Quetzals in mountain tropical cloud forest of Costa Rica!!!

Good - A dream has come true!!! We saw 3 respendant Quetzals.
Bad-Writing this Blog is already driving me crazy because it is getting out of sequence and I have to back track and I cant find the fr*gg*n locations of the places despite having 3 maps a my disposal!
Ugly -Nothing - thank goodness!

Ok, more details:
First - Quetzals!
You HAVE to make the effort to see these absolutely stunning, gorgeous, shy birds. they are from the Trogon species but I think they belong under Birds-of-Paradise. We saw them in the Cerro de la Muerte cloud forest, south of Cartago, Costa Rica.
NB To increase your chances of seeing them:

1. pick the right season -its February now


2. drive to an altitude of min 3,000 meters


3. hang out for the clouds to clear


4. get up at the crack of twit


5. hire a guide and make sure he is carrying a telescope powerful enough to spot the man on the moon. We went with a guide called Jorge Serrano. His family owns land in the area and own and run Hotel De Montana, Paraiso Quetzal http://www.paraisodelquetzal.com/ He charged us 10US$ for the guided hike 1 1/2 hours and guaranteed a siting. Very sweet chap and spoke some English. The hotel is rustic and clean and cosy and you can rent cabins with amazing views. You can watch at least 5 types of humming birds whilst you sip a warming mug of locally grown coffee after the hike.


6. hike uphill in wet slippery cloud forest for an hour or so

And then, if you are very very lucky you will see these most exquisite of birds high up in wild avocado trees. You have to have a guide - it would have been impossible for me or Uli to have spotted the bird without one. I think we are the luckiest people on the planet to have seen these feathered creatures!!

Location

We were planning to drive with Harvey down into the valley and stay at the posh Trogon lodge (in their car park!) but decided not to put Harvey (and us) through the ordeal of trying to drive down and then having to hire a tractor to pull us out. Last time we did that was in Belize, and some kindly Mennonites dragged us out of a mud pit. I wish Winnebago would make a 4x4 motor home so we can drive up and down steep muddy roads.

We stayed up on the main carretera in the secure car park of Los Chespiritos cafeteria http://www.chespiritos.com/ owned and managed by a Manuel, Eladio and Herardo. They let us stay 2 nights for free and we frequented their cafe in return for their kindness. Lovely local grub and very reasonable prices. They even had a friendly dog to keep us company in the car park. Thanks Boys - we had a very welcome and safe stay with you!

But my, it was freezing up there at night > 50 F.

We visited The Trogon Lodge http://www.grupomawamba.com/ which I highly recommend and enjoyed breakfast there and watched humming birds.