Yesterday, Thursday, Stephanie and I were up before sunrise again after a very warm and humid night. We ran our two room fans all night, blowing directly on us, to be able to sleep. We could hear some distant howler monkeys and nearby birds upon waking.
We had scheduled a bird walk to start at 6am, before breakfast, so we got dressed, geared up with binoculars, cameras and water, then walked to the reception area of the lodge to meet our guide. He was an older gentleman named Jaime, a native of Sarapiquí. We began our walk together on the retreat grounds, then next to the river and on a dirt road that led to a rural residential area. Jaime was a wonderful guide whose English was very good and his knowledge of birds, other animals, and the area was extensive. Over the next two hours, we saw 47 bird species and learned a lot about natural things in the area. All of it was accomplished at a very slow, leisurely pace in the 80+ degree heat and humidity. After we returned to Chilamate grounds, Stephanie and I ate breakfast from the buffet. Jaime, who had stayed around on the grounds while we ate, then showed us where he had found some small white bats sleeping under a large leaf, which was very interesting to see. He also explained about the tiny, colorful poison dart frogs that are plentiful on the grounds of Chilamate. They’re poisonous to eat or lick, but not to touch.
Stephanie and I spent the afternoon on the deck outside our room, looking at birds, horses in the adjacent field, and taking short walks around the ground. In the afternoon it reached more than 85 degrees and very high humidity under partly cloudy skies. When there wasn’t a breeze it was very hot. My phone’s weather app said it felt like 100 degrees due to the humidity and I’d agree. Chilamate doesn’t serve lunch and there aren’t other restaurants within a short walking distance, so instead we snacked on cookies, fruit and chocolates that we had on hand.
After a 6:30 dinner, we met our second guide of the day, Jon, who took us on a night walk through the trails on the grounds of Chilamate. He is a young herpetologist who is very enthusiastic about snakes, lizards and such. He walked up to meet us with a very slender long brown snake. Great way to immediately grab our attention. It wasn’t a poisonous but both of us declined his invitation to hold it. Thankfully, we didn’t see any other snakes during our walk through the jungle. We did see two different species of opossums, many lizards, spiders and frogs, a mouse balancing on fence wire, and bullet ants which can sting very painfully. We also heard two different calls of a Great Potoo, a nocturnal bird, which were very cool to hear. But it was so hot and humid during the walk, I was mostly thinking of how nice a cold shower would be. We finished the interesting and enjoyable walk after two hours.
In our room afterwards, we showered and went to bed. Moments later, it started to pour rain on our metal roof and the rain continued for much of the night. We were so lucky that it had held off until after our walks!
Lori's Travels 