Day 9 Costa Rica - Stephanie

Up early at 5 am this morning.  Started chasing birds right off the bat.  Finally got a somewhat decent photo of the Long-billed Hermit in flight.  Had a large flock of some very noisy birds land in the front of the house we are renting while here - identified them as Gray-hdeaded Chachalaca.  The book stated these guys are not common to this area so it was a treat.

We headed up to Cahuita National Park.  But first we had to get through the "Tico Man" marathon going on.  This is equivalent to half of our Iron Man in the States.

Chauita was wonderful!  I don't know how many miles we walked, but Kevin and I were both "pitiful" by the time we made it back to the car.  But those miles were well worth it!  We saw a Three Toed Sloth maybe 10 minutes from the time we set foot in the part, then a Two Toed Sloth after another 5 minutes of walking down the well maintained sand path.  The highlight of the time there for me was after we had crossed the first river and were on a very small path.  We came upon" an early 1900's oil drilling experiment.  The water looked oily, but after testing it, it was not oily.  However, the water was bubbling and it was very warm.  Interesting!  The wheel photo was probably part of this experiment, at least that's my take on it.

As I turned to head on down the trail, I saw about 9' up in a tree a very young and small Two Toed Sloth!  He was very much asleep but finally did open it's eyes for a few seconds to check us out.  Then back to sleep it went.  It was adorable!

We saw 3 or 4 different groups of Howler Monkeys, crabs, birds, lizards, and Sloths.  Of course there were the usual spiders and beautiful vegetation, but no snakes.  :(

Homeward bound, but first stop and have dinner at the Seaside Lounge.  I got the Caribbean Red snapper, it did not disappoint!  I had a Mai Tai to go along with the meal, and it did not disappoint either.  Excellent meal and great view of the Caribbean.  We had our own little Tiki hut to ourselves (except for the dog that came in, went to a corner, plopped down, and immediately went to sleep) and as the rain poured down, we enjoyed the chairs.  LOL.  Once again the weather gods treated us to a beautiful day and then when we were done and back in the car, the rain came.

Tomorrow is going to be another good day - we are heading out with Abel for the Gandoca Lagoon tour.

Good night, until tomorrow.

Stephanie

Young Sloth Sleeping

Interesting  Bug

Black Cricket

Broad Wing Hawk

Young Sloth and How Close We Were to It

Common Black Hawk

 

Dragon Lizard

Gray-headed Chachalaca

Groove-billed Ani

Julia Butterfly

Lizard

Long-billed Hermit

Spotted Sandpiper

Two Toed Sloth

Three Toed Young Sloth

Blue Crab

Howler Monkey Looking At Me

Tired Kevin

Mai Tai

Pouring Rain While We Eat

Dinner - Caribbean Red Snapper

Yellow-faced Grassquit

Howler Monkey

Pale Yellow Crab