I just saw an alert issued by the US Embassy concerning Cotapaxi. There has been heightened activity with the magma below since April. This combines with Pichincha and Tungurahua, as well. The whole chain of volcanos seem to be belching steam as the magma rises. God I love this. Thank you Pachamama. I know it could be a very tragic event, but such is life and I would love to witness it. This, plus El Niño! What a year it could be.
I am just back from San Jorge Tandayapa and Milpe with Luis. He has been such a good friend to have. So has Lorraine, my neighbor. It is nice to have such people when you travel alone. I met a family from Saskatoon at thier hotel near the Plaza Grande and we were picked up by Vicente, the driver for San Jorge. Within 2 hours we were in the clean, fresh air of the cloud forest at Tandayapa. The staff remembered me from last year. The hummingbirds swarmed the feeders. The birds were spectacular, once again. Our guide the first day was Miguel. The Canucks didn't speak Spanish. They barely spoke any English. Such quiet people. And vegetarians. Miguel helped me to add a few new species such as Barred hawk and Scaled fruit-eater. It was nice to exchange the sound of taxis and buses for frogs and crickets. The olinguito came with a baby. That is the species of kinkajou discovered a few years ago by Smithsonian folks. Much more interesting than the Saskatoons.
The next day we took the back roads to Milpe via Tadeo road, I think. I was after two birds in particular and the Canucks were not going to stand in my way. We reached a good birding area and stopped the van. Within 20 minutes I got both the plate-billed toucan and toucan barbet! I spotted the barbet immediately. Luis chipped his front tooth on a lens cap. He never complained.
The area of southwest Colombia and northwest Ecuador is called the Choco region and there are endemic birds found no where else. Choco toucan, Choco trogon, Choco poorwill. I got them all.
The Milpe lodge is so beautiful. I had a top floor room,windows surrounding the room. A bat flew in one night when I opened the door and windows. The sound from some of the frog species was unbelievable. Very vocal and loud. I slept very well. The Canucks left and were replaced by a retired couple from Seattle. They were very nice folks and Richard gave me a book dealing with the travel adventures of a Brit in southern Venezuela. Mary was from the Chicago area. We had a lot to chat about. Not birders, but they enjoyed our hike down to the river and falls. They saw a Harpy eagle in the Amazon at La Selva Lodge. I am so jealous. We told them how lucky they are.
We found poison dart frogs, the worlds second smallest frog, and a army ant swarm with antbirds following. I got a few stings and bites. The climb back up the trail was strenuous. I made it. There are giant snails the size of softballs. The Tayra, weasel-related animals the size of dogs came to eat the bananas. Rufous-fronted wood-quail, rose-faced parrots, purple crowned fairy. Heaven.
In all, I recorded 50 new species of birds and I am well beyond 1,000. I could never have done it without my guides. I ran out of cash at the end of the trip and I owe Luis a nice tip. He may try to fit me in on another trip to the east slope and upper Amazon next week. He told me I should visit Playa de Oro, near Esmeraldas, and Limoncocha, near Coca. In these areas I would rack up a ton of new species. I am thinking about it. I got an email from a lady about an apartment I like in Cuenca and I should get down there. Birds come first. As they should. In the meantime, a nice virgin should be chosen.
Nice virgins are hard to find!
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