Friday, February 24

There wasn't much need to rush in the morning, so I woke up around 7 to pack my bag and get my things ready for the trip down to San Gerardo de Dota. Breakfast was served in a beautiful dining area, though it seemed like I was the only person staying at the hotel. After paying, I asked for directions to the bus for San Gerardo. Thus began a ridiculous tour of the city.

It would be too easy for every city to have one central bus station. Instead, bus stops are spread seemingly randomly, which seems to be more common the larger the city. I walked from corner to corner, following a new set of directions each time. This was partly my fault as my pronunciation of "Gerardo" is sufficiently poor that locals only focused on "de Dota." As a result, I was being directed to various stops for Santa Maria de Dota, which is close, but not really. Eventually, with the help of two older gentleman frantically waving their arms from a bus shelter,  I found a ticket counter. The lady informed me that the bus to San Isidro only runs once a day from Cartago and it already ran. I would have to take a bus back to San Jose.

Enough. I walked back outside and flagged down a taxi. I negotiated a price of $50 for the ride (I was actually willing to pay $60, the cost of a rental car for the day). It was a beautiful ride out of the valley and into the Talamanca Cordillera. The driver became increasingly concerned as the meter ran higher with no destination in sight. Now, I don't know why the meter was running. I just ignored it, confident in my ability to claim we negotiated a price of $50, which strikes me as a good day's pay for 75 minutes of work.in Costa Rica, even accounting for the gas. He kept wanting to stop to ask for directions and I kept repeating, "Sigue, sigue. Yo se." This was in fact true, as the turn off for San Gerardo is well marked at 80km of the Pan-American. I started counting down the kilometers for him, so he would relax.

When we arrived around 11:00am, the meter read 32,000 colones, or about $64. I figured if I asked him to actually drop me off at the hotel, I would have to pay the metered amount so I just got out there. He took out his calculator, so I removed my bag and all my stuff ASAP, lest he drive away unsatisfied (IMPORTANT TRAVEL RULE: never take out your money until all your stuff is out of a cab). I handed him $40 and 5000 colones, which would cover the $50 fare. I think the mixture of currencies confused him, so he thanked me and left. Now, I face the inevitable battle of being reimbursed for this expense without a receipt.

I started the hike down to Savegre Lodge and it is quite the downhill trek. The claim is that it is 9km, but it felt like a lot more than that. But, what a beautiful walk. Also, by dropping several hundred meters, the walk down actually provides some excellent birding. For the next 4 hours, I was treated with lifer after lifer. It started with Large-footed Finch and Yellow-thighed Finch.

The road runs along a steep hillside, so corners allowed an opportunity to look into the canopy and down onto the forest floor. At one corner, I found a Sooty Robin and Long-tailed Silky Flycatcher. Another corner yielded Black-billed Nightingale-Thrush and Black-thighed Grosbeak. At 5km, I reached Dantica Lodge, which offered an opportunity to rest and browse the collection of Latin American crafts. Sulpher-winged Parakeet flew overhead.

Black-thighed Grosbeak

Further on, I crossed the river and found a very birdy area of reeds that included Flame-throated Warbler and Collared Red-start. The road followed the river and eventually flattened out. The woods along this stretch provided Spot-crowned Woodcreeper, Tufted Flycatcher, Volcano Hummingbird, American Dipper and Collared Redstart.

The goal of coming to San Gerardo was to explore an area whose economic activity is largely centered around one resource, an abundant supply of Resplendant Quetzal. This superlative bird is a major draw for people like me and largely supports the extensive ecotourism that exists in the area. The topography of the area is remarkable and the geological history explains the high degree of endemism. Large portions of the Central American isthmus used to be covered by water. This separated the highland areas, creating sky islands, where variation in altitude(moisture) and long distances allowed for unique speciation. Interestingly, the quetzal is not endemic, just beautiful. And the area has capitalized on this fact. I think there are lessons to be learned from this model that apply broadly.

Arriving at the lodge, I was immediately greeted by a host of birds at the feeders. These included Slaty Flowerpiercer, Grey-breasted Woodwren, Flame-backed Tanager, Magnificent Hummingbird, Green Violet-ear and Grey-tailed Mountain Gem. After getting settled in my cabin at neighboring Suenos del Bosque, I returned to Savegre for a quick hike, yielding a Chestnut-capped Brushfinch and a bathing Black-faced Solitaire.

Magnificent Hummingbird

Green Violetear

The lodge at Savegre is beautiful and the bar included a reasonable happy hour and a fire place. It was the perfect spot to recover before heading back to Suenos del Bosque for a shower and dinner. And what a dinner. The main course was trucha (lake trout) with capers. There was also broccoli and carrots in an amazing butter garlic sauce. And dessert. And fresh guava juice. It was really something. The cabin is also amazing. It is large, with high ceilings and outstanding woodwork. I was puzzled by the 4 blankets on the bed until I woke up at 3 in the morning freezing.