6/19 -- In Search of Quetzals

Up by 5:30 am, we left the hotel at 6:10 for an area where quetzals are frequently sited. They have an early breakfast of wild avocados before predator birds become active. 

These are the unripe wild avocados. Much smaller that what
people eat.

I had a horrible time spotting the first one in the tree, either with my naked eye or through my camera’s viewfinder. Even after Andres took a picture of it on my phone through his view finder, I couldn’t see it. The bright green back just disappears into the foliage. However, the first one flew and another one arrived, and they were more visible. Also, one decided to dine in the open on a phone line til a car came by and scared him off, but I did get a couple photos.

Back at the hotel , we  had breakfast, and set off on a hike to a waterfall about 9 am. As we were leaving the lodge grounds, we spotted another quetzal. 

One of the hotel owners has feeders and lots of wonderful
birds visit. Above and below

Another quetzal (above and below)

 

 

Juvenile trout in the river

The mound on the left is a vegetation covered boulder,

The falls

Jim at the falls

The waterfall hike was interesting and we crossed the river to consider hiking down to the water’s edge, but it  looked slipperier than I wanted to deal with, so several of us headed back. Without our illustrious guide, we missed one turn, but found the error and got back to the lodge in time for lunch. In the afternoon, we started to work at packing for the trip home, and I got a massage at their spa before dinner.