We met Hil and David in the basement-level breakfast room at 5:50 AM. Much larger that the dining room because everyone seems to eat there. A large Japanese golfing tour were all there lining up for eggs. Fortunately, Bob and Hilary managed to get there first, and got their orders in while I opted for a baguette with pate and fruit.
The day started out cool (50s) and clear, warming up to 70. We took off in the bus a short way to a Hoa Son Dien Trang, a private (I think) park in some lovely woods with camping, picnicking, and cafes. The designer might have studied under Gaudí, as it was full of whimsical sculptures! It also had a lot of new and interesting birds, and we spent the next few hours logging them in.
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| Paper flowers for Tet |
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| Bamboo hand sculpture with Tien birding |
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| There are many opportunities to frame your shot accordingly! |
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| Another framing option |
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| Tien celebrating finding and scoping a bird for us |
We returned to our hotel at noon and met up for lunch. Hil and I split a pizza, and Bob had a tuna salad, light on the tuna, but full of onions and peppers, and he liked it.
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| Endless greenhouses surrounding Dalat |
At three we took off again to a lake resort area to the south. We parked and walked along a road and immediately saw a flock of small birds. David and Tien began calling out bird names and locations. It’s very exciting when you find a mixed flock, but also frustrating as there are so many things to look as it is easy to get very confused! One bird, the Verditer Flycatcher, was so beautiful, bright turquoise, that I couldn’t take my eyes off of it, and missed some others, but it was worth it!
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| Verditer Flycatcher |
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| Ice cream shop |
The government is building a wide and fast road to the area and it became obvious why when we saw large mansions being built on the water. There were also several busloads of tourists wandering around buying ice cream and looking at the water.
Bom parked at the end of the road near a mansion under construction and a uniformed guard came out and began shouting at him. He wisely pulled away and left us to bird. Kind of ridiculous as we were just live parking for a bit, but. Oh, well.
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| Rush Hour |
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| “San Francisco” view from Hil’s room |
We returned to the Du Parc Hotel at 4:30 amid a swarm of motor bikes – amazing how the vehicles seem to weave chaotically but successfully for the most part.
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| The remarkable elevator in this hotel - none of us had seen one of these in 50 years! No operator but you do it yourself and be sure to close the iron door so that it works for the next person calling it. |
Dinner in the small dining room. We are planning on birding the road near the hides tomorrow and then spend the afternoon touring Da Lat as we all agree it is a lovely city.
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