Mindo, Ecuador

Heading to a cloud forest

If we were going to go to Ecuador, I was going to see some birds in a cloud forest. Mike got his wish to go to the Amazon. My turn.

We hired a driver to take us 2 hours to Mindo from Quito which was arranged by the Platinum Toucan Suites where we stayed during our 3 days in the mountains. They also arranged for a guide to take us birding at 6am. Boy, did he deliver. We saw so many birds, hummingbirds and 4 species of toucans. As we hiked through the hills, he would show us bird nests in the side of the hills and give us a peek in at the little mouths waiting for mom.

 There were plenty of ecotourism opportunities, hiking to waterfalls, rafting and ziplining. I had had enough of those experiences for a while and was ready to see some birds.

Our guide had lots of scopes and binoculars for us to use.

He helped us use our phones to get pictures of the 4 species of toucans flying around us.

This toucan chirping was so cool. It wasn't long before we recognized the sounds and find them ourselves.

 Toco Toucan

By 9 am the birds were getting quiet and not a lot to be seen. The guide just kept walking and telling us stories. He was willing to keep going as long as we would like, I was getting hungry. Even though we had a kitchen in our apartment, I voted to have brunch on the roof that a local lady made for us on our return. The neighbors would get together with their instruments in the mornings and would play music on the front porch. What a treat.

We arrived on a Sunday and the town was hopping, but the next morning it was almost a ghost town. 80% of the town's economy is tourism. The holiday was over.

A visit to a mariposa habitat was a treat other than the biting bugs that got me a couple of times. I had let my guard down since malaria wasn't an issue at this elevation. At least I hoped.

I had so many pictures of different butterflies but had to narrow them down to a few.

Butterfly crystalis

Amazon Owl butterflies confuse predators with yes on their wings.

 A driver was arranged to take us back to Quito in 2 days. I wondered if he would return and what we would do if he didn't, I like a backup plan. He was there bright and early, ready to drive the winding mountain road back to the city. We were glad we didn't attempt to rent a car and figure it out ourselves. A person can only be so adventurous.

Socorro, New Mexico

A Three Hour Tour

 The sandhill cranes migrate to this part of New Mexico between November and the end of January. We were too early for the Sandhill Crane Festival but not too early to visit the wildlife refuge. I made reservations for the 8:30 am 3 hour tour (Mike mentioned "Gilligan" when I told him how long it was). The twice a day free, naturalist-led tour of the birds, reptiles, and mammals who call this refuge home only has room for 8 people.

Before starting our tour, we could hear the cranes singing to each other.

 We were ready to get out and walk after two hours but our guides were great teaching us so much about the management of the area and identified so many birds that several "birders" on the tour were able to add new birds to their lists. 

 Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge was established in 1939 to provide a stopover for migrating cranes, geese, and ducks who winter here each year as they follow the Rio Grande River.

 The refuge staff manages water to create seasonal wetland habitats that year-round and migratory wildlife need to thrive, like before men "tamed" The Rio Grande River.

Cranes

 Snow geese and ducks before eagle.

 After the eagle arrived.

 A javelina sighting.

A smart turkey hanging out on the refuge in November. Not only is he protected, they grow food for him. 

 The Sandhill Cranes can stand 4 feet tall.

A cool mural in downtown Socorro

San Antonio, NM

  When Frank Chavez came home to San Antonio, New Mexico, in 1945 after serving in the US Navy during the “Big War”, he and his wife, Dee opened a little bar in the grocery store operated by Dee’s father since the late 1930’s.

Soon after the Owl Bar opened, it became the hangout of a handful of so-called prospectors who had moved into the tiny community. These “prospectors” were actually atomic scientists who would later activate the famous Trinity Site explosion, the first test of the atom bomb used to end the war with its devastation of two Japanese cities. At the request of the “prospectors” and other patrons, Frank put in a grill behind the bar and began cooking hamburgers.

With a history like that, we had to try it out. Our green chile cheeseburgers came out on small Melmac (a plastic) plates from days gone by. The burgers were so good with just enough zip to make my lips know the chiles were there.

The bar itself, originally from Conrad Hilton’s first rooming house in San Antonio. He would carry suitcases from the train to his father's hotel.

The Box, Socorro, NM

 The 640-acre Box Recreation Area is a scenic, rugged area which is very popular for rock climbing and bouldering with five cliffs on either side of this box canyon.

 There is a 14 mile hiking trail somewhere in the Box but we kept running into fences and starting over on another trail to get in our 5 miles. Nothing was marked but we managed.

 This was as high as we were getting up the wall. The only people making it to the top were carrying ropes.

 We came across this rig with a couple from Germany camping in the Box. Now that is a getup. 

 San Miguel Mission

  In 1598 Spanish explorers, accompanied by two Franciscan priests came to what is now known as Socorro where they found a friendly tribe of Indians who furnished them with a supply of corn,
 (as their provisions were running very low.) The two priests, with the help of the Indians, built a modest little church which they replaced with a larger building in 1626, and which is the present church.

 Heading south.