After breakfast, the day began with a short hike through the Annai village to the Pakaraima foothills. This was an easy trail to walk and the birdlife was amazing! Richard pointed out more than 50 species of birds including a hermit hummingbird, lineated woodpecker, yellow oriole, finches euphoria, yellow crowned parrot, and a red shouldered macaw to name a few. If I listed them all it would fill up this journal! The view over the savannah was spectacular and the white tailed hawks flying over only added to the experience. After an amazing morning of bird watching, we returned to the lodge where we witnessed a display of cashew roasting over an open fire - by far the freshest and tastiest cashews I had ever eaten - and with no salt! Then walked around the grounds to find even more birds I hadn't seen. This was a birders paradise!
During lunch, as I saw the beautiful mobiles of hand-carved birds in the lodge, I inquired about local artists that may have bird carvings as I noticed near the entry road to the lodge that there was a small shop. I do collect carvings and tribal masks to remind me of my trips. Being a Sunday, it was closed but arrangements were made to visit the shop. I purchased almost all of the wood carvings including a hummingbird, trogan and jacamar to add to my collection.
Having left the rainforest and given up on my pursuit to spot a jaguar, I still had no sighting of a giant anteater. But there still was time and I was now heading deeper into their territory!
The trip was not only memorable for the amount of animals we saw but also for the people and accommodations at the two camps where we stayed. Our first guide, BK, was a wealth of information about the animals, landscape and down to the plants and what they were used for. Everyday out was a learning experience with him. All the people at the camps were gracious and the food was excellent.
Our second camp in the Okavanga was just as good as the first as far as the staff, accommodations, food and animals. After our experience at the first camp we amazed that the high quality remained the same. Our guide, G, made sure we were able to enjoy every experience including a rush through the bush to witness a cheetah and an ensuing hunt that he heard over his radio.
In both camps there were enough guides out that if they saw something the other guides were informed which helped in seeing as much as possible. It was also nice that the concessions were large enough that we did not have vehicles following each other throughout the day.
Normally there is always something in a trip of this length that we think could be improved upon but this is the rare case where we cannot think of anything. From the time we left the States to when we returned it was one of the most hassle free vacations we took.
Perhaps emphasizing the use of the laundry facilities at the camps would be useful because of the luggage restrictions would be the only thing I can think of as an improvement to future clients.
Kenneth Dropek
1 day ago
Mary was so pleasant and professional. She made sure all of our questions were answered.