We do indeed see the Andean Cock-of-the-rock all in display mode at the lek in the morning. In fact we see five of them. Andy says there was a female, but Julia missed seeing her. There is also a nice surprise, a Crimson-bellied Woodpecker. During our stay here we see our first parrots of the trip, the Military Macaw. We are also in the real beginnings of tanager territory and along the road we spot several different species, the most colorful being the Paradise Tanager, all turquoise blue-bellied with a green head, black back and wings and red rump. "Dude bird," says Huw. "Put him on all the Christmas cards." Our first monkeys are here in the woods behind the dining room at the lodge, the Brown Capuchins.

They are curious little fellows who watch the humans as much as the humans watch them only the monkeys don't have cameras up to their faces.

Our schedule is starting to have some rhythm to it now. Breakfast at 5:30, Lunch at 1, Dinner at 7. Mid-morning snack of course. Help ourselves to the soda crackers and fruit. Julia is wishing for something to settle the queasiness in her tummy on our first day here. Oh no, one of those dreaded South American food bugs have upset the works. Bill is in the same boat and Joseph is out of commission completely for a couple of days. The deep-fried something for lunch doesn't help matters. And Julia isn't able to eat her dinner at all that evening. It looks really good too, as all the dinners are. Something we notice is the absence of juice at breakfast and pitcherfuls of it for both lunch and dinner. Beer and Coca Cola are available if each person keeps track of how many he or she has so that at the end the tab can be settled. Too bad there isn't any Sprite. Oh well, the soda crackers will help a little.

One of the evenings during our stay here at Cock-of-the-Rock Lodge, we board the bus and ride back up the mountain about a half hour. Distance is not measured in miles or kilometers; it is measured in time. We are in for a big treat of seeing the Lyre-tailed Nightjar. He comes out just at dusk to do his courting display: a couple of fly-bys at one special place along the road. His tail consists of two feathers that each measure a foot long and an inch wide. These are like ribbons that wave and snake along behind him as he flies. He must get lucky pretty often with a nice show like that.

Another highlight here is the daily search for the Cerulean-capped Manakin. He supposedly comes out in the very dense understory beyond a fence in the garden at the lodge. Huw has us line up like we did for the antpitta and plays the tape of the Cerulean-capped Manakin song and we wait. And we wait. And we're staring into the dark, even in daylight, thick with branches, brush and tangles where no creature would want to go. Julia gets bored of this exercise in patience and bows out after the first unsuccessful time, watching the many tanagers at the feeder right there in plain view while enjoying a nice cup of Milo. The group never does see the manakin, but it's not because they don't try. Ah well.

Dick has an uncanny way of spotting birds while he is off looking in the better light. Julia always looks for her car keys under the lamp post, even though she knows that she dropped them somewhere else. The same applies to birding. Look where the lighting is good. At least that's this kindergarten birder's opinion. Our friend Dick manages to see a great hummingbird, a Booted Racket-tail just perching on a limb. It has little wires for tail feathers that have tiny tennis rackets on the ends. What a treat to see. This is one of two birds that Julia sees that Andy doesn't. By the end of the trip, he has a hundred that she didn't see. What can you do with kindergarteners?

One of the highlights involves a search for the White-throated Antpitta. We drive up the road to Rocotal, which is a blight on the otherwise nice road we have been on. A nasty farmer lives here, and his mission in life is to destroy rainforest and grow Rocota peppers. He is a thorn in the side of the national park. But a little way up the road, Huw hears the Antpitta, and the "young boys" (Andy, Huw, and Bill) head up a 50 degree hillside in search of him. Meanwhile, the others get to enjoy a tiny Red Brocket Deer running along the road. There is much slipping and sliding in the climb, but about 50 yards up we find him deep in the bush! We get a good view, but nobody else can see him. So Andy walks and slips down the slope while Julia sets up the scope. We get it lined up on him, and everyone has a look at this hard-to-find bird.

And then it rains; after all we are now in the rainforest. We are completely rained out of our afternoon of birding. Oh, what will we ever do? Nap? Write? Hmm. Decisions, decisions. And just as she settles in for her first real nap in ages, the raindrops begin splashing on Julia's face. In the bed. In the bungalow. Oh, what a cruel joke. She puts some plastic bags where the drips are falling, as nothing even slightly resembles a bucket in here. She puts on Andy's sweater and her hat and rubber boots. Too bad the raingear is all on the bus. Bus support is really great, except when you forget to collect your things and take them with you at the end of the day. Off she treads over the wet cobblestones to the dining room, fixes some coca tea, takes out a pen and pad and it's finally time to write some notes because this all seems to be such a good story.