Cindy Southgate's Travels

Tuesday, February 22

Today was our last day in Monteverde. We were up early as usual and made our breakfast with a combination of the food supplied in our tree house and leftovers from the fancy breakfast delivered the day before. We packed our bags and drove over to Curi-Cancha reserve where we had a tour reserved with Three Brothers tour company.

Our guide Mauricio asked what my goal was for the day and I told him that I was hoping to see a Resplendent Quetzal, as was everyone else in the park!

We began our hike and scoured the tree tops for signs of activity. There were a few other groups doing the same. We lucked out by having a private tour. Mauricio was very knowledgeable and told us many interesting things about the forest and the wildlife.

With the help of Mauricio’s telephoto lens, we were able to get these shots on my cell phone. He found a Northern Emerald Toucanet, a beautiful Collared Trogan and a Stripe-throated Hermit Hummingbird in its nest.

We continued our search for the elusive bird and enjoyed the enchanting forest. He showed us examples of the many epiphites that grow on the trees here.

After a couple of hours we heard that another group had seen a Quetzal so we headed back to join them. It was very difficult to see with the naked eye as it was high up in the trees so we were thankful for the excellent cameras and tripods that all the guides carry. Unfortunately the Quetzal refused to turn around but we were able to see his signature tail plume which can be over 60 cm long. Quetzals spend their time in tall trees or in the forest canopy. They eat large fruit and will eat an avocado whole, spitting out the pit afterwards.

Mission accomplished, we headed back to the car and prepared for our journey to our favourite resort – Tulemar! This would be our second time finishing off our Costa Rica vacation here. We had a few snacks in the car. The drive took five hours instead of four because of traffic.

After getting settled in our room, we headed up to TuleCafe for dinner. We were very excited to be back here. We both had Beef Tenderloin and Pina Coladas. (Mikes was a virgin)

We checked out the shop by the reception area and were a bit disappointed that they didn’t have any souvenirs for sale. We wandered down the street a bit and looked in a couple of small shops and then called it a day.