Dos Toucans, Uno Parrot!

Raphael, my driver from the airport Wednesday.

I’m still not well and the nearest clinic I found today was not open, but my neighbors swear that if I take a gin and lemon juice tonight it will make me well overnight. Not sure I’m brave enough to try, but Jean Pierre said he would make it for me. (Note next morning – I declined their gin treatment and will stay in and rest today and go to clinic Monday.)

Jean Pierre & Elizabeth live next door and are from Switzerland. They speak good English. Then above me (I’m in a 1st floor apartment.) is Ivan & Eloise from Quebec. French is their language, but they do a little English. They let me share a cab to town this morning for them to get some stuff at a health food store and for me to get my cell phone activated at the ICE store, but alas, ICE was closed. It is Christmas week Saturday. Ivan cannot walk well using a crutch, so they go everywhere in taxis. It cost about a $1.80 (800 colonnes). They invited me to join them in a cab tonight to eat at Carreta’s, a popular expat hangout cafe, if it is open!

The apartment is fine, needing some maintenance which they are working on little by little. The setting is beautiful and while drinking tea on my veranda this morning I saw two toucans fly into the the trees down by the river and one green parrot fly into a tree next to the apartment building, plus many other small birds. Just not been up to trying to photograph birds yet.

Bird Photos Identified

I didn’t get as many bird photos on this trip, but then it wasn’t the purpose except for two days. Of many bird shots, I have five that are decent and have finally got each bird properly identified. The Volcano Junco is the first posting:

Click Image to Enlarge!
Chestnut-mandibled Toucan, Hotel Rio Mar
Dominical, Costa Rica

Black-billed Nightingale-thrush at Trogon Lodge
San Gerardo de Dota, Costa Rica

Resplendent Quetzal, Trogon Lodge
San Gerardo de Dota, Costa Rica

Collared Redstart, Trogon Lodge
San Gerardo de Dota, Costa Rica

Volcano Junco
Los Quetzales National Park, Costa Rica