January 11 – Tropical altitudes

The morning started out raining and continued until about 1pm. This kept us indoors which was good as Kathleen’s cold had a strong grip on her. Last night was a lot of coughing and sniffles. Oh, for a couple shots of Nyquil . . . the stuff behind the counter, not the fauve-Nyquil in the aisles.

I spent the morning looking at the goings on off our porch and writing blog up-dates while Kathleen slept. This Glossy-black thrush didn't seem to mind a little rain. By lunch, she was feeling a tad better. The sun was making a showing as the clouds were allowing more blue sky.

We decided to walk the Cimarron Trail off the road accessing Cabañas San Isidro. The trail was just an out and back, however, we would gain some elevation which meant different birds and critters. Wildlife composition changes with altitude in tropics. Some species of birds, for example, will only be found within a strip of habitat between 4,500 to 6,000 feet. You can experience a little of this in the U.S., however, hear in South America the phenomena is much more pronounced.

We set off and found the Cimarron Trail to be great for views if not some much for birding. We heard some things thrashing about in the forest and hoped to see some large mammals. Hey, jaguar would be great! However, a squirrel and a number of birds got looked at instead. At the end of the trail, we came to a place just outside the protected areas. Here, the vegetation had been removed in large areas to allow grass to grow. Indeed, we began to hop-scotch the cow-paddies. One of the prime reasons for removing native vegetation in South America is for cattle production.

As the sun began to settle on the horizon, we were walk back to Cabañas San Isidro as dinner was at 7pm. The suns position made for some good photo opportunities.