Thursday November 17th - El Día Fantástico

Hopefully even people in Karnataka will be able to work out this title.

R would like to thank everybody for their expressions of concern. Today was not at all physical and she claims to be on the mend. 

Our day begins before sunrise which serves the noisy beggars next door absolutely right. Luckily the Mitsubishi is smart enough to know when to turn on the lights and off we go for the 3 km drive to the Jungle Crocodile Safari compound on the banks of the Tarcoles River. It all seems quiet but a man on the road outside tells us where to go. Inside we meet Juan Carlos who is our guide and skipper for our private Birding Boat Safari. He leads us down to the dock and helps us board our boat. It is about a 48 seater but we have it to ourselves today.  He tells us that we can sit anywhere but if we sit close to the front he can talk to us about birds. As soon as we are on the river there are birds everywhere. Some we have seen before but not as close as here, others are totally new to us. We hear a loud growling noise and JC points out a Bare-throated Tiger Heron in full breeding plumage.

There are herons galore as well as Black Hawks and a Grey Hawk. From a dead tree an Osprey surveys the landscape. JC asks R what kind of bird she likes and she mentions Kingfishers. He tells us that Costa Rica has six kinds of Kingfisher and five of them can be found on this estuary. Within ten minutes he has found three of them for us.

This one is a Ringed Kingfisher, the largest New World Kingfisher. The others are Belted, Amazon, Green and American Pygmy. After heding upstream for an hour we turn around and head towards the sea. R disgraces herself by identifying flamingos. Any fule kno that there are no flamingoats in Costa Rica. They are Roseate Spoonbills with a Wood Stork on the right. We also spot the fourth kind of kjngfisher.

As we get closer to the sea there are more seabirds such as Royal Terns and Laughing Gulls as well as acres of small waders that were too far away to identify. The trees on the north bank of the river were packed with large birds such as Pelicans, Cormorants and Magnificent Frigate Birds, the latter including some breeding males displaying bright red throat pouches.

The final section of our tour was up a creek into the mangrove forest. We pass a pair of crocodiles performing their mating ritual. JC tells us that this is a rare sight and actually spends time filming it on his phone. A bit further up the creek he spots the fifth kingfisher, the American Pygmy,  which poses beautifully and now we have the full set.

We head back to the jetty having had a super two and a half hour's cruise. We thank our skipper profusely and head back to Villa Lapas to have breakfast and pack. Our schedule today is a drive down the coast for a couple of hours to our next overnight. We decided to call in at Herradura Beach, the other suggested spot for Scarlet Macaws. Following roadsigns takes us into some sort of shanty town. Gertie Google does a decent job up to a point then tries to guide us into some kind of exclusive gated resort. We ignore her protests and continue down the main street to the beach and park up. No Scarlet Macaws but we do get to see Brown Pelicans fishing.

Our next job is to book in some laundry for collection on Saturday morning. R pleads infirmity and D has to fly solo. Hopefully it went well. We will find out on Saturday. Our digs for the next two nights are at the Hacienda Baru, a few km north of the town of Dominical. This place has its own nature reserve as well as the best swimming pool we have seen yet. The staff are very friendly and chatty, keen to improve their English. On a bush outside our front door we see this male/female pair of Blue Dacnis.

In the cause of rehabilitation R decides that we must make the most of the pool, which we have to ourselves. Catering here does not run to free gratis cocktails but it is a pleasant surprise when we are told that we get a drink included with our supper. The food is simple but good and rounds off a splendid day.