29/03/2026
Birdwatching with Pocho (25 Feb 2026)
I went out birdwatching to Route 101 - a dirt road through lush forest with a bird hide and tracks leading off which we could walk down - just me (50-something female) with Pocho, and our driver. We started pre-dawn in a hide next to the road and watched as daybreak revealed the first birds, ibis roosting in the trees. Pocho declared this to be an excellent sighting, and so the morning continued with more significant sightings. Pocho was not at all put off by me being an “amateur” without a “list”, more out birdwatching as a way to enjoy the specialness of being in nature. He enthusiastically spotted bird after bird with an amazing ability to not only see them at all but to identify them from the smallest detail, which he confirmed time and time again when the bird settled and carried on its activity near us.
The whole experience was one of my favourite and most memorable from a month in South America, due also in large part to the kindness of Pocho, who made me feel I was out with a friend, not “just” a guide.
~ Clare from England