Day 8 Cock-of-the-Rock Lodge to Amazonia Lodge
One
of the great things about Cock-of-the-Rock Lodge is their bird feeder. Unlike
many feeders we're familiar with, this one is a tray of tropical fruit: bananas,
watermelon, papaya, and "tree tomatoes." This brings many brightly-colored
birds, such as Versicolored Barbet, Orange-bellied Euphonia, Paradise Tanager,
Golden Tanager, and Saphron-crowned Tanager.
Our tummies are beginning to feel better. We are all eating now and it is time to pack up and get ready for our next adventure further down through the mountains. We start by walking down the road with bus support. We see some beautiful Military Macaws flying overhead, and many flycatchers enjoying the sunny weather for some bug-catching.
On the walk, we come to a landslide slope. The road cuts through it, but we stop because it affords a nice view of the valley. Julia spots a shiny green bird way down at the bottom of the slope. We look at it, but it flies before we can get the scope on it. We determine it to be a Bluish-fronted Jacamar. Luckily, we are to get much better views of the jacamar in the next few days. We also see a beautiful White-winged Tanager in a tree above us.
We are sent away with a boxed lunch that the Lads will lay out on the table for us come lunchtime. Huge avocados and hard-boiled eggs. All the usual drinks, condiments, and paper products. We tend to work up huge appetites along the birding trail. So far most of our birding has been along the road but this is about to change. We are getting ready to bid adieu to our Lads by this day's end. Andy and I have not spent one dime of our money yet. We will hand a nice tip to each of our Lads as we shake their hands and say adios.
We
stop at a village to replenish our film supply. Huw gets a giant
bottle of Sprite for Julia's now not-sick tummy and a bottle of rum for the
others. We have a look around and a stretch. There is a scary looking dentist
office and some people selling vegetables and fruit in the center of the village.
On the next part of the drive, we become quite accustomed to seeing Roadside
Hawks by, um....., can you guess?..., wait for it...... the roadside! By
the time we reach Atalaya (pronounced Aht-Ah-LIE-Yah), where we will board our
boat, it is late afternoon and we need to get to Amazonia Lodge by dark. It
is a short boat ride to drop off our bags, another short distance to where we
unload ourselves and we make our way through the muddy rainforest in our rubber
boots a half-mile hike to the lodge. We are told that the owners are the absolute
nicest people in all the world. And they are.
The deck is the most beautiful shiny buffed, wood dance floor we've ever seen and Andy and Julia waltz the length of it and back upon our arrival. Boots are not allowed on this floor. Only stocking feet and clean sandals. Our bags will be here shortly in a pick-up truck. We are free to take showers if we want to,even though all of our toiletries are still en route. Andy and Julia share a shower in one of the four bathrooms available to us. There is soap that we use even on our hair. We'll have to wait to comb it out though. Julia has been braiding Andy's curls and we're thinking we have the beginnings of dreadlocks. It looks good and keeps it out of the way. Ah, we're fresh and enjoy the relaxing deck overlooking a lovely garden, her head all wrapped up in her towel. We have been given the room at the end of the deck, not the most convenient one to the bathrooms, but a bit more private. In the room next to us is a couple from Yorkshire, England who speak a version of English that we have trouble understanding. It's another twin bed arrangement and Andy and Julia decide on which one of the three will be ours. Again there is no electricity and we are provided with candles and matches. We are told that we can have our laundry done here for a small fee if we bundle it all in a bag and turn it in at dinner. Lovely. We are served luscious soup as we have had every day so far no matter where we are. An egg dish is the vegetarian main course and a platter of steamed vegetables is passed around family-style. Dessert and the Bird List and Bed.
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