Beto (Elvis) was our guide. With a 6:15 pick up which was a little late as he slept in and car wouldn’t start.
Man, what a way to spend a birthday!
We were in a Ford Ranger Ute today and started with a coffee and pastry at a local servo. Nice as we were too early for breakfast at the hotel.
Then we headed out to the NP and turned onto a dirt road past the checkpoint.
We learnt a lot of facts and also about the Argentinean way of life. Beto was very willing to chat and answer our numerous questions. He also really knew his birds.
73 species of birds by the eye of the bucket! was what we saw today.
There were also masses of butterflies so it was as much butterfly watching as birds!
We also saw a dead/squished Coral Snake on the road and some other bugs. Along with some big ants, leaf cutters too. Plus some bitey ones. Something stung me up the leg of shorts on my thigh. Three days later it’s still hard and a tad itchy.
Beto also shared a couple of Argentinean or Beto sayings- about life here.
1. Baby is born with bread under one arm, guitar under the other.
2. He tells his son “there’s two words that will open many doors in life – push and pull!”
Beto explained that meat is prominent and important to Argentineans. It’s a tradition to hand down the skills of cooking of meat.
Eating at 11:00pm is traditional. They have breaky, good lunch and medio (an afternoon tea) and late dinner 10:30 with kids.
The wood on the fire is key to the flavour of the meat. Cooking at home is important. They can all cook good meat.
We saw and heard many birds, not so much luck with photos, but they looked good through binoculars. We saw a toucan flying and Mary managed a pretty good shot.
Beto was fabulous, his sense of humour in a second (or third) language was ‘bang on’ with ours, which is pretty awesome. I do wonder if these professional guides all have this ability to adapt to different client nationalities.
On the return trip Beto arranged a visit to the Jardin de los Picaflores (Hummingbird garden). A family has a garden to attract the birds and boy are there stacks of hummingbirds- they flit everywhere. The light wasn’t conducive to photos, but it was a treat to sit, watch and listen. The grown sons of the family now run it and are keen birders and conservationists. They also have have a farm which they are using as a jungle corridor and providing a reserve for wildlife.
You can check out their garden on Instagram- search: jardindelospicaflores. Here are some pics from their Insta.
Then it was back to the hotel and we invited Beto in for a beer (or two) at the outdoor pool bar. He was such a good guide.
Then we hung for the sunset before getting cleaned up and eating at the hotel for Birthday tea shouted by the crew – very memorable day. We are all ready to crash as early starts to beat the heat and late meals means not enough hours of sleep. But you only live once…
Travel adventures with Nicola & co. 