Today we got going with a 6:00 am wake up call to get ready for our ride to Bellavista Cloud Forest. We have a nice continental breakfast and then our ride is here to take us along with two other groups to the cloud forest. The ride is two hours long and about an hour in my stomach is starting to threaten a revolution as we continue along some very windy roads but I let it know who is boss and as I close my eyes, and fan my face to keep cool, I miss most of the scenic ride up. But I am back in control and can open my eyes for the last 20 minutes of our ride which is on an uphill winding dirt road. I'm not sure why my stomach didn't rebel here but I was glad to make it in one piece with my breakfast still safe inside of me. And to think I was worried about seasickness - ha!
We get settled into our room and meet out guide Nelson. The reserve is so nice and tranquil with several hummingbirds racing about and feeding around us and we are instantly relaxed.
Nelson explains to us the agenda. We are to go to the mud room and find appropriate boots and then we will meet for our first hike which will be 3 hours long. Dave gives me that look and I know he is again wondering why he let's me talk him into anything!
But, we find boots that fit, grab a walking stick and head out with Nelson and the other 2 couples that we rode up with. One of the couples is from Seattle and the other from Hong Kong.
Nelson starts by telling us all about the hummingbirds and that they have 10 species at the cloud forest. He rambles off the names of many while we are at the feeders but I don't remember any of them but they are all beautiful and some are quite large with a few smaller versions and one that has what looks like white boots and a really long tail with blue on the end. Trying to get pictures while they buzz about proves challenging but we may have gotten a few.
Overall the hike is not too bad and there are not too many steep areas which is not really for Dave and I. Nelson shows us many of the plants and how some are used for paint such as red, purple and yellow and other are medicinal. We use the berries from one plant and crush them and use it for bug repellent. We cut into the bark of a tree and reveal devils blood (yes, it looks like blood) which we rub on our skin and it turns white and we're told it is like an antiseptic and it is instantly sticky and then almost immediately smooth on the skin where it was rubbed. There were plenty of vines, ferns and moss growing everywhere including all over the trees. Among some of the plants and flowers is one called Mother-In-Law tongues which is a round cropping of leaves that look a bit like tongues and at the ends are red and underneath this group of leaves are these spectacular tubular flowers that grow in such a way under these leaves that you do not see them otherwise and only the birds with very curved beaks can get to the nectar of these flowers.
After a long but enjoyable hike we are back at the lodge and lunch is served. First is a vegetable soup with clear broth and several veggies such as carrots, squash, cauliflower and radishes and it's quite good. The main course is rainbow trout caught down in the village with some sweet teriyaki type sauce on it and it was very good. This was all topped off with chocolate pudding.
Lunch was very good and we had a little time to rest before our next hike.
We meet at the hummingbirds again and Nelson tells us that we are taking a difficult hike to go see this nocturnal bird that they recently found that camouflages itself in this tree. Once again I can feel Dave staring into my back. So, we head out onto the road and Nelson shows us this trail that looks like it is completely vertical but he does tell us that we can go around and it is a little less steep so we opt for that route. The trail that we take is still a bit steep but we make it OK and we get to the area where this bird is and at first we're looking towards him and he is perched on this dead tree stump but he's high enough up and far enough away that it looks like all we can see is his little head and beak....well, that was a waste of hike. Then we start to angle past him and he comes into shape and what we thought was tree from the frontal view clearly shows us now that the bird is actually quite large and perched on this tree and now we feel a little better about taking this long trek to come see him. It really was amazing how well he blended in and the once you could really see him, how big he was.
Now we are a bit tired and get to take a break before dinner and Dave and I jump on the chance to chill out in the room for a while.
Dinner is as good as lunch with a creamy potato soup and then a nice shrimp and linguine dish that had a sauce made of local flavors. Dessert was a type of banana bread cake that was very good as well. We had nice conversation with the couple from Hong Kong as they had also been to Africa but in Namibia and they did a self drive safari. We shared stories and pictures of our trips while we enjoyed dinner.
Nelson then told us that we had to be at the hummingbird feeders at 6:15 tomorrow morning and once again I feel the grief from Dave who is confused as to why when we are vacation, do I have him working so hard! But it should be worth it because this is the best time to see the birds.
So, a nice hot shower and then it is time to get some rest for another filled day tomorrow.
We get settled into our room and meet out guide Nelson. The reserve is so nice and tranquil with several hummingbirds racing about and feeding around us and we are instantly relaxed.
Nelson explains to us the agenda. We are to go to the mud room and find appropriate boots and then we will meet for our first hike which will be 3 hours long. Dave gives me that look and I know he is again wondering why he let's me talk him into anything!
But, we find boots that fit, grab a walking stick and head out with Nelson and the other 2 couples that we rode up with. One of the couples is from Seattle and the other from Hong Kong.
Nelson starts by telling us all about the hummingbirds and that they have 10 species at the cloud forest. He rambles off the names of many while we are at the feeders but I don't remember any of them but they are all beautiful and some are quite large with a few smaller versions and one that has what looks like white boots and a really long tail with blue on the end. Trying to get pictures while they buzz about proves challenging but we may have gotten a few.
Overall the hike is not too bad and there are not too many steep areas which is not really for Dave and I. Nelson shows us many of the plants and how some are used for paint such as red, purple and yellow and other are medicinal. We use the berries from one plant and crush them and use it for bug repellent. We cut into the bark of a tree and reveal devils blood (yes, it looks like blood) which we rub on our skin and it turns white and we're told it is like an antiseptic and it is instantly sticky and then almost immediately smooth on the skin where it was rubbed. There were plenty of vines, ferns and moss growing everywhere including all over the trees. Among some of the plants and flowers is one called Mother-In-Law tongues which is a round cropping of leaves that look a bit like tongues and at the ends are red and underneath this group of leaves are these spectacular tubular flowers that grow in such a way under these leaves that you do not see them otherwise and only the birds with very curved beaks can get to the nectar of these flowers.
After a long but enjoyable hike we are back at the lodge and lunch is served. First is a vegetable soup with clear broth and several veggies such as carrots, squash, cauliflower and radishes and it's quite good. The main course is rainbow trout caught down in the village with some sweet teriyaki type sauce on it and it was very good. This was all topped off with chocolate pudding.
Lunch was very good and we had a little time to rest before our next hike.
We meet at the hummingbirds again and Nelson tells us that we are taking a difficult hike to go see this nocturnal bird that they recently found that camouflages itself in this tree. Once again I can feel Dave staring into my back. So, we head out onto the road and Nelson shows us this trail that looks like it is completely vertical but he does tell us that we can go around and it is a little less steep so we opt for that route. The trail that we take is still a bit steep but we make it OK and we get to the area where this bird is and at first we're looking towards him and he is perched on this dead tree stump but he's high enough up and far enough away that it looks like all we can see is his little head and beak....well, that was a waste of hike. Then we start to angle past him and he comes into shape and what we thought was tree from the frontal view clearly shows us now that the bird is actually quite large and perched on this tree and now we feel a little better about taking this long trek to come see him. It really was amazing how well he blended in and the once you could really see him, how big he was.
Now we are a bit tired and get to take a break before dinner and Dave and I jump on the chance to chill out in the room for a while.
Dinner is as good as lunch with a creamy potato soup and then a nice shrimp and linguine dish that had a sauce made of local flavors. Dessert was a type of banana bread cake that was very good as well. We had nice conversation with the couple from Hong Kong as they had also been to Africa but in Namibia and they did a self drive safari. We shared stories and pictures of our trips while we enjoyed dinner.
Nelson then told us that we had to be at the hummingbird feeders at 6:15 tomorrow morning and once again I feel the grief from Dave who is confused as to why when we are vacation, do I have him working so hard! But it should be worth it because this is the best time to see the birds.
So, a nice hot shower and then it is time to get some rest for another filled day tomorrow.
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