Today we had booked a birding tour into the rainforest with Newton George (who we found recommended somewhere on the web). We will pass on the recommendation because, though neither Alisa nor I is a birder, we got into it.
We drove up into green-covered hills with a mother-father-daughter from New York. The mother was clearly the impetus. (But hey, I'd go along with my parents' crazy whims to take awesome trips - rocks? sure...)
We started off right near the entrance to the forest, near some cows. And saw the giant cowbird. (Alisa and I both thought he was joking that the cows were the first "birds" of the day, but quickly discovered we were wrong.)
He had two extra pairs of binocular, so Alisa and I didn't miss out on anything. Highlights were definitely the pair of male manakins displaying to try to get a lady and the saber-winged hummingbird dipping down to bathe in the rainforest stream.
And the galoshes we rented to slog through the mud. Another priceless moment (though the Hello Kitty ones were too small for my feet).
Thankfully, Newton gave us a list of the birds. My list is more like "the yellow-tailed one with the funky hanging nest" (crested oropendola) and "the zebra-tailed red-bellied one that Newton loved" (collared trogan).
Though when they were still trying to spot birds at lunchtime, I was ready to take a break and just eat. Though no one ate the chicken...
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