When Did We Reach Paradise?

3/16/13       Hotel de Montana Paraiso Quetzal -> San Jose

We had an early morning walk to view quetzals this morning.  We saw the same nesting male as well as the female.  We also saw them do the nest exchange that they wouldn't do with us there yesterday.  We had a group half the size today so it made sense.  Hearing them call to each other from in and out of the nest was also really fun to hear.  The calls are only slightly different but once Jorge pointed it out it was easy to hear.

We left the Quetzal Lodge after breakfast and some last minute hummingbird pictures.  We took a quick jaunt to an area called ' The Towers' which is at an even higher elevation.  The vegetation is primarily small bushes, bamboo, and grasses.  We did see some Volcano Hummingbirds and Volcano Juncos, which was nice.  From there we began our mountain descent back into San Jose.

 Fiery-throated Hummingbird

 Volcano Junco

Volcano Hummingbird

We ate lunch at Dona Lela again before arriving at Hotel Bougainvillea - our lodging until we depart on Monday.  This place is gorgeous.  They have a very extensive garden with a pool (outdoors), sauna, and workout area.  There's also tennis courts, frog ponds, and a hummingbird area.  We figured out just how classy this place really was as we were walking through the garden and saw a wedding.

The best part, however, came after our three hours spent at the pool.  Showers.  With hot water AND water pressure.  Amazing.  I keep asking when we arrived in paradise.  This is definitely a wonderful way to end our trip.

Everyone reconvened at 7pm for dinner at Tin Jo, a Thai restaurant.  The best part of this time of night is the street life we passed along the way- mainly the transgender hookers.  Yes, you read that correctly.  Israel was cracking jokes with Dr. George that had the whole bus laughing.  Oh, and the food was delicious as well.