El Dorado EcoLodge, Colombia

We left Hotel Minca around 10am with a company called Silvana Travels that drives up the dirt road to El Dorado EcoLodge. I wouldn't reccomend driving yourself unless you have 4-wheel drive and a lot of patience for slow driving and letting oncoming traffic pass on a road that is about 1-1.5X a car width. The EcoLodge is up high on the mountain and you take the winding dirt road up for about 2-3 hours to get there.  It's not that far for distance but just the road conditions make it quite slow.

El Dorado EcoLodge, Colombia

El Dorado EcoLodge, Colombia

The ecolodge is very secure with a door that you actually can't open so you have to knock to get let in and basically that means not going out at night at all because there is nobody at the desk past 10pm.

El Dorado EcoLodge, Colombia

But anyways the first impression of the lodge was wonderful. You walk into the wood building and they offer you tea or coffee and since we arrived at lunch we got to sit and eat lunch while we waited a little bit for our room. The view through large windows is a lush green garden and the cabins just before the sloping forest beyond. The garden is full of hummingbird feeders, fruit feeders and seed feeders. This is definitely a place for birds because the garden in swarming with them.

Crowned Woodnymph

Santa Marta Brush-finch

Blue-napped Chlorophonia

Crowned Woodnymph and a bromeliad flower

Brown Violetear

Our first hike was the Quetzal Trail up to the cabins. It is a really nice trail through forest and crossing a few streams. I found a large rock surface with 3 snake skins and some very tiny brown frogs around the streams.

Where the trail opens up into a more scrubby area near the cabins a long thing brown snake with a lighter brown stripe pretty much jumped off in front of me and slithered away before I  could even turn on my camera. Imagine a snake coming straight off that ledge you see to the left of the photo like a bat outta hell. Well I bet it was curled up and enjoying the sunshine before we scared the wits outta it.

El Dorado EcoLodge, Colombia

El Dorado EcoLodge, Colombia

Tiputini... Almost

Birds were calling very early this morning and the hotel was quite as I walked around the grounds. Common Squirrel monkeys were around the hotel no doubt waiting for the breakfast food to be handed out.

Saddle-backed Tamarin

Along with the monkeys these were also frequent that morning:
Smooth-billed Ani
Spotted Sandpiper
Blue and White Swallows
Wren sp.
Snowy Egret

Great Egret

Great Egret
Saddle-backed Tamarin

The boat for the research station arrived and walking down the stairs to the boat my mother missed a step and her ankle dislocated and broke. People were very helpful and leaving our bags at the hotel we got into an ambulance and went to the hospital in Coca. This was definitely an experience to say the least. I think I know enough Spanish to get by in other countries but when I needed it most (because nobody spoke a word of English) it all disappeared from memory. After multiple X-rays an army doctor comes in. He is very nice and tries very hard to communicate with actions and simple words. He pops the dislocated ankle back into place and more X-rays show that the break is serious and needs surgery. They can't do it in Coca and say the only place is Quito but she will not be able to move for a month and couldn't fly out for at least a few weeks. We opt to take a tonne of last minute flights to get back to Ottawa for the surgery. Seven flights later we are home and I am glad she is having the surgery in a hospital with running water.

We never got to Tiputini Research Station but we will be back to finish our trip some day.

Costa Rica 2011 Part 2: Cahuita National Park

We spent most of the days at Cahuita National Park walking the trails and snorkeling on the reefs. Unfortunately my waterproof camera broke so I have no pictures of the reef.

We walking along the trails and you could see beach almond palm trees growing into the wind to help with seed dispersal.Leaf cutter ants follow distinct lines across the trails guarded by their soldiers. They use these leaves to grow a fungus in their nests. We searched for bats hidden in coconut leaves and found empty tents created from chewing the secondary veins but none held bats.  We did see five bats hanging onto a tree by the river.

There were some interesting snakes that I had never seen before. 

Vine snake, we actually got to see one of these guys grab onto another ones head. Possibly was trying to eat it?

Eyelash vipers came in many colours but these ones were found the most because they stood out so much

We saw large groups of howler and white faced monkeys. They were eating monkey guava fruit which is very fragrant and has long white flowers. A female would be seen leading the group and the alpha male would be seen at the back. Two toed and three toed sloths were seen moving very slowly or sleeping in trees. Some white faced monkeys got very very friendly.  Yes it is on my head and succeeded in opening up my backpack and pulling out my flip-flops. This was a pretty surprising but kinda cool experience.

The tour guide is poking it with a stick trying to get it off of me.

They are adorable when not trying to steal your shoes!

Baby howler monkey

Pair of herons

 This park, although not very big, holds so much life that is right in front of you. We didn't even need to go out looking for things but saw them right from the trails.

The reef was also spectacular but you could see that it was quite damaged. Its a very good thing this area is now protected. The reef had a lot of interesting thing including Caulerpa (sea grapes), turtle grass, Verongula (vase sponges), fire coral, polychaete worms and fire worms. Gorgonian corals or sea fans were seen swaying back and forth with the waves.Spiny lobsters were hiding under the coral during the day. Long spined sea urchins were seen all over the reef.

As I glided over the reef many juvenile yellow tailed damsel fish with their bright blue spots were seen on elk horn corals.  Sergent majors, blue tangs and grunts were seen in schools around the reefs edges. Stoplight, queen and rainbow parrotfish were seen nibbling away at the reef as cleaning gobies eat off of them. A large tree underwater was home to some porkfish and sharpnose puffer fish.