We arrived at Puerto Escondido on 1/10 and I arranged to take a tour of a large lake (Manialtipec) with an ornithogist from Canada. First we were served shade-grown coffee (better for bird habitat) and got into an 8 seat launch. The huge labyrinthine lagoon is brackish and entirely surrounded by red mangroves. The roots are hatcheries for fish which come in from the ocean during high water season. All the life in the lake and mangrove swamp is a great place for birds - local and those which migrated all the way from the north. As we were motoring along, marveling at the numbers and types of herons (blue and green and "boatbilled")and ducks (scaup, black whistling), I heard the familiar calls of an osprey as one flew out of the tree right in front of us. It was great to see the brown back, white chest and masked face - the wingbeat and circling soaring. When we reached the beach - there were large numbers of pelicans and egrets, ducks and terns - suddenly all took to the air and a peregrine falcon captured lunch, sat on the beach and plucked out the feathers, and flew with the remains up into a tree. We also saw some parrots and parakeets. In all, we saw about 60 different species of birds.

After swimming in the surf here and recovering from the 14 hour overnight bus trip, next we took a bus up the coast to a dusty little town, where we caught a crammed taxi to the lakeside. There we caught a small open fishing skiff for about a 45 minute ride through a laguna which is a National Park. Here I also saw some ospreys perched in trees. The boat pulled up on a beach and let us out. Here is a small community of thatched huts called Chacahua settled by descendants of people from shipwrecked slave ships. Their features indicate they are of African descent. We were shown to a bungalow on the beach where the laguna flows into the ocean. As we were going to sleep the first night, some young people began to drum and play their boom box about 6 feet from our bungalow (which has planks separated by 1/2 inches). We went out and used our spanish to say - hey - its a big beach - go away. They did. In the morning - one asked "¿duermes bien?"

We had Huevos Mexicanos for breakfast in one of the beach restaurants which consist of folding tables, plastic lawn chairs and thatched shade. Later we went swimming as pelicans were diving all around us. They circle and dive and hold their heads underwater to keep their catch away from seagulls who accompany them. Then they lift their beaks, swallow, and wiggle their tail feathers indicating satisfaction. They bobbed and dove near where I was bobbing, looking benignly at me.

Now we will catch a bus to the next beach - Mazunte for the next few days before returning to Oaxaca - where John will leave to return to Seattle on the 19th and I will meet Danielle for another week in Oaxaca. Its her birthday and I am really looking forward to being with her here. Love, Cathy and John