Tag: Trogon Lodge

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Resplendent Quetzal Day

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

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

“Buena Vista” in Talamanca Mountains Above the Clouds
with a Tico friend soaking in the beauty.

A great last day and I’m exhausted with two birding hikes and the 90 minute drive back to San Jose. At dinner tonight I started a list of positives and negatives to moving to Costa Rica. I’ll share that later. I have thousands of photos, more great memories of Costa Rica, and a lot of knew knowledge about the country and the people. I have new friends here and from other places including a guy from the Netherlands today. Now I need a few days to let it all soak in and get some rest before I decide.

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Mountain Rainforest Today

My 8:00 AM ride was early, not on “Tico Time” – a very pleasant young man named Alejandro for our 90 minute ride into the TalamancaMountains and Trogon Lodge. Upon arrival, the first thing I did was put on long pants and long-sleeve shirt! It is very cool here and they have already lit the gas heater in my rustic cabin. The rain is in the middle of the day here while always in afternoon in valley and coast. But I did get to hike a couple of hours in the rainforest with only a mist. Got only one bird, but several shots of him, I think some kind of thrush; I don’t have my CR Bird Book with me. I also saw several Tropical Kingbirds but couldn’t get a shot. The star of this hike was Catarata Falls on the Sevegre River (photo}. The lodge is right on this mountain river. The staff and food are fabulous! Only 3 guests during the day but 20 young adults from Germany came in this afternoon, so the dining room will be livelier for dinner! And already is in the bar! The only WiFi hot spot is in the bar where I’m posting now before dinner. Every moment of every day is an exciting adventure! I enjoy them all!
At 5:40 AM tomorrow I meet my guide to go find and photograph the Resplendent Quetzal before breakfast. Then I will hike around the cloud forest until Alejandro returns for me at 2:00 PM, my last day in Costa Rica this time. Enjoy my mountain rainforest photos. More will be in my online gallery later.
Catarata Falls on the Sevegre River

Trogon Lodge on Sevegre River in Talamanca Mountins

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

My “Rainforest Selfie” On Best Part of the Trip!
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Birding Adventure Scheduled

Resplendent Quetzal by Charlie Doggett
Near Savegre Lodge, Talamanca Mountains, Costa Rica

I was saving all four of my personal days after the tour for business if needed, but realized I could get enough done in two and found a travel agent to set up a birding trip for my last two days. I’ll get private transportation (90 minutes) from San Jose to and from the Talamanca Mountains, Los Quetzales National Park, and Trogon Lodge on September 3 & 4. It comes with a birding guide early before breakfast on the 4th to help find and photograph another Resplendent Quetzal bird (above), the most sought after bird for birders in Central America. The photo here was made on my 2009 birding trip. Hope I get another one as good or better than this! Plus there should be trogons, hummingbirds, and many other cloud forest birds, other animals, waterfalls, and landscapes. A cloud forest is a rainforest in the mountains with mostly different species of flora & fauna than seen in the lowland rainforests.

Well, I’m excited and ready for my flight early tomorrow morning and the beginning of the Live in Costa Rica Tour. I plan to make a post tomorrow night and each night for the two weeks, with a photo of the day each night. Please send a link to this blog to anyone you know who is interested.
http://costaricadecisionprocess.blogspot.com/  This is where I will finalize my decision to move (or not move) to Costa Rica.