PURA VIDA! My first day in Costa Rica...

My new buddies at Manuel Antonio National Park...

Wow! What a great vacation in the middle of winter! Thanks to our great friend, Brian, we all had a wonderful time discovering the wonders of Costa Rica. From birds to waterfalls, ocean front beaches and great food, we learned about the people and places in this amazing country.

Brian recently retired, along with a number of his friends, I'll retire in October(so excited!) and he decided it would be great fun to get everyone together for a trip to paradise to celebrate...which we did everyday! We hiked through a number of national parks, swam at beautiful waterfalls, relaxed at the beach and poolside and had wonderful meals together. Costa Rican food is delightful by the way...fresh seafood, vegetables and the best smoothies I'd ever had!

Our first destination was Parque Nacional Manuel Antonio. A three hour drive from the airport in San Jose, this place is amazing...rainforest, mountains and hills and out to the Pacific Ocean. The sights you'll see can be overwhelming. Please remember to bring your water bottles...unlike me...doh! A little bout of vertigo hit me near the end of the hike, but it was well worth it! And bring binoculars! There are birds galore out there, hiding and every once in a while coming out into view...and wildlife like lizards, mammals and snakes. Unfortunately I didn't see any snakes, next visit I'll look harder!

Anyway, here's a few photos from our first day out...

Brian our glorious leader and host telling me to be quiet and pay attention!

This is a species of basilisk reptile, I'm not up on my Costa Rican reptiles...

 

I don't know how our guide spotted these two brown bats high up in a tree!

 One of the first birds that I spotted on my own, I almost lost the group as they were looking at a clay-colored thrush...by the way, this is a black-hooded antshrike.

 

 

Flights of brown pelicans were very common along the coast.

 

 

  

 Another great bird to see! A chestnut-backed antbird.

 

 

It took us a while to see where our guide was pointing, but when you finally spotted this common pauraque camouflaged in the leaves, it was a great sight!

There's a famous bridge along the way on Costanera Sur highway. It overlooks the Rio Tarcoles and is said to contain the largest amount of crocodiles in the world!

No swimming, it's against the law to feed the wildlife...

If you're looking for great-tailed grackles, turn around, they're everywhere!

A heliconia...the hummingbirds that we saw were way to fast for me to get any photos...next time!

The forest is alive with iguanas and lizards!

This orchid was growing on the side of the tree along with a number of other epiphytes.

My first scarlet macaw of the trip! Surprisingly difficult for a color blind burd nerd to see!

I envy three-toed sloths...that life of leisure...

 

We were lucky enough to see a group of white-faced capuchins feeding on fruits in the jungle!

 That's all for today...stay tuned for more in Adventures in Costa Rica!!