Reserva Las Tangaras.

Saw some monkeys this morning. It was just after dawn and I was up at the Cock of the Rock breeding site. A strange feeling, in the half light watching bright red C.o.R. swooping under the canopy, below the monkeys perched in the trees.
However, the monkeys (capuchins) wern´t as excited to see me as I was to see them. They had young with them and the adults came right up confronting me, staring and shaking trees. After a good look with the binos I let them be and went back to the birds – (also pretty awesome). At dawn every morning the “cock of the rock” (name of the bird) get together in a lek, where the female chooses a mate. The males are hopping about, squaking, fluffing and carrying on as us blokes do, 10 or 20 all at once making a big ruckus. A pretty special feeling to witness this in the early morning light, as the mist rolls down the valley below me.

We´ve been here a month now, and I thought it would be cool to roll out a blog. For those who have been to Las Tangaras, this will keep you in the know on whats happening, for those who havn´t been, it should make you suffenciently jealous to start planning a trip.

Life is everywhere here. Yesterday we dug some post holes for a small structure we´re building at the camping area, this morning we had 2 rainfrogs and 2 skinks in our impromtu pitfall traps. Last night we watched as a click beetle crossed back and forward across the floor, 2 bright yellow spots glowing on its back like eyes! All manner of other cool creatures and critters around (saw a “tayra” earlier in the week, its a 1 meter long mustelid!) Other than observing the crazy wildlife around, this is what we´ve been up to.

• Clearing and rediscovering the “lost garden” that had been overtaken by jungle, got it ready and planted coriander, squash, cabbage, tomatoes, capsicum and more!
• Clearing and leveling tent sites for  a campsite down by the river, an amzing spot just before the swimming hole with big blue butterflies the size of my hand.
• Clearing and rebenching parts of the tracks, starting to put some steps into the slippery bits.
• Making signs for the trails, front gate and entry trail.
• Making and putting up posters round town to attract visitors to the reserve – had our first couple this week!
• Taking daily hummingbird observations and Cock of the Rock observations a couple of times a week.

…And theres been hours of sitting in the hammock watching hummingbirds, listening to the river, and relaxing… Life is good.