Day four of our honeymoon was our last full day in Monteverde. We slowed the pace down a bit and spent a fair amount of time relaxing at the lodge after our morning trek to Curi-Cancha.
Curi-Cancha Refugio de Vida Silvestre
We enjoyed our guide Dennis so much at the monteverde preserve that we requested him from our concierge service for our morning tour at Curi Cancha. This preserve wasn't technically in the cloud forest but it had a greater diversity of habitat types which is always helpful for finding different types of birds and animals. We got our first good looks at the Agoutis, they're a type of rodent but on the same level of cuteness as a squirrel. To me, they look like they're walking on high heels. We didn't find any monkeys until we left curi cancha and stopped at a roadside cafe. They were all over. It was a smart move by our guide, who was also entertaining some less passionate travelers.
Trees and fungi at Curi-Cancha. Not photo'd were the swarm of army ants that we came across on a trail, after suddenly realizing we had ants on our legs. Our guide told us how the ants roam the forest floor, pretty much devouring everything in their path. The birds tend to follow the swarms around to take advantage of the fleeing insects. Later at the lodge I found some really long trails of leaf cutter ants.
Some bird highlights from Curi Cancha were parrots, several hummingbirds, Elegant Euphonia, Mottled Owls, Collared Trogon, and Northern Emerald-Toucanet. I also got my lifer Golden-winged Warbler, something that is a possible find in some parts of Texas during migration.
I did some birding back at the lodge as well spotting a zone-tailed hawk and a good look at the Chestnut-capped Warbler.
I did some birding back at the lodge as well spotting a zone-tailed hawk and a good look at the Chestnut-capped Warbler.
Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner at the Lodge
All of our meals at the Monteverde Lodge were stellar. Except one. Jess and I were excited for our last dinner at the lodge, I had decided on an eggplant dish and Jess wanted a steak. Jess was complimenting my Spanish, how I had exceeded her expectations and how comfortable I seemed to be when I spoke it, correctly or incorrectly. Well maybe I had let it get to my head because I decided to order of the Spanish menu which was completely separate, albeit identical, to the English Menu. To our dismay, I accidently ordered the sea bass instead of the steak for Jess. Neither of us really liked it but I owned my mistake. The eggplant wasn't our favorite either. Every other meal was rather exceptional in large part to the dining atmosphere and wonderful staff.