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!!

 

Mis-quote of the month club...

 I saw this on the March page of the National Wildlife Federation calendar...and that started a long rant at work...oh my.

 Yep. To me, that's definitely a mis-quote on that calendar. "Owned by all citizens?" I don't think so. More likely owned by any corporation that wants to make big profits on the backs of all Americans. Think of all the land that is being given up for oil exploration and fracking or if you prefer the politically correct term, "energy research." And then we have the logging that is making our parks look like arid deserts.

If you haven't contacted any of your representatives, this would be a good time. It's not like they're doing anything right now...

You can find your Senator here:

 http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm

 

You can find your state Representative here:

 http://www.house.gov/representatives/

 

The Nature Conservancy:

 http://www.nature.org/

The National Audubon Society:

http://www.audubon.org

The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds:

http://www.rspb.org.uk

 This is an American Tree Sparrow...not sitting in a tree, which may be in his future.

 While trying to hike and bird at Shawnee State Forest, we were rudely reminded how easy it is to lose what belongs to ALL American citizens.

 In the distance you can see the effects of clear cutting and the beginning of more in the fore ground.

 

 Raccoons needs the trees as well as the birds.

 

 I hope we don't have to rename Tree Swallows...

 

 

 Look closer every once in a while, you'll be surprised at how much wild life relies on trees.

 

 Caution indeed...

 A politician doing a lovely impression of a Two-toed Sloth.

Amazing, isn't he?