Tuesday, June 14

The plan was to wake up early and take a trufi to Miguelito on the Chapere Road. I did wake up early. I did get myself out of bed. I did put on pants and a sock. On second thought, I went back to bed. After another 15 or 20 minutes, I re-motivated and was packed and out of the hotel by 7am. I took a cab to the trufi stop, and the driver was the same man as yesterday morning. It took some discussion to decide precisely where Miguelito was, but eventually I got in the minivan and was on my way (Bs35). There are markers at each KM, but these use a different system than those mentioned in my reference notes. The older system only has markers every 10 or 20km. I tried to align the old and new system when we passed KM40 around Corani. After the trancha, the old numbering system is signed more frequently at every 2KM.

I stopped around KM 95 and began to hike along the road. At this time of the morning (9am), the traffic was substantial and with the narrow shoulder, I was not entirely comfortable as oil tankers rumbled past within a foot or two. Nonetheless, the early birding was superb. I quickly spotted a Silver-beaked Tanager, Tropical Kingbird, Giant Cowbird, Dusky-green Oropendola, Saffron-crowned Tanager, Purplish Jay,  Lineated Woodpecker, Blue-capped Puffleg, Red-billed Parrot, Speckled Hummingbird, and Golden-eyed Flowerpiercer. 

Saffron-crowned Tanager (300mm, F5, 1/320, ISO-400)

As I worked up the road looking for a stone path (I found one that lead between two dilapidated houses and did not push further), a mixed flock of tanagers were feeding in the trees. These included: Saffron-crowned Tanager, Blue-winged Mountain Tanager, Bolivian Brushfinch, Chestnut-bellied Mountain-Tanager, and Blue-capped Tanager.

Blue-winged Mountain Tanager (300mm, F5, 1/320, ISO-400)

Continuing toward the Electric Substation trail, I found Blue-banded Toucanet and Inca Jay. Heading down the trail, I was treated with a Giant Cowbird actually perched on a cow.

Giant Cowbird (300mm, F7, 1/500, ISO-400)

As the trail made a sharp left turn, a pipeline from the right hillside crossed under the trail. This area was particularly birdy with Common Bush Tanager, Golden-eyed Flowerpiercer, Montane Foliage Gleaner and Sparkling Violetear. Walking back along the roadside, I spotted a Torrent Tryant on a boulder in a fast-moving stream and a pair of Red-billed Parrots flew overhead. From a turnout just after a rock face is (incorrectly) painted KM94, a female Masked Trogon flew into view and perched for several minutes.

Masked Trogon (300mm, F4, 1/160, ISO-400)

I stopped at the turnout where I was dropped off at 2:45pm and waited for a trufi or bus to Cochabamba. And waited. And waited some more. I sang to myself and used my two empty soda bottles to compose the first verse of a blues song. And then, I waited.

Unlike the morning, the traffic was much lighter in the afternoon and consisted mostly of tankers. When a trufi did pass, they inevitably gave a shake of their hand indicating they were full. This went on for two hours and I had already decided to accept a ride in any direction, so long as I returned to civilization. Eventually, a truck pulled over. The driver picks up empty bottles and drops off fresh cases of beer for the tiendas that line the road. He told me he couldn't take me to Cochabamba, but I asked if he would go as far as the trancha, which his route did, in fact, cover. Once at the trancha, I only waited five mintues for a bus from Santa Cruz to slow through the inspection point. I pointed at the bus driver and then at myself and then in the direction of Cochabamba. The driver nodded and I hauled over to the bus.

When I got in, the driver said I would have to stand as there were no seats. Not understanding the layout of the bus, I pointed towards what I thought was the stairs to the seats on the first level of the bus. The driver indicated that would be fine and I hopped over the passanger-side seat to find myself in the little cubby-hole that the drivers use for sleeping. This was just as good as a seat as far as I was concerned and I made myself comfortable.

Another gentleman eventually sat on the stairs leading up to the top level of the bus. He tried to engage me in conversation, but I understood nothing that he said. This is a strange fact of Spanish in Bolivia—it seems an all or nothing proposition. After much difficulty, I understood that he was asking from where I was coming. I replied with Miguelito, which, of course, he did not recognize. I explained a bit, which only led to the question of why I was there. Talking about Aves only led to another question of what about aves. I was lost until he pretended to take a picture.

This served as a real breakthrough, as I took out my camera and showed him some of the pictures I had taken. If this had been two days before, I would have been sunk, as few of my photos from San Miguel are of high quality. But, the photos of the tanagers and toucanet (tocancito) and woodpecker (carpenterio) were well received. Conversation proceeded with greater ease as I finally had the drift of the discussion to help me out. Even the driver started to chat about how he did not understand any of the English lyrics to his songs, but he liked them nonetheless.

It required almost 5 hours from the time I stopped birding to cover the 90 minute drive from the morning. Thinking that it would be impossible to catch the night bus to La Paz, I started to consider staying in Cochabamba for another night. Walking through the bus terminal, I noticed that busses to La Paz were running until almost midnight, leaving me plenty of time to return to the hotel, change clothes, repack my bag and grab a good final meal in the city. I decided to head back to La Estancia one last time, but noticed that Churrasco Tunari was actually open. Ben had mentioned this restaurant as having the best beef in the city so I altered my plans.

I was seated no more than 10 minutes when Ben and Kristina show up! They had been done in by the blockades and were only now leaving Cochabamba after a meal. We each ordered the Bife de Lomo and enjoyed a delicious meal. Around 9:45, we caught a cab to the bus terminal and I bought a ticket on the same bus on which they were traveling (Bs50).  

Bird Tally: 19 new, 17 lifers