Los Cusingos and the Trooper

The clouds are rolling through right now and our weather is beginning to shift a little. We still have beautiful sunny days that get into the upper 70’s but now we are getting a little moisture buildup in the afternoons that sometimes turns into a 10 minute downpour. And the Quetzal nesting season is in full swing. There are several nests that are being occupied and ready to be observed.

Thanks to an awesome birthday present from Sarah I cashed in on a day of birding with Melvin, a family member in San Gerardo that is also a bird guide. He took me to a place called Los Cusingos. It is preserve in the middle elevations of the pacific side of the Talamancan mountains and former home of famous late birder Alexander Skutch. Alexander Skutch is the co-author of the field guide for birds in Costa Rica. We had a great time and it was just really nice to have somebody to bird with. Along with all the birds, one exciting point was when Melvin convinced me we needed to run from a pack of peccaries, that weren’t really there.

And finally, we have our car. Meet the 1986 Isuzu Trooper that has been tied up in the shop and otherwise dark abyss of the unknown since we have been here. It has a lot of character and it is really old. It probably is not the most reliable thing out here, but it does help us not look like tourists and we can pick up like 10 hitchhikers in one trip because it has so much room. It gets horrible gas mileage. I guess hybrids were not popular in 1986.