I slept great last night, even the thundering rain on the tin roof did not wake me up. Emily told me that it had rained heavily last night. I slept like the dead and woke up for 5:30 with the alarm. The sky was mainly blue this morning with just a few overcast areas. This was our last night at La Quinta which is a well designed lodge and overall a lovely place.
After an early morning breakfast we hiked the trails on the grounds of La Quinta. Here we found the smallest trogon, the Black-throated Trogon. The bird is striking and the tail has intricate black and white. The bird gave us some great views!
WE also had Black-headed Grosbeak, Boxer Swift and Chestnut-collared Swifts. We then had to pack up our stuff and the suitcases were loaded into the minibus.
On the way north we stopped at a fast flowing river and our elevation was high enough for Dippers but no luck. We did view the Torrent Flycatcher and the Black Phoebe on the water and in and around the rocks. A Green Kingfisher was also on the rocks flying around. It was really hot here.
We continued our drive and we made a stop at the supermarket for anything anyone needed which ranged from tea, to junk food, to wine to beer and whatever. Each one of us was fully stocked. Right after leaving the area we drove by fields and someone spotted the stunning Red-breasted Meadowlark and the red was so bright, it stood out very easily in a huge field.
We drove up back to the cloud forest to see if anything was flying around in the sunny day and the thermals that would be generated. We were not disappointed. We had a Barred Hawk, and Short-tailed Hawk (both light and dark morphs).
We had lunch at a Costa Rican restaurant with great local music playing and good hearty food. We ate like usual, outside and under cover. This restaurant was on the main street of a tourist town with Luigi's Pizza and Luigi's Hotel and Casino signs. The girls in our group were looking at the Spa sign across the road which offered a special for a 75 minute massage for $35 US. This looked real interesting to us. At the restaurant, the waitress ground our coffee at the table in an old fashioned manual grinder and then made coffee at the table, adding hot boiling water to the bag of grinds filtering into another tin pot. The coffee was amazing!
From here we headed to the Arenal Volcano, about a three hour drive in total from La Quinta. The volcano was quickly visible from a great distance with the top surrounded by clouds. We did not get rained on today except for a sprinkle. There have been no eruptions of Arenal since March 2010. But it remains a "simmering volcano with steam generated by the thermal activity in the volcano's bowl.
As we drove closer the clouds disappeared and we could see the flat top of the volcano which are the sides of the bowl. We made a stop in the shadow of the volcano and we saw the Magpie Jay.
Arenal Lodge is against Arenal Volcano/Mountain. The lodge is 1.7 miles away and one can see the trails of the volcanic eruption down the side of the mountain. The roads look covered in volcanic ash and maybe that is how the ash is used. The view is stunning and to the west is a huge lake created by the hydro dam built upriver. The area is stunning and the trees are Eucalyptus and what looks like pines. The back deck of the place over looks feeding stations and everyone (birds and mammals) get a chance at fresh fruit.
The Euphonia bird below was at the feeding station and anything that is dropped to the ground, the Coati cleans up.
Once we got settled we went for a 1 hour hike and saw this poisonous Viper in a hole in a nearby fence. It was a bright yellow colour.
We met for supper at the lodge and we ordered our supper which was excellent but the continuous days of activity are catching up to everyone on the tour and by the end of the meal it was decided to delay the bird list to tomorrow. We still have an early start tomorrow, for a hike before breakfast, so an early bedtime is necessary. Today we saw a lot of different habitats but the excitement generated by seeing the volcano from a distance and then closer up, the view is amazing. We are hoping for a "bit" of activity from the volcano while we are here, but just a bit... The volcano is the nature view of the trip for me. The mountain volcano is awesome.
Barb, Emily, Sami & Lynne
After an early morning breakfast we hiked the trails on the grounds of La Quinta. Here we found the smallest trogon, the Black-throated Trogon. The bird is striking and the tail has intricate black and white. The bird gave us some great views!
On the way north we stopped at a fast flowing river and our elevation was high enough for Dippers but no luck. We did view the Torrent Flycatcher and the Black Phoebe on the water and in and around the rocks. A Green Kingfisher was also on the rocks flying around. It was really hot here.
We continued our drive and we made a stop at the supermarket for anything anyone needed which ranged from tea, to junk food, to wine to beer and whatever. Each one of us was fully stocked. Right after leaving the area we drove by fields and someone spotted the stunning Red-breasted Meadowlark and the red was so bright, it stood out very easily in a huge field.
We drove up back to the cloud forest to see if anything was flying around in the sunny day and the thermals that would be generated. We were not disappointed. We had a Barred Hawk, and Short-tailed Hawk (both light and dark morphs).
We had lunch at a Costa Rican restaurant with great local music playing and good hearty food. We ate like usual, outside and under cover. This restaurant was on the main street of a tourist town with Luigi's Pizza and Luigi's Hotel and Casino signs. The girls in our group were looking at the Spa sign across the road which offered a special for a 75 minute massage for $35 US. This looked real interesting to us. At the restaurant, the waitress ground our coffee at the table in an old fashioned manual grinder and then made coffee at the table, adding hot boiling water to the bag of grinds filtering into another tin pot. The coffee was amazing!
From here we headed to the Arenal Volcano, about a three hour drive in total from La Quinta. The volcano was quickly visible from a great distance with the top surrounded by clouds. We did not get rained on today except for a sprinkle. There have been no eruptions of Arenal since March 2010. But it remains a "simmering volcano with steam generated by the thermal activity in the volcano's bowl.
As we drove closer the clouds disappeared and we could see the flat top of the volcano which are the sides of the bowl. We made a stop in the shadow of the volcano and we saw the Magpie Jay.
Arenal Lodge is against Arenal Volcano/Mountain. The lodge is 1.7 miles away and one can see the trails of the volcanic eruption down the side of the mountain. The roads look covered in volcanic ash and maybe that is how the ash is used. The view is stunning and to the west is a huge lake created by the hydro dam built upriver. The area is stunning and the trees are Eucalyptus and what looks like pines. The back deck of the place over looks feeding stations and everyone (birds and mammals) get a chance at fresh fruit.
The Euphonia bird below was at the feeding station and anything that is dropped to the ground, the Coati cleans up.
Barb, Emily, Sami & Lynne
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