The view out our hotel room in the morning.
The walk on Christmas Eve was through a lowland tropical forest (vs. the highland version in Arenal or the cloud forest version in Monteverde). The trail in the Parque Nacional Carara was a road through the forest, and was only muddy in places. The weather was bright and clear with scattered clouds and it was getting warm. After Leo paid our admission at the park’s reception, we drove up the road a few miles to the trailhead.
This was the buggiest walk so far, although with insect repellent it wasn’t bothersome at all. In this area of the rain forest, the parrot flower was the predominant bloom, although there was some sleeping hibiscus to be seen periodically. We spotted a lot of wildlife most of which I think I got a snap of, although some, like the crocodile in the river, did not make it onto the xD card in the camera.
The ultimate destination of this walk was the Carara River, which feeds the Tárcoles River. While standing on the river bank – where Leo assured us he had never seen a crocodile – about five motorbikes appeared on the opposite shore, each bike riding double. The bikes proceeded to ford the river, although one got flooded out and it took the riders some time to get running again. They then zoomed up the road from which we came.
The sights seen on this in-and-out walk included: grey hawk, boat billed heron, Jesus Christ lizard (on Xmas Eve – how appropriate!), green kingfisher, golden naped woodpecker, jaçana, a troop of white faced capuchin monkeys, rufous tailed jacamar, and anhinga (a loon-like bird).
The view out our hotel room in the morning.
Fuzzy picture of the chestnut-mandibled toucan - we did a bit of bird watching in the morning on the restaurant patio.
The view out to the Pacific from the restaurant patio.
On the trail in the lowland rain forest.
This leaf was chewed while young and rolled up, and then opened up showing this pattern.
Palm.
Morning glory.
Royal palm with multiple fruiting stems.
Parrot heliconia (Heliconia psittacorum).
Unidentified butterfly.
Grey hawk (Buteo nitidus). Shot taken through Leo's bird scope.
Looking up in the trees again.
Guanacaste trees (Enterolobium cyclocarpum) are characteristic of the province north of Puntarenas.
Jesus Christ lizard, plumed basilisk (Basiliscus plumifrons). It can run across water for short distances.
A view of the oxbow lake where we saw the kingfisher, the JC lizard, and anhinga.
Golden naped woodpecker (Melanerpes chrysauchen).
This and the previous shot taken through Leo's bird scope.
Northern Jaçana (Jacana spinosa) Shot taken through Leo's bird scope.
Sleeping hibiscus (Malvaviscus arboreus). The flowers never open like the other varieties.
We came across a troop of white faced capuchin monkeys (Cebus capucinus).
The alpha male - he made a number of gestures at us to try to scare us away.
Heading across a vine.
Rufous tailed jacamar (Galbula ruficauda). Shot taken through Leo's bird scope.
The banks of the Carara river.
"An anhinga drying its wings. Shot taken through Leo's bird scope.
After about four and a half hours on the trail, we reboarded the bus to go eat at the home of a lady named Miriam at the beach in Tárcoles. Again it was an open sided covered patio where we dined on fried fish (picuda), rice, beans, potatoes, and the local variety of fried green plantains, pataconés (think tostonés). Also we were treated to the traditional Christmas tamales. While we ate we could hear macaws in the almond trees nearby.
After lunch we walked into the beachside park where the almond trees were located and spotted about six to eight of the scarlet macaws either in the trees or flying by in pairs. I was able to get a number of snaps through Leo’s bird scope.
We returned to the hotel after lunch for an afternoon to partake of the hotel’s multitudinous amenities. I wanted to try out the pool and catch up on the journal before we are to be picked up at 1845 to visit a local supermarket and go to dinner.
Pataconés!
Evidence.
The spread Miriam laid out for our enjoyment.
Miriam's house.
Scarlet macaw (Ara macao). Unaided shot taken by the little camera, tightly cropped.
Posing for the guests (much appreciated!) Shot taken through Leo's bird scope.
Macaws are usually found in pairs. Shot taken through Leo's bird scope.
Looking out at Tárcoles beach from under the almond trees where the macaws were.
The folks at the Villa Caletas took bathtowel orgami to a new level, adding the hibiscus blooms.
Another construct.
And the bathmat.
The pool overlooked the Pacific.
This shot gives a better indication of the tile color.
Me - up to my ears.
Jonathan working on his journal after taking a dip.
Reflections off the pool.
Clouds over the Pacific.
Christmas tamales!
The dinner at Juanita's - a seafood restaurant on the beach in Herradura.
The bus picked us up for dinner, with the supermarket visit the first stop. It rained as we drove south to Herradura. Leo led a number of folks around the corner to an ATM. I followed and stopped in front of a wonderful arts and crafts gallery that was unfortunately closed for the day. They had some nice metal wall hangings that could’ve joined our collection on the deck wall. We would’ve had to borrow the money from Neal to do it as we both left our wallets in the hotel safe.
We drove towards the beach where our restaurant, Juanita’s, was located across the narrow street from the surf. As we were seated, the surf was audible in the darkness beyond the bus that Sergio had parked along the street. Leo had called ahead with our orders so dinner was served almost immediately. The appetizer was fried calamari, fish, and potatoes (French fries). I ordered tuna (rare) and the portion was most generous and cooked to perfection. Tres leches cake wrapped up a delicious meal. While at the table, Leo and I went through my pictures to identify the flower, fruit, fern, bird, butterfly, caterpillar, and animals for me. We went through about 100 shots with 20 more to finish off later.