<p>Parrots in Punta Islita (10.5.22)</p>

The Great Green Macaw is an endangered species and the populations of other macaw species are greatly reduced.

The organization 'The Macaw Recovery Network' breeds Great Green Macaws and Scarlet Macaws (Ara macao) for later release into the wild. The breeding station is located in Punta Islita on the west coast, and the release site for the Great Green Macaw is in Manzillo on the Caribbean east coast in the rainforest. In 2011, the first group was released into the wild (a world premiere!). The scarlet macaws are released locally in Punta Islita and some of them return to the center at certain feeding times. And that's exactly what we saw today :)

So let's go to Punta Islita, 45 minutes for 18 km, that doesn't bode well 😂. The road leads for kilometers through the jungle, is not paved and full of potholes, but in the end we arrive and treat ourselves to a lunch at José's in a truly local soda at an unbeatable price, which is really good. Afterwards, we drive to the local beach at the other end of the village and find a fancy beach bar - which is not cheap at all, but the margarita is great. Three minutes before leaving for the macaws, Sebastian decides to jump into the pool with his clothes on and doesn't want to get out anymore. So I jump in after him (in a bikini though) and fetch him. It doesn't matter, we went to the laundry today and have the whole trunk full of fresh clothes. But we are really late now. The last few meters to the Ara Sanctuary are truly legendary, I don't know if we would have made it without a off-road vehicle, but we arrive on time to the minute and are lucky to meet 3 red macaws while they are eating and to see several animals in the trees. The macaws are colorful and cheerful, especially when they fly, I find them incredibly beautiful to look at.

After a bumpy ride back home, we snack on bread and vegetables for dinner at the hotel, and the boys jump into the dark pool again.