to digest these small fruits so they tend to sit in one place for that time. Well guess what, it sat in one place for at leastt 20 mins, in fact it was still there when I left. This area turned out to be the most birdy of the day as probably 20 species passed through while we(a mall crowd had gathered at the point I left. At least 10 or so people) watchedthe quetzal. Among these was an emerald toucanet (A type of toucan that lives only at fairly high elevations) and a Black Guan (a large bird related to turkeys, outside of parks very rare, due to hunting, but inside protected areas relatively common). I had and incredibly expensive lunch($9 for a panini with tukey ham and cheese!), gotta eat ya know and there werent any other restaurants nearby. Afterwards I went t othe "hummingbird gallery", an area with 7 feeders that atracts about 50 hummingbirds of seven species as well as a tiny bird called the Bananaquit. Also atracted to the hub-bub was a coati and a pair of very tame foxes. Amonst the Hummingbirds were the violet sabrewing, second largest hummer in the world (6 inches and violently violet when the light catches it) and Coppery-headed emerald which lives only in Costa Rica. After resting for an hour or so taking pics of the hummingbirds I walked a trail that led toa waterfall. Nothing spectacular but set it the very moist rainforest setting was v. picturesque. I missed the bus back to town but fortunately got a ride with a family from florida.My second day in monteverde I went to the Santa Elena reserve which is at a higher elevation and attracts less visitors, hence I had to pay $2 each way for the taxi-minivan that ran every couple hours. The day started very foggy the area was enshrouded in clouds but after half an hour at the reserve it dissipated and gave way to more cloud, though well above the tops of the mountains and hence not a problem. There werent as many birds here but it was just as spectacular as monteverde res. What the birds lacked in quantity they made up for in quality as i saw a few species that are restricted to high elevations in CR. Among these were a3 Golden-browed Chlorophonias; candy coloured birds that look like they belong on some animated kids show. While waiting for the taxi-minivan to pick me up a ranger pointed out a peccary at the other side of the parking lot. Evidently it is somewhat of a celebrity as it had a name; Charlie. Charlie ambled over to us to see if we had any food to offer, sniffing greedily at the apple in my bag. We actually got to pet him/her. Unfortunately most of the mammals Ive seen here are the individuals who, like charlie, are the local street dogs, looking for handouts around the park entrances. After a hurried dinner I took a night tour ($17, a splurge for me). It wa quite good, though I wouldn't say that it was worth $17. $10 maybe. We saw a couple very small frogs, some interesting insects( a couple leaf katydids, which do look quite a bit like leaves, except for their legs), Tarantulas(!) including one that was bigger than my hand(got some good pics)! We also saw a few raccoons, a coati and at the side of the road where we met our transportation the guide found the resident two-toed sloth! When we first saw it it was climbing along the power lines that run through the foliage!On my third day I walked to the Childrens Eternal Forest Reserve, a few kms along the road to monteverde. it is at a lowere elevation thatn the other two reserves and a lot drier, hence a differnt set of birds and critters. Saw lots of Blue Morpho butterflies, about 5-6 inches from wingtip to wingtip and very blue. I had a very entertaining time here chasing my 200th costa rican life bird (for those of you who dont know thats a bird I have never seen before in my life). Found it near the end of the day, a quite drab type of flycatcher called a Mountain Elaenia. Oh well, they cant all be toucans and quetzals. The following morning I took the 6:30 bus to San Jose, again the scenery was spectacular, even more so than the route I took coming to monteverde. at around 11:30 we arrived in San Jose and I refilled my empty wallet and my empty stomach and at 1:00 I was on my wy to vara blanca, 1.5 hours north. I missed the stop for Vara Blanca and had to trek up hill for about a km, very painful with my big pack. At vara blanca i ended up at the Hotel el Establo which cost $25, I explained I was traveling on a budget and asked if they could lowere it a bit and they were kind enough to give it to me for $20, more that I would usuallly pay biut there werent any other optioons. the people were very freindly and after dinner (and a free desert of some sort of coconut cake with syrup, incredibly good, in fact I want to ask at the restaurant where I am now if they have such a thing) the caretaker invited me to a couple games of pool, I was out of practise and he was quite good and best me 3 out of 4 games but it was a lot of fun and I helped him with his english and he helped me with my spanish. In the morning I was planning on catching the 7 oclock bus to Colonia Virgen del socorro, a well known birding area, not in the hamlet of la virgen del socorro itself but along the access road and a trail by the rio sarapiqui. the caretaker made me a good breakfaast of eggs, garlic toast and ham. He called someone to make sure the bus was at 7, it turned out that no, itr was at 8. Bummer as the later it got the less good birding I could do at la virgen. At about 8:30 I was let off at the turnoff and I lugged my pack 3/4 km. down to the river were I left it in the bushes while birding the trail then the road. one of the areas claims to fame in respect to birding I a small bird called Lanceolated Monklet which is very hard to find in Costa Rica but relativeley common at this site. As I headed down the tail I saw very few birds. In fact I only saw about 5 differnt birds here. (very) Luckily the second of these birdds was a Lancolated Monklet! DING DING DING, its a winner. It was joined by a second one after about five minutes of watchig it. The pathed crossed and foolowed numerous streams and was perhapsthe most beautiful place I have been yet, dont worry I got lots of pics. ALong the road I saw lots of birds including my first keel-billed toucans. Always cool to see a toucan. At around 1:30 I lugged my pack back up to the highway and waited for the bus. Theere were lots of vultures circling overhead, i wasnt that tired, and as I watched them I noticed one was bigger with white on it. A king vulture, spectacular,and once again I was very lucky to see a very elusive bird. As I waited for the bus a man pulled off and asked if I wanted ride to nearby San Miguel, I took it and was able to fit in Lunch before the bus arriveed. I took the bus to the hamlet of chilamate, 1 km from Selva Verde park, where I was planing on going today. There is one cheap hotel here and a few expensive lodges. My luck turned here as the cheap place wasnt open due to renovations. Bummer. But I got a ride with the owner of the hotel to just outside of La Virgen (not the same as La virgen del socorro) where she had a freind who had a few cabinas as well as a camping area. Cabinas were $20 but I took one because I really needed shower after a hot day with lots of physicxal exertion. Instead of going to Selva verde this morning I went to the Tirimbina reserve, right beide my cabina. In my guidebook ot said it costed $3 entrance. Incorrect. I had to pay $14 but really it was that or probably not do anything all day. In a way it was worth it, but still, it was more than I wanted to spend as the last two days combined hade cost me about $65! Ouch, and now today has also cost me around $35. Very bad. Anyways on the positive side at Tirimbina I saw my first poison dart frog! Red with blue hind legs, very cool and also came across my firs tArmy ant swarm! I think it was a fairly small one but there were still a lot of ants and I got a couple bites as I followed it for a bit as they often atract a lot of birds. This one didnt really, although I did see a few new birds in the area. From a birding perspective today was a succces, I did se lots of great birds. At 2 oclock I caught the bus to Puerto viejo where I am now, at the Hotel Lindo Sarapiqui. there is no internet now so I will have to save this anfd probably send it tommorow morning. I do hope I remember, as I have been writin for over an hour and a half. Tommorow I am planning on going to Selva verde, there eis a bus at 5·30. I hope everything is fine in dandy in all your worlds. Chris p. enjoy Hawaii, CHhis rich, dont drink too muchtea and eat too many british candies in Britland. All you skiiers and snowboarders, i hope the hill is kicking ass. Family, hello, I miss you, and I hope everybody has a very merrry Christmas!Hasta Luego,gump
Hi everybody,well I´ll get right to it. Last wednesday i caught the bus from Tilaran to Monteverde. Although it is only 39 kms. it took 2.5 hours, at least. Needless to say the roads are terrible in this region, same in monteverde, going to the reserves takes 20 mins to go the at most 7 or 8 kms. The scenery en route to monteverde was spectacular, rolling hills covered in verdant pasture. The downside of this is that it all used to be rainforest. My first day in monteverde i went to the Monteverde reserve, caught the bus at around 6:30 and arrived just before it opened (7:00). Right from the start I could tell there would be lots of birds and other things of interest. I walked for 5-5.5 hours and saw many many birds, including a quetzal (for those of you who dont know what that is, look it up on the net, very sectacular birds). The story behind me seeing it is this; I was on th return leg and was about 5 mins. from the entrance when I saw a guide and two turistos at the side of the trail looking at something. I asked them what they were seeing and they said they were waiting for a quetzal that had been repiorted there earlier. SO Iwaited with them and within a minute(!) one showed up! It was a male in all its splendor. It was swallowing a small variety of avacado that they apparently like a lot (I can relate! Ive been eating lots of avacadoes here,mostly on bread with a touch of salt, very good). The guide explained that it takes them around 20 mins to digest these small fruits so they tend to sit in one place for that time. Well guess what, it sat in one place for at leastt 20 mins, in fact it was still there when I left. This area turned out to be the most birdy of the day as probably 20 species passed through while we(a mall crowd had gathered at the point I left. At least 10 or so people) watchedthe quetzal. Among these was an emerald toucanet (A type of toucan that lives only at fairly high elevations) and a Black Guan (a large bird related to turkeys, outside of parks very rare, due to hunting, but inside protected areas relatively common). I had and incredibly expensive lunch($9 for a panini with tukey ham and cheese!), gotta eat ya know and there werent any other restaurants nearby. Afterwards I went t othe "hummingbird gallery", an area with 7 feeders that atracts about 50 hummingbirds of seven species as well as a tiny bird called the Bananaquit. Also atracted to the hub-bub was a coati and a pair of very tame foxes. Amonst the Hummingbirds were the violet sabrewing, second largest hummer in the world (6 inches and violently violet when the light catches it) and Coppery-headed emerald which lives only in Costa Rica. After resting for an hour or so taking pics of the hummingbirds I walked a trail that led toa waterfall. Nothing spectacular but set it the very moist rainforest setting was v. picturesque. I missed the bus back to town but fortunately got a ride with a family from florida.My second day in monteverde I went to the Santa Elena reserve which is at a higher elevation and attracts less visitors, hence I had to pay $2 each way for the taxi-minivan that ran every couple hours. The day started very foggy the area was enshrouded in clouds but after half an hour at the reserve it dissipated and gave way to more cloud, though well above the tops of the mountains and hence not a problem. There werent as many birds here but it was just as spectacular as monteverde res. What the birds lacked in quantity they made up for in quality as i saw a few species that are restricted to high elevations in CR. Among these were a3 Golden-browed Chlorophonias; candy coloured birds that look like they belong on some animated kids show. While waiting for the taxi-minivan to pick me up a ranger pointed out a peccary at the other side of the parking lot. Evidently it is somewhat of a celebrity as it had a name; Charlie. Charlie ambled over to us to see if we had any food to offer, sniffing greedily at the apple in my bag. We actually got to pet him/her. Unfortunately most of the mammals Ive seen here are the individuals who, like charlie, are the local street dogs, looking for handouts around the park entrances. After a hurried dinner I took a night tour ($17, a splurge for me). It wa quite good, though I wouldn't say that it was worth $17. $10 maybe. We saw a couple very small frogs, some interesting insects( a couple leaf katydids, which do look quite a bit like leaves, except for their legs), Tarantulas(!) including one that was bigger than my hand(got some good pics)! We also saw a few raccoons, a coati and at the side of the road where we met our transportation the guide found the resident two-toed sloth! When we first saw it it was climbing along the power lines that run through the foliage!On my third day I walked to the Childrens Eternal Forest Reserve, a few kms along the road to monteverde. it is at a lowere elevation thatn the other two reserves and a lot drier, hence a differnt set of birds and critters. Saw lots of Blue Morpho butterflies, about 5-6 inches from wingtip to wingtip and very blue. I had a very entertaining time here chasing my 200th costa rican life bird (for those of you who dont know thats a bird I have never seen before in my life). Found it near the end of the day, a quite drab type of flycatcher called a Mountain Elaenia. Oh well, they cant all be toucans and quetzals. The following morning I took the 6:30 bus to San Jose, again the scenery was spectacular, even more so than the route I took coming to monteverde. at around 11:30 we arrived in San Jose and I refilled my empty wallet and my empty stomach and at 1:00 I was on my wy to vara blanca, 1.5 hours north. I missed the stop for Vara Blanca and had to trek up hill for about a km, very painful with my big pack. At vara blanca i ended up at the Hotel el Establo which cost $25, I explained I was traveling on a budget and asked if they could lowere it a bit and they were kind enough to give it to me for $20, more that I would usuallly pay biut there werent any other optioons. the people were very freindly and after dinner (and a free desert of some sort of coconut cake with syrup, incredibly good, in fact I want to ask at the restaurant where I am now if they have such a thing) the caretaker invited me to a couple games of pool, I was out of practise and he was quite good and best me 3 out of 4 games but it was a lot of fun and I helped him with his english and he helped me with my spanish. In the morning I was planning on catching the 7 oclock bus to Colonia Virgen del socorro, a well known birding area, not in the hamlet of la virgen del socorro itself but along the access road and a trail by the rio sarapiqui. the caretaker made me a good breakfaast of eggs, garlic toast and ham. He called someone to make sure the bus was at 7, it turned out that no, itr was at 8. Bummer as the later it got the less good birding I could do at la virgen. At about 8:30 I was let off at the turnoff and I lugged my pack 3/4 km. down to the river were I left it in the bushes while birding the trail then the road. one of the areas claims to fame in respect to birding I a small bird called Lanceolated Monklet which is very hard to find in Costa Rica but relativeley common at this site. As I headed down the tail I saw very few birds. In fact I only saw about 5 differnt birds here. (very) Luckily the second of these birdds was a Lancolated Monklet! DING DING DING, its a winner. It was joined by a second one after about five minutes of watchig it. The pathed crossed and foolowed numerous streams and was perhapsthe most beautiful place I have been yet, dont worry I got lots of pics. ALong the road I saw lots of birds including my first keel-billed toucans. Always cool to see a toucan. At around 1:30 I lugged my pack back up to the highway and waited for the bus. Theere were lots of vultures circling overhead, i wasnt that tired, and as I watched them I noticed one was bigger with white on it. A king vulture, spectacular,and once again I was very lucky to see a very elusive bird. As I waited for the bus a man pulled off and asked if I wanted ride to nearby San Miguel, I took it and was able to fit in Lunch before the bus arriveed. I took the bus to the hamlet of chilamate, 1 km from Selva Verde park, where I was planing on going today. There is one cheap hotel here and a few expensive lodges. My luck turned here as the cheap place wasnt open due to renovations. Bummer. But I got a ride with the owner of the hotel to just outside of La Virgen (not the same as La virgen del socorro) where she had a freind who had a few cabinas as well as a camping area. Cabinas were $20 but I took one because I really needed shower after a hot day with lots of physicxal exertion. Instead of going to Selva verde this morning I went to the Tirimbina reserve, right beide my cabina. In my guidebook ot said it costed $3 entrance. Incorrect. I had to pay $14 but really it was that or probably not do anything all day. In a way it was worth it, but still, it was more than I wanted to spend as the last two days combined hade cost me about $65! Ouch, and now today has also cost me around $35. Very bad. Anyways on the positive side at Tirimbina I saw my first poison dart frog! Red with blue hind legs, very cool and also came across my firs tArmy ant swarm! I think it was a fairly small one but there were still a lot of ants and I got a couple bites as I followed it for a bit as they often atract a lot of birds. This one didnt really, although I did see a few new birds in the area. From a birding perspective today was a succces, I did se lots of great birds. At 2 oclock I caught the bus to Puerto viejo where I am now, at the Hotel Lindo Sarapiqui. there is no internet now so I will have to save this anfd probably send it tommorow morning. I do hope I remember, as I have been writin for over an hour and a half. Tommorow I am planning on going to Selva verde, there eis a bus at 5·30. I hope everything is fine in dandy in all your worlds. Chris p. enjoy Hawaii, CHhis rich, dont drink too muchtea and eat too many british candies in Britland. All you skiiers and snowboarders, i hope the hill is kicking ass. Family, hello, I miss you, and I hope everybody has a very merrry Christmas!Hasta Luego,gump
posted by leo at 7:51 PM
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