June 10 - 3 more days and 1 new bird

After nearly a month in France we have only three more days of hiking. Two days ago we had our first real rain, which is a remarkable run of good luck.

At our campsite last night we had a foraging European Nigtjar, the first life bird on this trip.  That was quite a thrill.

The walking continues to be easy, the trail well marked and well-maintained, the coast diverse and beautiful, and everybody friendly. We think that old people do well hiking on fairly level coastal paths!  The effort to reward ratio is very favorable. 

We're happy and healthy and sitting in the sun, on the rocks, eating our morning yogurt and watching four fishing boats and five fisherman.

June 3 - aging

We're happy and healthy. But in fact there are two caveats. 

I (Amy) caught a little cold a week ago. No big deal and really just a very bothersome stuffed up nose. But as is always the case for me it quickly inspired my recurring sinus infection to cause trouble. A round of Azithromycin took care of that, as it always does. 

James is contento, but is challenged by this whole aging deal. He has a lifetime of psychic satisfaction derived from being strong, persistent, tough, indefatigable, and durable. Now he's just not as strong as he used to be and his endurance is not as reliable as it used to be and these things are weighing heavily on his psyche. 

We've had a few more days of great weather and fine coastal hiking. The forecast for tomorrow indicates we may get the first meaningful rain since we arrived in Francia on about May 12. It's been a good run for us, but the locals want some much-needed rain. 

June 1 - Reedlings and Bee-eaters!

Another great day. Perfect weather, scenic coast, and 2 hot meals! It's proving to be hard to get a sit down restaurant meal because most are open for 90-120 minutes at lunch and again after 7pm. We walk past a restaurant at random times and rarely coincide with opening hours.

It's a four day holiday weekend and we spent much of today on a very long beach backed by a huge shingle bank and some terrific marshes. There were many happy French families and couples and surfers and nude sunbathers. It was a happy and uplifting scene and fine way to spend a day.

We saw 8 Bearded Reedlings, which increases our lifetime total to 9, so that was a real treat. And then in our little wild campsite in a random field a bit away from the coast James identified European Bee-eater by call. He's proud of himself. There are two of these excellent birds flying around near our tent. We didn't exptthese, as they're normal range is further south.

We're happy and healthy.

May 18 - a 2 patisserie day

5 days on the coast of Bretagne.
No rain.
Temps perfect 50-65.
Always breezy but never too windy.
Easy well-marked trail.
Everybody happy and cheerful.
Huge full moon tidal swings on beautiful rocky shallow coastline and estuaries.
Today we went to two patisseries and shared 7 pastries.
We're fat, happy and healthy.

May 29 - admitting my new obsession

On past trips I have written a post every night. I am now going to admit the reason that I have fallen short of that intention on this trip.

On April 7 I discovered fantasy birding when I heard about it on "Wait Wait Don't Tell Me". FantasyBirding.com

I am operating two fantasy birders and each evening I spend time deciding where to send my birders tomorrow. So instead of writing a post I'm deciding whether to chase a Thick-billed Vireo in Florida or take my chances on another day in Nome.

It is a boatload of fun for me and a little bit annoying for my husband. My friend's therapist said that an obsession which causes pleasure is called a hobby but one which causes pain is an obsession.

So for me fantasy birding might be called a hobby but its impact on my dear husband might warrant the classification of obsession.

All is well in France. We're happy and healthy and making our way along this excellent coast.

May 23 - another great day

There was a bear in our bed at the airbnb last night. We named her Catherine and she liked having a name. She would like our family, but we already have a full house and she needed to stay in Brest.

More perfect weather and easy hiking. Mid morning and pastries at the boulangerie/café. Very nice chat with the three old ladies at the table next to us.

Everybody is friendly and easy-going. There appear to be no demons in France, possibly because of the abundance of patisseries.

We're happy and healthy and sleeping on the football pitch next to the high tide line in a village situated far up the Brest estuary.

May 22 - another great airbnb

More great weather, great coast, great campsites, great pastries. And a night at a terrific airbnb in Brest. Shower and laundry and now time for sleeping. 

Here's our track

https://share.garmin.com/share/AmyBird

We're happy and healthy and too tired to tell a story. 

May 7-8 - Slavic Texas Bluegrass

Day 1 - all rain and snow.
Day 2-4 - no rain, except a few light sprinkles after we were in the tent.
Day 2-3 - almost entirely cloudy.
Today, day 4 - mostly sunny!! Still cool, mid 50s or maybe 50, but it's easy to be happy when the sun shines.

Slovaks don't acknowledge each other when they pass on the trail or street. Heads down, eyes averted. I've decided to be the dopey cheerful American and give an upbeat hello or good morning, just in case someone wants to let loose and return the greeting. So far I've gotten pretty sparse results, perfunctory at best. It feels like a baseline lack of cheer. I was thinking that an hour eating a meal at an Italian kids summer camp would see more unfettered joy than six weeks in Slovakia.

But then this afternoon we stopped at a hotel pub/restaurant at 1000 meters on top of a pass. And to our great surprise there was a Slavic Texas bluegrass band. And they were having fun. And patrons applauded. Not Spanish or Italian level exuberance, but enough joy that it gave me hope we'll find much more of it in the days to come.

We're happy and healthy and enjoying the sun.

May 15 - Finally walking

Sunday. Decide to abandon Slovakia. Made new plans. Bus to Vienna. Walked to airbnb.

Monday. Subway to train station. Train to airport. Fly to Nantes. Bus, and then tram to Airbnb.

Tuesday. Airbnb's magnificent hostess drives us to train station. Train to Rennes. Train to Morlaix. Bus to Roscoff. Start walking west from where we started our eastbound GR 34 walk a dozen years ago.

Wednesday. Walk all day. Finally. That was a lot of transit to get to a sunny friendly happy place. Nice walking all day today.

We're happy and healthy and camping amongst the shrubs in a very high quality nicely preserved dune preserve.

May 13 - sunny Bretagne

Arrived in Nantes to sun and many friendly people. Woo hoo! AirBnB could not be more welcoming and comfortable.

We're happy and healthy and tired of planes, trains, and buses. More trains tomorrow and then we get to walk again.

May 12 - bye bye Slovakia, hello France

After seven days of hiking in Slovakia we have concluded that this hike is not really satisfying us. Nothing is bad, but on the other hand nothing has been above average. Average scenery, 2 days in 7 with sun, dull towns, dull food, and generally dull interactions with other people. Nothing offensive or unpleasant, just not sparkling in any way. 

From our pension in Trencin we spent two hours deciding to travel to the northwest coast of France and continue hiking on the GR 34, half of which we hiked in 2007.

http://doingmiles.com/2007-05-brittany-coast/

We booked a bus to Vienna, airbnb, plane, and another airbnb in Nantes. And off we go to try again. 

We're happy and healthy and waiting for the bus, adapting to the idea of this big change in our plan. 

May 5-6 cold, snow, and the Wicked Witch

Yesterday we had light rain turning to snow as we gained altitude. And it was windy and cold. There must have been an ice storm this winter because there are a lot of freshly fallen branches and for trees across the trail, that is a bother. All in all the walking yesterday was not much fun.

We walked through snow and more fallen trees this morning and then slip slide down a very steep trail, also not much fun. It didn't rain today until we were set up and eating dinner outside the tent. We retreated to the tent and all is well.

So far we are finding the Slovaks to be dour without much expression of cheer or a friendly greeting. We stopped at the bakery in town and the young boy in front of us asked for eight items which the lady behind the counter wrapped. She rang up his bill and it turned out he only had enough money for one or two items. The old lady scolded him with many stern words. I think he may be scarred for life after that experience. If she were to act like that at a French patisserie she would soon be taken to the guillotine as the French patisserie ladies are relentlessly cheerful and friendly. She even looked the part of the wicked witch.

We're happy and healthy and waiting for warmer weather.

May 4 - Slovakia

Vienna was the calmest city we can remember. Staying in Zilina, Slovakia tonight. Tomorrow we start our~6 week walk. Woo hoo!

And here is the CalTopo map.

https://caltopo.com/m/9191

There are lots of folders of data. The one that matters most is the top one, called "Route - Planned"

Feb 25 - homeward bound

At the airport on our way home. 

Yesterday was a bit of a rainy busy like the prior day. But today was great. We went to Amagosa preserve with Irman and had a fantastic morning. We finished the birding part of the day at Alambi Lodge and feeders where we finished the trip with our final new species — a pair of Crested Quetzals!!!

We'll write more when we have a real keyboard. Summary — great trip and smooth and easy and no hassles and so many great birds. 

Amy (and James too) 

Feb 23 - kind of a bust of a rainy day

We hired a birding guide and dropped down to Rio Silanche 20 hectare preserve of old-growth lowland (500 meters) forest, surrounded by farms. We expected lots of new species, but it was raining about half the day and was quieter than we expected. The guide was not as good as the one we used the two prior days, so on the 25th we're going out with Irman again. 

In one sense this trip has been a sampling of the style and skill of different birding guides. 

Too tired to write more. Tomorrow we spend the day on foot by ourselves at the edge of the town of Mindo and up into the adjacent hills. 

Factoid: Mindo holds the record for most species seen on a Christmas Bird Count - something over 500 IIRC. 

We're happy and healthy, We are here 

https://w3w.co/blushes.dumpsters.deleted

Nighty night. 

Amy (and James too) 

Feb 23 all good

So busy seeing birds and keeping records that I forget to send updates. 

We left dreary Bellavista Lodge yesterday and descended to Mindo. Much better. 

We crossed the 500 species for the trip marker yesterday. Exploding heads. About 50 species of hummingbirds. 

We're happy and healthy 

Amy (and James too) 

Feb 19 - ok but not great

Rainy and misty all day. This morning was frustratingly disorganized at this lodge - which clients go where with which guides, then mixing it all up part way through. We bolted after lunch and walked a mile to a five-star private conservation reserve with hummingbird feeders. We spent the afternoon on comfortable benches sheltered from the rain watching 11 species of hummers and scattered passerines, and talking to the German woman who together with her American husband bought a couple hundred acres of deforested cloud forest 21 years ago which the have painstakingly restored. It was beautiful and relaxing. 

We hired an outside guide for tomorrow; the services offered by this lodge or ambiguous and Expensive. WIFI hasn't worked for two weeks. We haven't seen hot water yet. Etc. Our guide is an unknown quantity, so we're hoping for the best. 

We are here 

https://w3w.co/decadence.messily.submittal

We're happy and healthy but wishing we were still at Sani Lodge. 

Feb 18 - fifth lodge in the series

Arrived at Bellavista Lodge. After four fantastic lodges we don't have a great feeling about this one. Hopefully tomorrow will be better than our first few hours here. Nice forest, but gruff manager and feels wrong. 

More later, Amy (and James too) 

Feb 17 - all good

Out hiking, camping, and looking for birds from 5:15AM TO 6:45 PM. excellent in every way except heat. Pretty much always 85 and saturated humidity. At least it's not like Darwin Australia which was 95 and saturated humidity and pretty miserable. 

Tomorrow we travel upriver to Coca, catch plane to Quito. Hopefully a driver from Bellevista Lodge will meet us at the airport and take us to our next zone of overwhelm on the west slope of the Andes. 

We're happy and healthy and tired. 

Feb 16 - crested owls and jaguar tracks

All is well. We are exhausted. So many birds. So little time. This Amazon Basin is amazing. 

Feb 15 - Sani Lodge

Our guide Jason lives in the nearest village. His little brother Jonathan is his assistant. Jason seems to like birds, but you kind of wonder if he just puts on a show because it's his job. At dinner tonight I asked how many species he has seen in a single day. He got quite excited. Three days ago he and his uncle (also a guide and his mentor) did a Big Day. The identified 270 species. He said it was very exciting. 

So there you have it. Indigenous young men down here in the Amazon Basin get just as excited about Big Days as the rest of us. 

We saw 114 species today. Including a Crested Eagle carrying what we think was a Squirrel Monkey. That's a really good sighting!!! That's a LOT of birds for two old farts like us. 

Oh, and Whitney's brother, wife, and two young sons arrived at Sani Lodge today! What an unbelievable coincidence. They are a lively welcome relief after last night's dinner with the other 6 guests who are all too damned focused on ticking birds to be good dinner companions. 

We're happy and healthy and very tired. 

We are here 

https://w3w.co/abruptness.untruth.shuns

Feb 14 - birds a plenty

Down into the Amazon basin. 1st of four nights at Sani Lodge. We have a dedicated bird guide together with his assistant who carries our scope and is his baby brother. Both are able to locate 3 inch long birds in a canopy of leaves 50 feet off the ground. Amazing.

Feb 13 - 99 species today

We hired a bird guide today and identified 99 species. Compared to about 50 yesterday without a guide. They earn their keep those guides do. 

We would have added ~15 more but we had heavy rain for two hours in the afternoon. We sat on benches under a corrugated steel shed roof and watched 9 species of hummingbirds share 8 feeders. They can't stop feeding and arguing even in the heavy rain. 

We're happy and healthy and still at WildSumaco Lodge. Tomorrow down the hill to the Amazon Basin. 

Feb 12 - too many birds

So many birds. Not enough time to write posts here. 

We're happy and healthy and enjoying perfect temperatures and no bugs for another day at 1500 meters before we drop down into the hot Amazon Basin. 

We are here 

https://w3w.co/reanimate.irritant.knowledgeable

Feb 7 - Guango Lodge

José picked us up at sunrise and we spent 7 fantastic hours driving across the Pass via the "old road", stopping frequently along the way at different altitudes/habitats. So many great birds. Our highest point was 4350 meters. Cold, damp, windy, but we found the Seed Snipe. 

We'll now spend 2 nights at Guango Lodge at about 2900 meters. 

We're happy and healthy 

We are here https://w3w.co/collarless.feel.incisive

Feb 9-10 - San Isidro Lodge

5 star birdwatchers Lodge which suits a couple who just celebrated 130 years of life. It's part of an old growth forest preserve of about ten thousand acres. There's a special owl here (3 individuals) that are a mystery. Called the San Isidro Owl - unclear if it is its own species or some weird morph of something else. It's stunningly beautiful and it perches outside the dining room deck every evening at 8:00 for the last thirty-something years.

Lots of birds that are very difficult to see.

We're happy and healthy.

Feb 8 - all birds all day

We're happy and healthy. Temps about 55-60 all the time here at 2700 meters. An hour of light afternoon rain both yesterday and today. Cloudy and no sun. I love this kind of weather. 

Great birds. Great food. Calm quiet small Guango Lodge. Except at the 25 hummingbird feeders - it's not calm and quiet there!!!

We are here https://w3w.co/mimic.borderless.bristles

Ecuador

Flew to Quito. Arrived at great AirBnB this morning. Spent all day walking on a rail trail from our AirBnB down to and along the river. Saw 30 species, 8 were Life Birds. 

3 weeks in Ecuador at birdwatching lodges. Birds, birds, birds!

We're happy and healthy and tired. 

We are here https://w3w.co/liberty.gasping.restored