Flores: Take One

Captain´s log: Day 1. Flores, Guatemala. The coffees, empanadas, chiles, and toasted plantains are as rico as I remember them; my spanish is not as rusty as I´d thought it would be. There are frogs whose voices I don`t recognize in the bushes outside the hotel.

Halfway to Yarina. Two more days to go. 

Greetings from a girl with a functioning camera and high spirits in Guatemala! I hope I can continue to upload pictures here. We´ll see when I get to Coca Monday evening if that will hold up. It´s been quite a long day (3 am Pittsburgh time is nearly 24 hours ago now), so I´ll keep this short for now. Some surprises from the first day of travel for your amusement:
             -Reaching for my phone to send additional goodbye texts in the security line in Pittsburgh this morning, only to remember that the phone and laptop were left behind. After grabbing an extra plastic bin out of habit, I had to correct myself and put it back.
             -Realizing I´d been through Guatemala City on my way out of Costa Rica for study abroad last spring, and getting empanadas from the same cafe.
             -Remembering just how incredibly adorable Quetzals can be (Guatemala sure does a good job of reminding you). Quetzal sculptures, Quetzals as currency, Quetzal art, gifts, and larger-than-large-bovine cardboard cutouts near the customs queue.

The national bird of Guatemala, the Resplendent Quetzal. So magestic. (Google images; credit to `Janson.`)

FUN BIRD FACT: There half a dozen kinds of Quetzal! Sometimes the Eared Quetzal is seen in Arizona.  (More about Quetzals!)

Made it through the first day with all the supplies, gifts, and necessities for the journey! Note the new journal for part one of the trip in the lower right.

Silly first-travel-night picture to give people an (exceedingly bashful) idea of how much hair I cut off last night with the aid of Todd Norton and Mikayla Becich.

So that´s that: I´ve launched! Shout-out to Bob Mulvihill for the Birding magazines--they really helped pass the time on my long layover in Guatemala City! The first bird I was able to see from the terminal window was (unsurprisingly) a Great-tailed Grackle. Can´t wait to see what´s next.

Cheers,
One happy birdgirl in transit