Searching for
Trogan

Trogan Lodge - (54) more edit 2007-10-26 - rec# 520

Trogon Lodge is located in San Gerardo de Dota, near Cerro de la Muerte, Costa Rica's highest peak. We went there to do some bird watching, hoping to see the Resplendet Quetzal. This area is known for it's huge bird population. As the rainy season is trying to begin in Costa Rica we packed for rain and mud, went to town to catch the bus and were off. The bus drops you off at kilometer marker 80 up in the mountains and you hope there is a ride waiting for you to take you down to the lodge. There was, and we descended down one of the steepest roads I've been on, in his 4x4 jeep. When we arrived we noticed the large number of fire places. Two in the restaurant and one in each of the rooms. With all the time I've spent in Costa Rica these were the first I've seen (at least that worked!). We were at about 7,500 ft and would soon discover that we would need these sources of warmth in the evenings. I at least DID pack ONE long sleeve shirt, otherwise, as usual, I packed entirely incorrectly. I needed jackets and shirts, not extra pants and socks. The lodge has several trails behind it and we took some time on Sunday to explore. I kept thinking "This is Utah!". Looked just like it, except for some of the trees and flowers. There was a nice, clear, spring fed river full of trout; steep hills and muddy trails; and the familiar smell of cascading fresh water. The trail wound up to the top of the mountain where we could see nothing but mountains covered by deciduous and conifer trees! I had to keep reminding myself that this was Costa Rica! That night we understood the need for the heaters! The next morning we took the 6:30am Quetzal walk. We were taken down the valley to a place where a pair had made a nest in a tree...just a few feet from the road. We were able to stand on the road and watch. There was a photographer there who had been waiting there every day for two weeks to take some pictures. We were luckier. We could see the male sitting in a tree guarding the nest. The female was out getting food for the chicks. When she returned she entered the nest and the male took off dragging his long splendid tail behind. Then he returned to feed the checks as she left for her round. Seems the don't do this all that often, and we were there just in time. The photographer snapped away and I took some (well...217) pics too. It's hard to shoot good pictures up into the sky from the jungle. Bright background, very dark subject. Not a good combination. I had a lot of trouble with the camera "sleeping" just when I wanted to use it. How I miss my "old" camera... Once, when I had the "perfect shot" my water bottle dropped out of my pocket and rolled down the hill...off flew the bird! After about a half an hour of watching these birds flying back and forth an other, younger couple came by visiting. The male, doing his thing, chased them off. Several times they came by and each time they were sent packing. The nest was by an avocado tree and that was HIS tree. Not for sharing. So in about a hour we had seen four birds right in front of us. The first we've seen since coming here! After breakfast we went for a walk up the mountain and saw another flying across the valley. In the afternoon we took a horse ride up to a waterfall. There was a large group of kids at the lodge and this was the third trip up for the guide and horses. I'm sure they were all very tired by the time they got to us. It was rather amusing to watch our guide going down the road ahead of us on his horse, talking on his cell. All up and down the valley the river is diverted into ponds where people raise trout. Big trout! Rainbow and Cut-throat. Did I mention BIG! Some of them reminded me of small salmon. But then, they ARE all in the same family. When we got the the waterfall we descended to its bottom and then climbed under a huge bolder to get to a point just at the base of the waterfall. I have a friend with a blog about Costa Rica called "yo-yo"...as in "you're on your own". I don't think the trail we took down to the base, or crawling under this huge bolder or much of any of our exploring this waterfall would have been "OSHA approved". But so much of what I love about Costa Rica is just that. It's YOUR life, not go out and live it. Don't expect ME to tell you how you can and can't do that. Just don't come crying to me if you don't like your choices... Another COLD night...is this Costa Rica or the Utah mountains? The next day we took a bird walk. Deb LOVES to name birds. I love to look at trees, and there are so many different types in this country (birds AND trees...). One bird we found was a Toucanete, or small Toucan. It was in a tree with a nut of some sort. Cracking it open and eating the contents. Lots of other beautiful and colorful birds too. But the Tucanete really caught my interest. When we left we once again took a jeep up this steep incline back up to the road. There was supposed to be a bus by around 10:45 and we could flag it down, pay the driver and get back to town. We were left in an area best described as a road side dump and on our own (yo-yo). About a half an hour later a bus came by, but was full. So he didn't even try to stop. Next bus would be in an hour. More road side bird watching. At one point a truck stopped and some men got out. OK...grings on the side of the road, luggage, truck stops... Looks like it could be a bad thing! But they just wanted to take a pee and then left. Later a very attractive girl showed up to wait for the bus. In about 5 minutes she was picked up by a driver and taken up the road. Clearly WE'RE not doing this correctly... An hour later the bus DID show up... this time it DID stop... our luggage was put under the bus and we were off, back to the big city. When we got back to town it was really HOT. Partly because we had been so cold, but SJ was also having a bit of a heat spell. Welcome home!