Sun, Jan 28 – to Di Linh and Birding Day 1

We had one last fabulous breakfast buffet.  I (Katy) had been feeling squeamish and, starting yesterday, had had a bit of Delhi Belly, or whatever tourists call it here, so just had the recommended plain toast, plain rice, banana, and coffee.

Duparc doorman loading our van

We packed up and checked out at 8 AM and drove a short distance to Datanla Waterfall park.  One enters at the top of a canyon and then can take various tiny tracked cars or zip line to the bottom. The park also had “canyoning” and lots of people were filling the parking lot with themselves and piles of gear.   The idea for us was to bird with the treetops at eye level which you can do from the open air restaurant.   I thought it looked like fun to zoom down the canyon in a little car, and David said go for it.   The map was in Vietnamese and Korean and I couldn’t figure out how to get back up once at the bottom, and then spotted a large ruler and saw that I was way too tall anyway, so that solved that!

Small car on the track that was tempting to Katy

But alas, we both towered above the measurement sign!

Note the stuffed animals inside the windshield!  We’ve seen many tourist buses where the driver is definitely showing off his personality.

We drove for three hours through little towns and past vast agricultural valleys and hillsides.  Acres of blooming coffee, mango trees, chilis, bananas, lettuce, tomatoes, on and on.  Nurseries are all prepped for Tet, which starts next week, with perfectly blooming flowers and potted plants.  Tien stopped in one retail area and took me across the street, dodging motorbikes, to a small shop where I could buy some bright red Tet paper lanterns!

 

Small, but pretty, Vietnamese house

Country club & golf course

Bom finally came to the town of the Di Linh and pulled into a small alley leading to the Ivory Falls Guest House – a classic tropical small hotel, painted brilliant colors, surrounded by bananas, outdoor eating terrace.   There were some other birders here who were checking out, and we discussed what birds they had seen.  Bob and I got a lovely room with a view overlooking a wide valley, reminiscent of the San Diego backcountry. 

Some of the colorful buildings

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Open air living room and restaurant 

More of the Ivory Falls Villa

 

We got lunch of beer and excellent fried rice and set off to a hide that Tien has set up.   We had to climb a short, but steep, trail.   I was feeling woozy and almost fainted several times, but finally made it to the hide where I could just sit.  Tien swept the area, filled a small pool with water and sprinkled meal worms in strategic places.  It’s like watching a bonsai master arranging a garden – he is so meticulous in making it attractive for the birds and easy for us to see them!

Tien cleaning the “birdbath” and setting out corn and meal worms

Getting ready to see what we could see from the hide

Orange-headed Thrush

Black-crested Bulbul

Siberian Thrush

Blue-rumped Pitta (female)

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We were there for 3.5 hours, and saw a lot of beautiful birds, plus another cute shrew and red-faced squirrel.  I was feeling better when we finally climbed down to the car, but when we returned to our room, I started a prescription of antibiotic as I want to feel better for the rest of the trip.

Orange-headed Thrush - subspecies with tear drop like markings across the eyes

Sunset from the outdoor living room

 

Dinner of grilled chicken pieces, roast potatoes and green salad – a nice change.  I downloaded my photos a bit did Not write the blog but crashed at 9 PM and slept through until the alarm went off at 5 AM – feeling Much better!!