Wednesday,
May 7, 2003 Wilson
Botanical Gardens (aka Las Cruces)
Our itinerary for the day
read as follows: After breakfast, you will start your drive on the way South to San Vito
de Java and Las Cruces Biological Station.
You will stop on the way at Finca
Los Cusingos
This day came to be known as the “Day of Spectaculars.”
Right after breakfast, as we were loading up to depart, Jim ran
back up the hill to take one more look for the quetzal.
It was waiting for him. What
luck! So he got a bit more
footage on the video before it flew.
As we wound our way up
out of the Savegre Valley on the bumpy dirt road, we ran into a light
rain shower. It was just
enough to cause the formation of a complete rainbow because the sun was
shining at the same time. Such
a good omen! Reaching the Pan American Highway we headed south.
At one point along the way, IF
the weather is clear, one is able to see both the Atlantic and Pacific
Oceans. The operable word
here is IF and today it was crystal clear!
Not only could we see both oceans but on the Pacific side we
could see all the way south to the Osa Peninsula.
Even Charlie was excited because he said it was the first time he
and Nino had ever seen the Osa Peninsula from that vantage point!

The "Vista del Valle" was well-named.
We stopped at a little
roadside café called “Vista del Valle” for a bathroom and Coke
break. There was a
spectacular view as far as the eye or binocular could see.
Lots of birds there as well as a small collection of orchids to
admire.
San Isidro de El General
was the city where we left the Pan American Highway and headed off on a
less traveled road. This
was the way to the little settlement of Quizarra de Perez Zeledon and
subsequently the road to Los Cusingos.
Yes, I’m hearing your inquisitive minds asking the question,
“What is Los Cusingos and why is it so important?”

This tiny building on the grounds of Los Cusingos was Dr.
Skutch's study. The home is in the background.
Los Cusingos is a magical
place. Los Cusingos is a
haven for birds and creatures. Los
Cusingos is a place of natural wonder.
But most of all, Los Cusingos has been the home of Dr. Alexander
F. Skutch since 1941. Dr.
Skutch, or Don Alejandro as I prefer to call him, is a renowned
neotropical ornithologist who was born and educated in the state of
Maryland but has lived all his adult life in tropical Central America -
most of it in Costa Rica. Author
of more than 30 books and untold contributions to journals and
magazines, Don Alejandro is probably best known as one of the co-authors
of The Guide to Birds of Costa Rica or “Stiles and Skutch” as
it is known in birding circles.
Although he is 99
years of age, Don Alejandro spends six to nine hours a day reading and
studying! His body is
weakening and his hearing has deteriorated, but his mind is still
“steel-trap active.” When
he is able, he receives guests on the front porch of his little
board-and-batten home he built many years ago.
Since the death of his wife, Pamela Lankaster, two years ago, he
has had a local couple living with him.
Charlie went ahead of us to check on Don Alejandro’s condition
and came back with a big smile on his face.
We were really, really blessed.
He was in his office and willing to see us.
As we gathered in front
of the porch, Don Alejandro’s attendant wheeled him out. He was dressed in a freshly ironed long sleeve white shirt,
gray sweat pants and Keds. Charlie
positioned himself on one side and motioned for me to come stand on the
other side of his wheel chair. I
had brought gifts: one of our trip T-shirts, a khaki long sleeve work
shirt and a box of English shortbread, which Charlie had told me was a
favorite.
He commented on each,
saying of the khaki shirt, “This is the type shirt I favored for field
work. They are very
durable.”
All of a sudden he
turned, looked at me, and said, “This is Ruth Marie?”
I answered, “Yes Sir, I am Ruth Marie.”
Then he said, “Thank you for the cards! I like getting mail.” Smiling I replied, “I’m so glad they got to you.”
To which he answered, “They are all on my desk!”
The look in his eyes when he made the connection between me and
the cards I’d sent was priceless and so very touching!
He was, at that time, less than two weeks from his 99th
birthday, which was May 20th!
Prior to arriving we had
discussed whether or not to ask him to sign our books.
The decision had been made that we would not request that because
we did not want to tax him unduly.
Well, the next thing he said was, “Are there any books for me
to sign?” Dick and I had
brought ours along just in case. It
was laborious work for him but his signature is legible and when he
handed the book back to me, he said, “It’s not very good but it’s
the best I can do at my age.”

Ruth Marie gets her Guide to the Birds of Costa Rica signed
by its revered co-author.
When he finished
Dick’s, he asked if anyone had any questions. You could see that he
was enjoying having us standing in front of the little porch like a
group of students. So we
asked what was his favorite bird. He
told us that the Golden-naped Woodpecker was his favorite because of the
way they took care of their young.
He also said that he did not like birds of prey except for the
Laughing Falcon. On his
farm birds of prey often killed songbirds for food but the Laughing
Falcon took out the snakes, which also went after the small song birds.
His books are wonderfully
written and cover both natural history and philosophy.
Most widely known is A Naturalist on a Tropical Farm, in
which recounts how he came to live in the valley and start Los Cusingos.
He tells about sitting in his blind for hours on end watching a
particular family of birds, making notes and drawings to include in
other books, about walking in the forest and the birds that would
accompany him. There is an
especially enticing chapter about an antbird who would always go with
him on the trail because his footsteps stirred up the insects that the
antbird ate.
We took a short walk in
the forest on one of the trails - one that Charlie had done many years
ago when, as a university student, he came with Gary Stiles to work with
Dr. Skutch on the book. It
was a real walk down memory lane for him.
We had good luck with a manikin and an
antbird, the kind that used to accompany Don Alejandro on his
walks in the forest!
We returned to the
caretaker’s cottage where the bus was parked and had our picnic lunch.
There was far too much food so Nino collected the fruit, packets
of cookies and containers of juice that remained and then left the group
for a few minutes. As the
bus pulled out onto the local road to leave Los Cusingos, we passed a
tiny house. There on the
porch, waving to us and enjoying juice and fruit were three small
youngsters. This was not
the last time we would experience what a great guy Nino was.
We continued south to the
town of San Vito and Wilson’s Botanical Gardens, our home for the next
three nights. It was
drizzling rain as we pulled into the property.
Charlie got our keys, found out that we were practically the only
visitors and gave us about an hour to rest before it would be time for
dinner.
Our accommodations were
named after tropical plants instead of being numbered. With lovely hardwood floors, tile baths and balconies that
face into the mid-level of the forest, what more could we wish for.
There was time to share a pre-dinner drink across the balcony
railing with Mary and Jack as we watched numerous birds coming in to
roost for the night.

The dinner-plate-size bloom, left, on the vine on the way to the
dining room smelled like rotting meat. The passion flower vine, right,
was more inviting.
Dinner, marking bird
lists and off to bed.... it’s been a long and marvelous day and
we’re up at 5 a.m. again tomorrow.
It should be another interesting day because we will meet Alison
and Michael Olivieri, friends of Charlie who have retired and moved from
the US to San Vito, Costa Rica.