We arranged to meet a private launch at 6:30 to cross the lake to Santiago to meet our guide. We were ready to leave our hotel at 6:20 to walk to the dock, but the front door was locked. We searched for an alternate route jog exit and found one of the early kitchen staff who unlocked the door for us. We arrived at the dock to find many launches apparently taking people to work or kids to school but not Leo, our launch captain. We texted our guide who told us that Leo would pick us up at 7. So we sat and waited.
Leo showed up at exactly 7. We hopped on board to cross the lake to Santiago. A typical ride costs about 25 quetzales for tourists ($3.25) but a private ride costs 300 questzales($39:40). It’s not possible to cross directly from San Marcos to Santiago in one ride and in a timely fashion unless you hire a private boat. We arrived at the dock in Santiago at 7:20. Our guide, Rolando, was waiting for us with a driver He said the trip to the trail was about a 20 minute drive. We arrived at a small spot off the main road where we were given binoculars. The weather seemed perfect.
Rolando carried a tripod and spotting scope to help us see the birds he found. We began hiking down a forest path filled with roots and rocks and some slippery areas from the daily rain. My first thought was that the easy down part would be a tough return going up. Of course I was right but that’s for later. We climbed up and down for about an hour until Rolando stopped to show us a toucan mother peeking out of its nest. She flew off after a while and we moved on.
to gain an advantage
We stopped again after a half hour when Rolando began whistling for the quetzal. He explained that these birds had ended their mating season a few months before. So they are more difficult to attract. He also had a birdsong app on his phone that he used to try to find a quetzal. This spot was one where he typically found the birds. We waited and listened for a long time. We also heard what sounded like thunder but Rolando said it was “just the volcano “. Rolando thought he heard a bird but we needed to move further on. So we dutifully followed him until he told us to stop and wait. He disappeared down a path and reappeared about 10 minutes later to say that he thought he had attracted a bird but it was unwise for us to go down a very steep path to follow him. So we turned around and waited in another spot while he hiked back to our first viewing point. He returned shortly and motioned for us to climb back up where he was. He thought the bird had finally answered his call. The area where we were hiking is a cloud forest which means that the clouds come down into the trees and valley making bird spotting impossible. We hiked back and forth a bit until Rolando finally spotted the bird. The clouds had not yet ruined our view. He set up his scope letting us see the bird and then take photos through the scope. At first the bird was facing away from us but he flew a short distance ending up facing us. The quetzal is a large and very beautiful bird. As is typical in the bird world, only the males are strongly colored. We watched until the bird flew up into the clouded treetops. It was thrilling.
Our hike back to our starting point was really challenging as I suspected. The downhill sections were few and the uphill sections were tricky footpaths combined with an elevation of 5600 ft. It was exhausting. When we returned to the parking area, Rolando showed us a nest of 2 baby birds tucked against a rock.
We were pleased to ride back to town where we decided that lunch was required immediately. Rolando dropped us at a restaurant that he said was quiet and very good food. He was right. Moments after we sat at our table, the skies opened for a drenching rain. We felt very lucky that we didn’t hike in that. We had guacamole which came with 4 different sauces/salsas. We were told that a few were very spicy but it didn’t seem so. Little taquitos added and were a delicious lunch.
We were too tired to find our way back to the local launch and 2 different rides to get back to our dock. Our lunch spot had a private dock. Leo, our morning driver, was happy to pick us up for the ride back.
We came back to our room to recover and clean up after our day. After a light dinner we are ready to sleep. Tomorrow we go to Antigua where I get to work with many people I know and
The Adventures of Anne 