Today was a day full of emotions, goodbyes, adventure and finally birdwatching.
The first goodbye was a last pre-breakfast walk that Chris and I took along the beach in Santa Teresa. The Pacific is Chris’ ocean and nothing really compares.
It had significantly calmed down since our arrival, not that the waves got really smaller, but at least there was no flying sand. The middle tide saw the beach covered in scuttling hermit crabs in all shell shapes and sizes. It was already sweaty hot but the ocean breeze made it bearable.
On the way back to Mansión, where Nikolaus lives, we then checked off the adventure part. We had to cross the three rivers again, but disclaimer – although you can call someone to give you expert advice on how to cross rivers – in the dry season crossing a river is not that difficult/dangerous. And we had a 4WD, so what the heck.
O.k., only a slightly bigger puddle, but fun nevertheless.
Our second goodbye then was to Nikolaus who we dropped in Mansión at Paolo’s, his host dad’s, house. We were heartily welcomed, Paolo had told his sons that we were coming and two of them showed up (the other lives far away) which we thought was a very nice gesture. Despite the language barrier (Nikolaus translated for us) it was great to meet these kind people who have adopted Nikolaus into their family.
Nikolaus showed us all the paths that he uses in daily life. (I scored two lifers along the way).
Contributing to Nikolaus’ joy, there is a cat in the house, Yamilka. And even better, Yamilka was pregnant and gave birth on October 31 to three kittens of which two still live with Nikolaus and Paolo. Chris (and I) have followed their development closely via pictures and video calls, so Chris was overjoyed to finally be able to meet Yamilka and her kittens in real life. She said it was like being a fan meeting her celebrities!
But then the final moment of saying farewell to Niki arrived and we were all pretty sad about it. We had such a wonderful time together and now we have to wait for another three months to see each other again. But we have survived 7 months already, so we will get over this as well.
On the way to our last lodge, La Ensenada Lodge, where we stayed before on day 8 with the birder group, we had to cross the north end of the Gulf of Nicoya on a bridge. Chris, involuntary enabler that she is, exclaimed, I think I see Roseate Spoonbills.
We couldn’t stop on the bridge so we went on a spontaneous wild goose chase and discovered a couple of fishponds that were teeming with bird life.
This was a highly satisfying end of the day and most likely of the birdwatching for this trip. But you never know, there is always a 6:00am before breakfast tomorrow.
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