Dewald's Travel Blog

09/07/2018

Thanks for waiting, you can see the video of the Amazon trip here!

A dedicated birding trip to the Colombian Amazon

25/06/2018

Amazon trip birds
This post contains just the bird photos of the trip.

I recorded a total of 157 species and 80 of those were new lifers for me, very happy!

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Pájaros del viaje de Amazon
Esta publicación contiene solo las fotos de aves del viaje.

Encontré un total de 157 especies y 80 de ellas eran nuevas para mí, muy feliz!

25/06/2018

Where it is

24/06/2018

English- Español debajo
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15 Years later I return to the Amazon to find more birds.
This trip is a purely birding trip, in the Amazon of Colombia.
The route is San José- Costa Rica, connecting in Bogotá to Leticia, the southern corner of Colombia bordering Peru and Brazil. From Leticia in fast boat about 80 km north to Puerto Nariño.

The flights were smooth and quick, no problems. Avian is a super nice airline,
no hassle, good food, great people…like all of Colombia.

The weather was a surprise, I expected HEAT and HUMIDITY…I got only the humidity.
It was overcast, cool without rain every day. Super nice for the average of 7 hours walking the forest every day but it takes its toll on getting good photos.
Talking of which, this time I went birding - photography second,
so I only carried one small camera!!!!! First for me!!!
This was the Panasonic Lumix FZ80 I posted about earlier. I have not a single moment
of regret on the decision, I had time to find the birds AND bring back photos and video!!

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Español - up for English
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15 años después regreso a la Amazonía para encontrar más pájaros.
Este viaje es un viaje puramente de observación de aves, en el Amazonas de Colombia.
La ruta fue: San José - Costa Rica, conectando en Bogotá para ir a Leticia, en el extremo sur de Colombia en la frontera con Perú y Brasil. Desde Leticia en lancha rápida a unos 80 km al norte hacia Puerto Nariño.

Los vuelos fueron suaves y rápidos, sin problemas. Avianca es una aerolínea súper agradable, buena comida, buena gente ... como todo Colombia.

El clima fue una sorpresa, esperaba CALOR y HUMEDAD ... Solo tuve humedad!
Todos los días estuvieron nublados y frescos sin lluvia - súper agradable para el promedio de 7 horas caminando por el bosque diariamente, pero tiene su precio conseguir buenas fotos. Hablando de fotos, esta vez fui a observar aves,
la fotografía estuvo en segundo plano.
Por lo tanto solo llevé una cámara pequeña !!!!! Primera vez sin cámaras grandes !!!
La Panasonic Lumix FZ80, es la cámara que llevé y de la que publiqué antes.
En ningún momento me arrepentí de esta decisión,
pude encontrar los pájaros
y traer fotos y videos !!

15/02/2018

t's been some time now since I posted anything, so yeah, I have not been anywhere!
However I am preparing for some trips and felt like I need a better travel camera. I need something that will give me a WIDE angle, good photos and GOOD video, all in one and easy to carry.
As I am forever birding it would also be nice to have a bit of a long lens capability should I see something nice when I am not carrying the big stuff.

Here is what I went for and so far (still learning the camera) I am super happy!
Panasonic Lumix DC-FZ80

I went birding with a birdingpal last Sunday and include some shots taken with it.

What I find rather amazing is the zoom range of this Lumix - equivalent to 20-1200mm. Now, we all know that it is impossible to shoot at 1200mm hand-held....or is it?
Nearly all the shots below were taken at 1200mm 😱

07/03/2017

A very short video of a very short trip to Antigua, Guatemala

A very short video of a very short trip to Antigua, Guatemala. This was only a break for a few days with one day of birding. Overall a nice trip but I did no...

31/12/2016

Guatemala, a quick Christmas trip to Antigua, Guatemala.

I visited Antigua (22-26 Dec.) for a Christmas break and because the ticket there is cheap...$160.
From Guatemala City airport I used a shuttle to my hotel in Antigua, again cheap, $12 for ±50km.

Antigua is a very old, 1543 and sits about 1500m above sea level. This called me as well because I could find some new birds!!!!
A very typical colonial Spanish city, like Granada in Nicaragua or Jardin in Colombia but rather run down, too many buildings lacking basic maintenance or restoration.

Things that surprised me was the vast number of foreigners living there. Maybe because it is one of the cheap retirement hot-spots?
Another odd observation was in walking basically every street in the city, I never once saw a butcher shop! They do not consume a lot of meat, that I found on the menu's all over as well.

Hotels and food is cheap if you do the local thing like me but for some reason whatever you drink, like coffee, beer, sodas all come in rather steep at ± $3, no logic in that.

The people are friendly as usual in the Latino countries but I was not impressed with the number of beggars on the streets.

I went birding at a good site close to the city (Finca el Pilar) and in the end managed 11 new lifers.

Will I go back?....No, not to Antigua but there are a good number of other places probably worth visiting in Guatemala.

The album link is here if you miss it in the Photos area:

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.361907554172547.1073741830.289660141397289&type=1&l=4871735310

10/09/2016

Some hummingbird shots taken in Costa Rica, some in my garden.

34 new photos · Album by Dewald Reiners

10/09/2016

Cuba

174 new photos · Album by Dewald Reiners

10/09/2016

The first visit to Costa Rica.....now you can understand why I am here!

80 new photos added to shared album

10/09/2016

The Buenos Aires video.

10/09/2016

Meeting Shirlene

48 new photos · Album by Dewald Reiners

10/09/2016

I saw that the old blog link no longer contains the photo albums of previous posts so I will re-post the albums here.

01/09/2016

Colombia 1, the video.

A visit to Medellin and Jardin, Colombia to do some bird watching.

28/08/2016

I had to clean the computer to start the editing of the Colombia video. Here is a historical leftover that has not been posted to keep you busy while I edit Colombia.

https://youtu.be/bYzzniNccUM

27/08/2016

For those of you into history...scroll down to the bottom, there's a link to the old Blog I'm too lazy to keep.

27/08/2016

The video will be up soon!

27/08/2016

Just a couple of numbers for those interested.
In the 5 odd days of birding I saw 126 species, 64 are new lifers for me...I like the place!

I carried my trusty Nikon P300 in the pocket and for the birds a EOS 50D with only a 100-400 L lens.

27/08/2016

Just a note to all of you, this page is new and I am still sorting it out, so bear with me if things are a little mixed up!

27/08/2016

27/08/2016

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.295962544100382.1073741828.289660141397289&type=1&l=8282abbfaf

General photos of the two places

27/08/2016

I just returned from my first trip to Colombia. I say first as this will not be the last trip there! I flew from Costa Rica (San José) to Medellin, spent two days exploring there, then by bus to the village of Jardin, about 135km south. Two days in the village, then three days at a lodge nearby for some serious bird watching, and back to Jardin for a last day there. I returned to Medellin by bus, spent one last night there and flew back via Bogotá.
The experience was superb. The Colombians are without a doubt the most friendly people I have met in any country.

I include two photo albums - one with general views and one with some birds.