Wednesday-Thursday 20-21st August - On our way home.

We had requested a visit to the cathedral, if possible, so the minibus to the airport was brought forward to 8.00am with 10 minutes to take a few pictures. We met up for  breakfast at 7.00 finished the last bit of packing, loaded up the mini bus and set off. It was quite busy but we were soon there. We spent around ten minutes looking round, taking a few pictures and then walked closer. There was a mass going on and the singing was really lovely. Then it was time to time to go. The taxi driver had gone round the square and was waiting for us. The drive out wasn’t too bad and we were soon at the airport.

Arriving at the airport, we took a few pictures, watched a Rufous Hornero feeding young and took a last look.

Check in was easy and we went through security and passport control, being directed to the special needs queue, then waited for our flight. As we had quite a bit of time we had a drink and a slice of chocolate cake, which was delicious. 

We managed to do a bit of shopping where I bought a bracelet and then it was time to board our flight to São Paulo. It was a three hour flight with a packet of crisps and a biscuit, before landing in São Paulo. We had an eight hour wait in São Paulo, but we did have to collect our luggage from the domestic terminal, walk through to terminal 3, F and check back in. We managed to do self-labelling but we were too early to check the luggage in. Linda’s label wouldn’t print so they went through and got their luggage checked in, but we were told to come back at six. Once that was done, we decided to go through security, again being sent to special needs, and then find somewhere to eat. We found a place that looked ok. I ordered pork in tortillas, which was very nice, and then David and I sat down to sort out the lists, while the others went shopping. Sarah came back with a lovely capybara t-shirt, so I went to the shop and looked around, luckily there was one in my size but I also liked a green, leafy top and a parrot capped-sleeved t-shirt.

I had just packed up my bag ready when David came running back to say the board was  saying last call, so we grabbed everything and started running for the gate, when two of the other travellers shouted that we had left David’s phone and charger, which we grabbed, and then hurried round. When we got there the sign just switched to boarding now and they hadn’t even begun queueing. As the queues started, we were all in different lines. We were line 5 but we hadn’t been there long before someone came along checked our tickets and sent us forward to the special needs queue, a reoccurring theme with the journey. We went onto the plane, found our seats and  settled down for the 11 hour flight back.

I managed to sleep most of the way. We were served two meals, dinner was pasta and breakfast was an omelette with an onion and potato patty and two cooked tomatoes. I had a cup of tea which had a distinct minty flavour and then we were nearly home.

After landing and collecting our luggage, we said our goodbyes to the others and went out to collect the car. We had a number to ring to say we were there, and when they answered, they said they had a problem and couldn’t get the car started. We stood at the collection point, were collected by a mini bus and taken to the Holiday Inn car park where we had left the car, to find it under a tree with bonnet up. The battery seemed fine, it just wouldn’t spark so we filled in an AA form, got a response that someone would be with us in about 40 minutes. 

The van turned up about 40 minutes later with a mechanic called Naveed who attached his battery charger, ascertained the battery was ok, walked round to the other side and started pumping a small rubber bulb. After a minute or two he suggested starting the engine, which it did after a short wait. The Man at the Car Park couldn’t believe he’d got it started. “That’s because I’m a qualified mechanic, Bruvver” was the response. After about 3 minutes, the engine just stopped. A little more pumping and the car started again and this time it kept going. We were soon on our way home. We stopped for a drink and a Mac before making it home a little later than expected. 

Tuesday 19th August - Blue-throated Macaws and back to Santa Cruz

 Woken up by the alarm, I sorted out what I needed for the day and packed up the case ready to store it until we flew back this afternoon. Nick suggested I changed my sandals for shoes, so I had to open the case and retrieve my shoes and socks, shut up the case and we were ready to go. It was about a 2 hour drive to the Laney Rickman Reserve with a few capybara, nightjars and feral cats. About the last hour was on rough tracks, and very bumpy and dusty. We managed to see a night heron fly across the track. We arrived at the reserve just as the sun was rising. There were lots of birds around, including Rufous Hornero and various tanagers and a pair of Blue and Yellow Macaws flew over calling. There were a group of Howlers in the trees across a damp area which were vocalising and which turned out to be Black and Gold Howlers, another new monkey species for the trip.

As we waited for the others we scanned around and checked out some of the birds then the others turned up and we shared the howlers and some of the birds.

Once we were all collected together we walked to the fence where we could see 2 Blue-fronted Macaws sitting on a nest box in the distance. We were told we could go closer so we  slowly walked through some paddocks to another fence where they were a lot closer. We watched them for about 10 minutes then returned to the ranch where breakfast had been set out on a table under a tree. 

There was a choice of eggs, toast, fruit and cereals with tea, coffee, fruit juice or coca-col. After breakfast we went for a walk round the ranch, looking for birds, especially free flying Blue-fronted Macaws. As we wandered through the trees and palms we had several sightings of the Macaws flying around, several pairs perched up giving good views. We also found 2/3 Great Rufous Woodcreepers which were working their way up several trees. In the branches we found a Trogon.

Chris played an owl call and we were soon surounded by a mixed flock of birds, including Brown-crested Flycatcher, Greenish Eleania, Bran-coloured Flycatcher, Hummingbird, Fawn-breasted Wren and Rusty-margined Flycatcher.  

As we wandered through the trees a small sounder of Collared Peccary walked through, snuffling as they went. they weren't too bothered about us as long as we kept quiet and moved slowly.

We also found a Great Antshrike and a Rufous-tailed Jacamar, which gave great views but was a little dark for photos.

A couple of times we wandered out into the grassland, hoping for an Anteater, but no luck. As we came back, there were Vermillion flycatcher, two Black-capped Donacobius in the reedy area and David found Spectacled Tyrant, which was a tick for Chris. It got hotter so we wandered back into the shade, catching up with the others back at the ranch.

After breakfast under the trees we drove back across the tracks with capybara and egrets plus our last Cayman in a pool, stopping for a .... hawk and a look at a Rufous Hornero nest before visiting the Blue-throated Macaw center, where they are carrying out a captive breeding programme to boost numbers of the Macaw. We were greeted by a couple of the staff who gave us a polished and very informative talk, before taking us round to the breeding area. where there was a large aviary with birds looking to pair up and then we were shown eight amller avialries with paired birds, which would hopefully breed. They have released several birds over the lasy few years and are hopeful that they will be able to stem the decline of this very rare bird. 

 We had lunch, again under the trees and then had a 2 hour ride back to the hotel, stopping off at an amazing sculpture of a Blue-fronted Macaw, linking it to Trinidad, and a quick look at Trinidad Cathedral before picking up our cases and headed to the airport. 

We said goodbye to our guidw and went in for our flight back to As it was a small, domestic airport checking in didn’t take long and we were soon on our way back to Santa Cruz. The way the flights worked, we had a landing at Cochabamba, where we had to deplane, go through security and re-embark in the same seats before the onward flight to Santa Cruz. It was interesting to see the different geography as Cochabamba is more hilly.

We were collected from the airport and taken back to the hotel where we sorted out the luggage, had a shower, packed up ready for the journey home and then gathered at the Ame Café and Bar for dinner. Unfortuntely, John was suffering from a migraine so he met us in the lobby to say goodbye and then went up to his room. We managed to find some Bolivian chocolate as presents before joining the others for the farewell dinner.

Monday 18th August - Flight to Trinidad

 We were flying to Trinidad this morning , but as the flight wasn’t until 1.00 pm Nick organised a trip to Curichi la Madre, a protected forest area about 20 mins away. When we got there the gate wasn’t really open even though it was 8.10 but we were let in after a few minutes and walked fairly rapidly along the track, looking for Titi Monkeys. There were a few stops along the way for a couple of  Sloths, Purplish crested jays among others. A Squirrel monkey was seen by some but had disappeared into the undergrowth very quickly. We had Orange-breasted falcons flying around and perching and a Black- faced Spider monkey which swung through the trees showing its skills. 

We reached the end of the track and turned round to make our way back. One stop had an Amazon Squirrel in a palm nibbling something. 

As we had no luck with Titi monkey, Nick took us down a track which led to a swinging rope bridge, in slight disrepair, (we weren’t supposed to go down the track) We carefully negotiated the bridges and came back out onto the main track, still no luck. Nick went to fetch Linda, who had waited at the start of the track and told us there were some Squirrel Monkeys back along the track, so we went back, up a small side tack and checked out the bushes. A troupe of Squirrel Monkeys made their way through the trees, jumping and running along branches. I didn’t get any useful photos as the camera was refusing to focus.

As we made our way back towards the entrance Nick suddenly started gesturing to come quickly, he had managed to find a Titi monkey in the branches above us. The monkey sat on the branches and gave us really good views. 

So a real clean up in the Curriche Reserve. We then had to go back to the van, get back to the hotel, collect our luggage and head to the airport for our flight to Trinidad.

We arrived at the domestic airport, checked my bag in, went through security and waited for our flight. The flight to Trinidad took about ¾ hour, we picked up our luggage, which came through quite quickly, left it at the hotel  and went straight to the boat, about a 20 minute drive away. They parked the cars in the shade, walked down to the boat and got on board. The boat was named the Yacare.

We first went down river about 200 yds past the village, with Neotropic Comorants, an Amazon and Ringed Kingfisher, a Grey-cowled Wood Rail and a Great Black Hawk. We turned round and headed the other way. As we passed a houseboat the boatman pointed out water activity, which was a small pod of Pink River Dolphins. The boat drove round the dolphins in a corralling pattern, which stirs up the river giving food which the dolphins enjoy, until they had enough when they just disappeared downriver. Lunch was served in the boat, it was fish with veg. We carried on up the river seeing Hooded Capuchins, Bolivian Red Howlers,  Cocoi and Striated Herons, a Green Kingfisher and Golden-winged Cacique. A log floating from the shore was covered in Yellow-spotted River Turtles. 

After a while we asked about the possibility of seeing Hoatzen, but we would have a 15 minute walk and wouldn’t be able to go any further. We agreed to go for the Hoatzin so the boat drove further up the river, parked, we scrambled up the bank to the top. As we gathered on the bank, the guide grabbed some fruit from a tree, opened them up and started to crush the seeds inside. He came across and started painting my face with the red fluid from the fruit. Once he’d finished, he then painted Sarah’s face. After some hilarity and some photos, we walked to the lagoon on a forest path, with a stop to have the use of some reeds for arrows explained to us. It was about 15 minutes and e we’re on the edge of a large lagoon. There was a boat, named The Hoatzen, moored on the edge. We climbed on board, and within 2 minutes  we were looking at a Hoatzen, then 2. In all we saw 6 Hoatzins flying across the lake and between the bushes. We also had some Jacana and a few Dragonflies with banded wings. We turned back to the mooring, walked back to the river, scrambled down the bank and back on the boat, returned back  to the village with a short view of a couple of Dolphins and climbed up to cars to drive back to the hotel.

Dinner out in a local restaurant, the ‘best restaurant in Trinidad’ apparently, where I chose a garlic chicken dish. It came in a bowl, wrapped up in foil and was very hot. It was a thin garlicky soup with chunks of chicken and tasted quite nice and the chips were good. Back at the hotel I set the alarm for 3.40 for a 4.00am drive out to the Blue-chinned macaw reserve.