We spent the day walking in and near the grounds of the hotel. Our early morning excursion was to the San Gerardo de Dota forest area in search of the Quetzal (fairly rare bird). Later on we had the most interesting talk from the son of the original owner of the hotel. His family was the first to settle in this area and we were told of just how difficult it was for the family when they first settled here. No kidding- there was absolutely nothing around for miles. Their first obstacle was to actually get to the valley- of course there were no roads at the time. The patriarch of the family, don Effrain Chacon and his brother actually got lost one day and discovered the land to which they subsequently claimed as their own. I suppose in those days in Costa Rica you could just claim land without paying for it. It was hard to believe that they managed to even get close to this area as it would have been all jungle in those days and miles from the nearest settlement. They started farming, then had the good fortune to meet an American who sent them trout for the river. The family thought the trout had died but a year later there were lots of fish. At that point fisherman were attracted to the area so they started a primitive "hotel". Since the customers weren't keen on the livestock the farming gave way to a full scale beautiful lodge which has seen many additions over the years.
Here is a shot of the river near the lodge. I love the moss on the rocks. We had taken our bus over to the forest to search for the Quetzal at our usual 6 AM start. There was a large birding group waiting to see if they could spot the bird(s). I decided that instead of waiting in the cold I would wander down to the river to take some photos. Who would have thought to bring warm clothes and gloves to the tropics.
Here is a vertical view of the river and small falls.
On this shot I was trying to portray just how cold it was first thing in the morning. Of course once the sun came out it warmed up nicely. It certainly wasn't the hot, humid weather that I had been expecting. I actually needed the heater on all night long during my two nights stay in this area.
The longer we stayed out the warmer it got. The sun finally came out. Unfortunately we never did spot the Quetzal in the morning. Our group finally gave up waiting and went back to the lodge for breakfast.
Here is a photo of a rose on the hotel property.
This is a Green-Violet Ear Hummingbird. Hummingbirds are very difficult to get good photos of as the birds move very quickly. Since I did not use flash, I could not stop the movement of the wings. I also found focussing to be very challenging. I might add that as soon as I got back to Toronto I went to the eye doctor for new glasses to help with my photography.
More hummingbirds in flight.
After lunch I was fortunate to see this pretty Summer? Tananger.
A hummingbird posing for me.
On a walk after lunch we came across this abandoned row boat on the pond. I liked the look of it and the reflections. For some reason I think this picture reminds me of a poem not that I can think of a specific one.
It was decided to walk back to the forest where we had been first thing in the morning in hopes of finding the elusive Quetzals. On the way I stopped to photograph this picturesque house.
A close up view of the window.
On the way up the road we met people saying the Quetzals had been spotted where we had been in the morning. So we hurried back to the spot- everyone was very excited as these birds are not readily seen. Above you can see the male Quetzal bird. He was very far up in the tree in front of the nest and I was very far away so this is a heavily cropped photo.
This photo was taken on the grounds of the lodge when we returned after our "birding". I just liked the look of the scene.
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