Another ho-hum Zodiac wet landing on another black sand beach of yet another volcanic island. Conversationally, these fellow tourists asked how long we'd been in Costa Rica, and what we'd seen so far. By now, I've lost count. Both of the number of days and the number and names of the volcanoes we've seen. After walking a few miles across the tundra , we ceased our search and enjoyed the aimlessness of our mogul walk.
Golden rhododendrons are in bud, growing low enough to be a ground cover hugging the slopes.
The fierce winds don't allow any shrubbery to stand up straight, and barely permits us to pass through erect. We cross a snowfield high up in the riverbed, and walk across springy Japanese Stone Pines that smell like Christmas trees, and keep each step bouncing as if we are on a trampoline. The return to the beach includes a slide down a snowfield on the opposite cliff face and fording a stream in order to reach our landing craft. Part of the expedition staff, a renowned birder and author of several books on sea birds, and one of the owners of the Zegrahm company. Peter lives on the coast of England and travels the world, sharing his enthusiasm for bird life.