Tayrona National Park, Colombia

I visited Tayrona National Park twice during my time in the area. One day was spent at the beaches and mainly snorkeling around 'La Piscina'. The other I hiked up to the native village and saw as much of the park as I could cram. Frankly I walked so much that I got blisters despite my lovely hiking boots being extremely comfortable.

Tayrona National Park

Tayrona National Park

Tayrona National Park

My first day in the park started late because of the massive lines to get in the the fact the park doesn't even open its gates until 8am and also shitty. By that I mean I actually got pretty much full force shat on by a Yellow-crowned Night Heron.

Yellow-crowned Night Heron

The crowds flock to the beaches and the trails are busy. The beaches you can't swim at are completely empty but the few where it is safe to swim are packed with people. On a few rocks far away from people there were terns, vultures, kingfishers and grackles.

Royal Tern

Black Vulture

The boardwalk areas on the trail to Arrecifes Beach were great places to see Rainbow Whiptails and Skinks.

Tayrona National Park

Rainbow Whiptail

Monkeys were also really common to see on the trails and these Santa Marta White-fronted Capuchin (Cebus albifrons ssp. malitiosus) and Howler Monkeys were pretty easy to get a good view of. 

Santa Marta White-fronted Capuchin (Cebus albifrons ssp. malitiosus)

The trail up to the village is steep and rocky but very well maintained. It is not an easy trail but it is beautiful. On the afternoon hike we saw pretty much the same things that I had seen at Kankui Hostal and along the river but there were so many geckos climbing over the rocks.

Yellow-headed Gecko

Koh Lanta, Thailand

We arrived in Koh Lanta by bus that was supposed to drop us off at our hotel but mixed up the names. Kantiang View vs Kantiang Bay View is pretty easy to confuse but we had to walk up a hill to Kantiang View just to be told we were in the wrong place and then had to ask the other hotel to come pick us up. Luckily they were very very nice about it and picked us up right away.

Kantiang Bay View, Koh Lanta, Thailand

Koh Lanta Beach at Kantiang Bay

Koh Lanta was not exactly what I expected. I was hoping that the further we went down the island the more we would be on a secluded beach surrounded by wildlife. There were a lot of tourists and a lot of resorts along the beach. That being said just our first afternoon sitting around and relaxing we saw a lot of birds including Greater Coucal, Brahminy Kite, Eurasian Tree Sparrow, Indian Roller, Pacific Reef Egret, Chinese Pond Heron, Common Myna, Zebra Dove, Green-billed Malkoha, Dollarbird, Common Sandpiper, Intermediate Egret, Olive-winged Bulbul, Dark-necked Tailorbird, Common Iora, Coppersmith Barbet, Swallow sp., Olive-backed Sunbird and Large-billed Crow.

Common Iora

Female Indian Roller

The rivers in the area was quite dried up but a Common Water Monitor was eating fish trapped in small pools of water and at night a few frogs and toads were in the wetter parts.

Asian Common Toad (Duttaphrynus melanostictus)

The reef outside the hotel had a lot of fish but you had to go pretty far out along the rocks to see anything cool and the coral isn't very spectacular. I saw a massive puffer fish approximately a meter long and an adorable pair of clown fish on an anemone. My favorite fish that was common was these little black and turquoise tangs (I think they are babies).

Tiny crab making an intricate design on the beach

Crab-eating Macaques are all over the island and we saw them from our room, along the road and all over the National Park. The National Park is quite lovely with some amazing views but the hiking trail is actually a fairly short loop and the majority of the park you can access is manicured. Because we got into an motorcycle accident on the way and then stopped to take photos of the Macaques (who actually jumped on the bikes) we had a much later start than desired and birding was quiet. There were a few Commonn Sun Skinks and Oriental Garden Lizards along the trails and Water Monitors in the ponds of the park.

Crab-eating Macaque

Koh Lanta National Park Map

Koh Lanta National Park, Thailand

Common Sun Skink (Eutropis multifasciata)

The park closes quite early and we didn't have a chance to go snorkeling here but I hear it was better than other places on the island. I think that maybe Thailand is a place where going out diving in one of the best locations might actually be worth it but maybe it was just around Koh Lanata that the reefs were a bit far away or hard to find.

My favorite trail was actually up to a waterfall between our hotel and Bamboo Beach. They charged 20B for safe parking but you can just drive past this and park at the trailhead for free if you aren't worried. The trail is a loop that is a bit rocky in places and since many broken flip flops littered the trails I believe it is best to wear something more appropriate for a hike. In dry season the trail goes to right along the river up to the waterfall and you can actually hike up the river above the waterfall to areas with small pools of water. These are lovely for a quick dip or relaxing in while it's hot. They have very chilly water and some small fish and crayfish were living in them.

Waterfall in dry season, Koh Lanta, Thailand

 Along the other side of the loop the bat cave has a large entrance just off a small short branch of the trail. Despite the large entrance you can't actually walk very far into the cave. You can hear the bats but at first you can't really see any of them. We went up in the evening and actually got to see the bat coming out of the cave. They started to come out slowly and were perching around the entrance. It wasn't really like movies where they come out in a large swarm.

Flying Lizard (Draco sp.)

Sheath-tailed Bat (Family Emballonuridae)

The herping on the way back along the trail that evening was also quite good. It was mostly geckos and two species of frogs with a few toads. One large species of gecko got away from me as I slipped on a wet root right when I saw it. It was a stunning contrast of black and white stripes. Not as big at a Tokay Gecko but larger than any of the house geckos. Most of the frogs along the river were Rain Frogs but around the dam green frogs with black stripes were more common. Some frogs were calling from higher up in vegetation but it was impossible to find one lower down. My herp list from that night included Green Paddy Frog, Asian House Gecko, Blyth's River Frog, Common Asian Toad, Tokay Gecko, Flat-tailed House Gecko, Limborg's Frog and Three Lined Grass Frog.

Pegu Forest Gecko (Cyrtodactylus peguensis)

Green Paddy Frog (Hylarana erythraea)

Blyth's River Frog (Limnonectes blythii)

It is very hard to get food early in the morning. Koh Lanta is definitely on island time not birding time. The 7-11 on the corner down from our hotel was actually a god send for this reason. I thought I wanted to be in the middle of nowhere on a secluded island but getting some coffee and a bite to eat before early morning walks was definitely appreciated. In terms of food the Drunken Sailor was the best food we had on the island but everywhere had pretty similar menus and prices from what we saw.  The Drunken Sailor had the best smoothies with my favorite being the yellow submarine with mango and banana.

Salt Springs Campground, Ocala National Forest

Ocala National Forest at Salt Springs Campground was empty compared to the booked up campground in Anastasia State Park. They don't allow reservations and it is strictly a first come first serve basis. The park staff is really friendly and helpful and if they know you will be getting there a bit late they are willing to stay open for you.

Bear Swamp Trail, Salt Spring Campground in Ocala National Forest

The bear swamp trail is a nice short loop through some swamp and sandy forest. It is a beautiful area and looks like great habitat for all kinda of wildlife but we didn't see anything other than birds. There are a lot of black vultures in the sky with crows, woodpeckers and bluebirds in the trees. The recent high winds had blown town a few trees and cracked some parts of the boardwalk. Luckily none of the massive cypress trees had fallen or the boardwalk would have been very smushed and impassible.

Orange trees grow really well here and Beka and I went foraging for oranges in a big tree that was very... fruitful. The oranges were the best oranges I have ever had.

Fresh picked Florida oranges

The spring wasn't what I expected since the shoreline is built up. I understand that this is probably because large numbers of visitors were having a negative effect and eroding the shorelines. The water is crystal clear and you can walk out to where the water is coming out of cracks in the rocks. Massive fish are swimming around and some are even leaping out of the water.

Salt Springs in Ocala National Forest

In the winter manatees come up the rivers to the various springs in central Florida to get into warmer waters. Blue Springs State Park is one of the better known areas where you can see 100s of manatees at once in the river and spring. Unfortunately this is again a very busy area and required booking in advance. Luckily we did encounter some manatees at Salt Spring Campground. A few of them even came right up to us while we were swimming!

Manatee, Ocala National Forest in Florida

The experience with the manatees was surreal and definitely worth visiting this park. I wish I had brought my snorkeling equipment because I would love to be able to see them better and just opening my eyes underwater (yes you can do this because the water is fresh) isn't really the best view.

During our time in the water we did see a manatee that had been hit by a boat and was dead on the shoreline. The river is supposed to be idle boating only so that the boats go very slowly and the manatees have time to get out of the way and there are signs telling people to watch out for them. They also have specific ways to avoid stressing out the manatees, ie. don't chase them, don't try to ride them, let them come to you and don't surround them. Make sure they always have a way to get away if they want to and if they want to then let them get away. Luckily they are quite friendly and curious creatures so if you are patient and quiet they will likely come right up to you!

Jamaica- Day 7

So it's my last morning in Jamaica and I am determined to at least do a short walk around the town as my last attempt to see some birds. I didn't see much other than a lot of American kestrels, doves, pigeons and mockingbirds. There was also another Bananaquit.

The most interesting thing I observed was a hummingbird trying to scare off an American Kestrel.

 But the kestrel ultimately ignored it completely.

Unknown bush

Bananaquit

 And as every morning the lizards are out sunning themselves in the trees

Unknown lizard

The late morning was spent on the beach again and snorkeling. I was out in the water for over two hours and  I had more success on my own in scattered reef than I did on the large busy reef tour.

This was my first interesting find of the day and probably my favorite. 

Spotted moray eel and small reef fish

 

 I didn't see this founder until I scared it. Then I watched as it tried to catch small fish for lunch.

Peacock flounder

 There were a lot of puffer fish scattered through the sea grass beds.

As I looked back to see the moray again he was trying to catch some small fish. It made for a good pictures so I couldn't resist.

Spotted moray

 I barely noticed these lobster barely sticking out from under a shelf of old reef. It was tempting to grab one for my own lunch.

Spiny lobster

 I saw this gorgeous fish that I didn't recognize. Turns out it is a juvenile french angelfish. They start to swim in odd ways when they are trying to get away from you. This one turned itself horizontally. Maybe this scares away predators somehow?

 Anemones are pretty common on the chunks of reef here and there were multiple species around. This one I found particularly beautiful. There are tangs and a blue headed wrasse in the background.

 This small fish actually followed me back to shore for some reason that still baffles me.

 Another juvenile french angelfish.

Juvenile french angelfish

 OOoops I scared him... but it made him even cuter to take pictures of.

Puffer fish starting to puff up.

 There were a lot of urchins in the sea grass and they attached the grass, bits of shell and other things to themselves. I even saw an urchin wearing a dead urchin shell.

 Another small ray that is the same species as the large one seen before.

 

Sadly this is my last day in Jamaica but I do plan to return to find the Jamaican owl and many other species that I did not see on this trip as well as to visit the many friends I made. I also an very interested in seeing more of the country since most of my trip was spent very close to Negril. The luminescent bay is one place where I am very interested in seeing next time I go. It is famous for bioluminescent zooplankton that glow when you swim.


My advice for anyone visiting Jamaica:
1) Try authentic local food or do one better get them to teach you how to cook it like I did!
2) Rent a car or motorcycle and see the countryside. If you do this. Honking is a very common way of saying I'm here when backing up, taking tight turns, passing etc.  Also cop cars are not always well marked but they will usually be standing outside of their cars in uniform. 
3) Relax and watch the wildlife
4) Do day trips out of wherever you're staying (I didn't do this as often as I would have liked)
5) If you're a girl and not comfortable with foreign strangers talking to you... travel with a guy.
6) Jamaican hospitality is amazing if you can get them to stop treating you like a tourist and treat you as a friend.