Birding and surfing were the main activities of today and I was indeed a happy camper...well until my enthusiasm resulted in injury!
One of my favourite things to do while traveling and working overseas is to take quiet early morning walks, whether it be around my hotel or in a nearby forest or farm, with the hopes of spotting local wildlife. So, keeping with tradition I went for a wander along the sandy track leading from the main road towards the camp and beyond. This was another enjoyable venture and slightly different from yesterday's wanderings with our puppy friends (see post for yesterday). It was a lovely way to start the day and I saw a nice variety of birds, a dragonfly and squirrels including:
Upon returning to the camp I had breakfast and then spent the rest of the morning chilling on the beach and in a hammock watching the sea and surfers. I was hoping to take a couple of surf lessons while here at Costeño Beach Surf Camp but, much to my disappointment, the surf instructor was ill. We found out later that he, along with a couple other people at the camp, was sick from Chikungunya. Chikungunya is a mosquito borne illness occurring in Africa, Asia and the Indian subcontinent but, in recent decades has spread to the Americas including Colombia. I was disappointed to lose out on the instruction but I was glad to learn of the seriousness of the illness (before I too could get sick!) and and made sure I used my mosquito repellent and cover up as much as I could!
Although there was no surf instructor to guide me for my first time surfing off beautiful Costeño Beach I was lucky to have some knowledgeable staff and fellow surf campers around to help guide me through the waves. What a treat it was to be surfing in the tropics with no wet suit, like I have to use for surfing on Vancouver Island, to restrict my paddling! I was so happy to be in the water I ended up paddling around and trying to catch waves for a couple of hours. Of course, I learned another lesson from my enthusiasm...to learn when to stop and avoid overdoing it.
I finally had to call it a day when, much to my disappointment, while I was paddling around attempting to catch waves I felt my right shoulder go out on me. I also learned I chose to try surfing in some sloppy less-than-ideal conditions for Costeño Beach...ahh the joy of being an inexperienced novice surfer! This shoulder injury was such a disappointment especially because I've had to deal with dislocating kneecaps for most of my life but never had a problem with my shoulders. I've started seeing a wonderful physiotherapist for my knees (and it's made a HUGE difference to my knees and quality of life) but it appears next time I'll be seeing him for my shoulders.
Given my shoulder was now injured I called it a day for surfing and headed back to shore...to, once again, chill out on the beach. I guess I can't complain about that :)
By the way, thanks to the folks at the Facebook Bird ID Group of the World for helping me identify and confirm the bird species I photographed today.
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| This Yellow-headed caracara (Milvago chimachima) was keeping an eye on me as I wandered along the shore |
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| An old plantation area just down the road from the surf camp |
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| This little fly was busy gathering pollen...you can see it clumps of it on its back legs |
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| Love this Bicoloured Wren (Campylorhynchus griseus) having a peak around the branch as it was climbing around this plant :) |
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