Today is Quetzal day and what a day it was.
But before we come to that I forgot to mention that we crossed a 3380m pass yesterday (no glaciers, still jungle) and stayed in the Trogon Lodge at around 2500m. And the night was really cold, when we woke up in the morning, room temperature was 9.5°C/49°F.
We got up at 5:30 and went in search for the Quetzal. The Quetzal played a significant role in Mayan and Aztec culture and its feathers were worn by nobility to link them to the deity Quetzalcoatl. It was forbidden to kill the birds, so they had to be captured, their long tailfeathers plucked, and then set free again. The feathers were therefore highly valued, the currency of Guatemala is still the Quetzal.
And we were successful. The birds are not breeding yet, but trying out different spots where the male either uses existing woodpecker holes or hammers its own nesting hole. The female then gets to choose the best one. Yesterday afternoon we waited for an hour at a hole where the male had been seen the day before, alas, unsuccessfully.
So early this morning we went to another spot and “we” means a lot of people. There is quite some Quetzal tourism in the area, which is not completely bad, as the Costa Rican guides are very responsible and ask everyone to keep their distance and the birds do not seem to be majorly disturbed. But then there are all these birders around, very similar to Helgoland in the autumn (my birder friends will understand).
But in the end we saw the bird, both male and female.
It is quite extraordinary to see this extravaganza of male plumage, the bird has a size of around 31cm and an additional 70-90 cm tail. Evolution through sexual selection drives this excessive display and the positive aspects of females selecting for the longest tail feathers seem to outweigh the disadvantages that come with being easier prey.
The full English name is Resplendent (Prächtiger) Quetzal, we have already seen the Magnificant Frigate Bird (Großartiger Fregattvogel), coming to think of it, I wonder if I should go by the name of Amazing Wolfram or Wonderful Wolfram. Unfortunately my head does not provide enough hair anymore to support an economy as currency.
After we had breakfast at our lodge we had another look at the first spot and, lo and behold, there was another one.
Chris and I did a bit of hiking around the lodge area and ran into some more birds, but also more interesting sounds.
The following bird, a Black-faced Solitaire, belongs to the Thrush family, has very beautiful grey colour with a black mask and produces these eerie sounds. Very elusive and we didn’t see it, only heard it.
Today was our last day on the group tour and I think it’s time to look back on the experience.
Chris was the youngest. By far. Not completely unexpected.
Overall we enjoyed it and it was a good experience, but I will most likely not do this again. Ever.
I mean, the advantages are pretty obvious: You get an all-around care package, don’t need to research, compare, book hotels, and carry responsibility if something goes wrong. You meet and talk to people that you share a hobby with, but little else, and might not have talked to in different circumstances.
Especially when you are doing specialty travel, like a birding tour, it is immensely valuable to have an expert on local birds and where to find them with you.
We had a wonderful guide, Jonathan Serrano, who was a fountain of birding wisdom, always kindly and patiently answering even the weirdest cringeworthy questions from Germans on Costa Rican culture. And my completely non-weird bird questions, of course.
Our driver, Sandra, was super cool and drove so Buddha-like that even Chris survived curvy and steep mountain roads.
But then being part of a group has its drawbacks. Like Methusalix in “Asterix at the Olympic Games” wisely remarked: That’s the trouble with group travel, you’re never your own master (Das ist das Leidige an Gruppenreisen, nie ist man sein eigener Herr).
I am just too much of an individualist (or egoist) to enjoy finding a concensus with a big group of people I don’t know on something that should be fun. Group travel of course is different, as there is a clear agenda and a guide that follows through on it. But the idea that you stay an hour or two longer at a spot (or bird) that you particularly like is just not possible. This for me is the biggest challenge.
Some of the group complained about stuff much more than Chris and I felt like doing. I do not want to tell people what they can say and what not, it is their right to complain. But I personally go into these things with a very positive outlook, if something doesn’t work out I usually prefer to endure this calmly, especially if it is no one’s fault. Much more enjoyable.
We definitely met people and had discussions with them that we do not have with our own friends. Some of them with borderline racist undertones which led to interesting discussions because I did not let these go through. There were people in the group of over 70 years of age and I thought some of them had possibly never had a discussion on these topics before. So everyone benefited, but in the end I would have prefered not to have these discussions in my vacation.
All in all, it was a great trip, a very nice group and I am very happy that we have done it, but I think it is not for me.
Of course I like to go on vacation with Chris and family or my mother (unforgettable birding trips), recently I learned, that I can enjoy traveling alone as well. And when it comes to groups, I like to travel together with people, either with friends I know really well or with a smaller group where preferences can be sorted out quickly. Optimum is small group of friends. 😀
And for birdwatching there is still the alternative of connecting to local birders and do individual tours, thus benefiting from their immense local experience and still having an individual approach. Compared to a fully organized tour it is not significantly more expensive as you save on a lot of overhead costs.
Here a shoutout to Prem and Bishnu, my Nepali birding guides and friends who made that work two years ago.
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