Initially things went to plan, after breakfast we bid a fond farewell to the Savegre Lodge and our transport back to San Jose airport all went according to plan. Here we planned to pick up a 4-wheel drive hire car which we'd have for the rest of the trip. That would have been the case apart from Europcar telling us they didn't have a car available despite me having booked and paid for it 6 months previously! As you can imagine I went ballistic but it did no good and all we could do was return to the airport and try our luck amongst all the other car hire companies. At this stage the rest of the trip looked in jeopardy.
Luckily we managed to obtain a vehicle from a local company but even that turned out to be a heap of crap. Dodgy electric windows, brakes that kept seizing up and a missing wheel nut that we discovered a week later! And the irony? The company were called Safe Cars!
The moral of this debacle -
DO NOT USE EUROPCAR, THEY ARE SHIT!!!!!
When we'd finally got going with the car the drive up to Poas Lodge near Volcan Poas was pleasant and quick. The lodge is also absolutely brilliant. Run by 2 brothers from Texas, Jimmie and Stephan it has only 4 rooms but is wonderfully situated and the hospitality and warm atmosphere was the best I've had anywhere for a long time.
Not surprisingly birding took a bit of a back seat today but around Poas Lodge we were entertained by Magnificent Hummingbird and Purple-throated Mountain-Gem on the lodge feeders plus a triptick in the form of a Slate-throated Redstart in bushes over the road. A walk along the track off the road just before the entrance to Volcan Poas NP was quiet and drizzly but we did manage several Volcano Hummingbirds, 2 Band-tailed Pigeons, c5 Sooty-capped Bush Tanagers and a Large-footed Finch.
Magnificent Hummingbird (female)
Magnificent Hummingbird (male)
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