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We left the Hotel Bougainvillea after breakfast and headed out of San Jose in a MAJOR traffic jam that rivaled the mess on some of the Los Angeles freeways. We were traveling zero mph when I snapped this picture.
Our first destination was an old butterfly garden northwest of the city on Ruta 32, a place known as Reserva El Tapir. This "garden," which is really a large and seemingly wild planting of verbenas, is where everyone goes to find the Snowcap Hummingbird. The Black-crested Coquette is also often seen here, but he did not make an appearance today.
We stayed at El Tapir much longer than was planned, so we ate lunch locally at El Yugo de mi Tata, since we were not going to make it for lunch at Selve Verde, our next lodge. This was Lalo's first lesson on what it is like to travel with me. Don't even try to keep me on a schedule! Most people probably spend one or two hours here photographing these birds. I needed six to be sure I got the photos I wanted.
There was construction going on at this site, so we had to listen to a lot of hammering. The hummingbirds didn't care. Since this is such a popular birding destination, they are now building a little tourist center. It's a great idea, as this site is now just an unmarked driveway behind a gate. And there are currently no bathrooms.
We had to sit out a brief downpour (it IS the rainy season), but all in all I think I got some wonderful pictures of the Snowcap Hummingbird.
El Yugo de mi Tata
Five kinds of Ceviche and I'm happy!
Snowcap Female
