Quetzales National Park (Parco National de Quetzales) is named not after a high-scoring Scrabble word, but after a bird -- a dazzling, multi-hued bird that flashing its jewel-like emerald, ruby, and turquoise plumage through the Costa Rica's gray green cloud forest. The quetzal, national bird of Costa Rica, is one of the most brilliantly colored birds to be fund anywhere, easily competing with peacocks and toucans.
It is early morning, and my guide, Jose, has just stopped the four-wheel drive jeep in the middle of a dirt road in the middle of the forest. "We get out here," Jose says. "But first we stop and listen."
We stand in the hush of dawn, the gray light slowly lifting the night. And then we hear a shrill, delicate cry. "Listen," says Jose excitedly. "A quetzal."
I have to admit right here that the scene seems a little staged. Did we really just happen to stop the jeep at the precise moment in time that a quetzal is calling through the trees? And indeed, after we walk toward the sound, the reason becomes apparent: The quetzal lives inside a high hole in a tree. Surely Jose, who leads visitors into the forest every day, knows about this quetzal, who lives in this hole.
He smiles and admits that it is possible he has seen this quetzal here before.
Seeing the quetzal is not a rare occurrence; they are plentiful in Costa Rica's cloud forests. But rare or not, seeing one is a highlight for any birdwatcher coming to this ecotourism paradise. A native of the high, mist-shrouded rainforests of the interior mountains, the quetzal is large and bright. The males, as is usual with birds, are brighter, with longer tail feathers, but even the females are no slouches.
Quetzale National Park is located about an hour's drive southwest of San Jose, the capital. The region is dotted with ecotourism resorts and hotels, ranging from basic to luxury. Of particular interest to ecotourists is Costa Rica's way of ranking hotels with leaves, rather than stars, based on their sustainability initiatives. Hotels are rated based on such issues as their contributions to local economic sustainability, waste management, energy use, visitor education, and local sourcing of products such as food.
The eco-resort I am staying at, Savergne, is a prime example of ecotourism in Costa Rica. Located along the Savergne River just on the border of Quetzales National Park, the resort contains simple but comfortable private bungalows. Tours include horseback riding, four-wheeling, ziplining, fishing, and birwatching hikes. One of the lodge highlights is a guided walk through the pre-dawn forest (more than 170 species have been identified here). Even if you stay at the resort, you can't escape nature: Hummingbird feeders near the main restaurant attract five or six species of hummingbirds, and a quetzal hangs out in a tree not a stone's throw away.
As we continue walking on the forest trail, Jose looks upward, his eyes following his ears to the nooks and crannies. Quetzals, like woodpeckers, dwell in holes in trees, and my first view of one is of its backside sliding out of the tree. Even at a distance, the plumes are glorious. From the back, the bird is mostly blue and green, when it flies, you see ruby red.
We don't walk very far that morning: There is too much stopping and pointing, not only at the quetzals, but at other birds, at fallen trees colonized by new plant growth, at the orchids that grow on rotting logs, which support a new generation of tropical life. As a licensed guide, Jose is trained in zoology, botany, and tropical ecology, and with every step, he shows us a whole new universe, accompanied by the soundtrack of the sweet shrill call of the quetzal. On this hike, mileage is not the point, nature is; getting somewhere else is not the point; being somewhere -- here, with the bird song, the tiny orchids, the brilliant plumage, the misty forest, in this moment -- is.
Karen Berger - Karen Berger is the author of 15 books. Please click on her name to read her full bio.
