COSTA RICA

At the time, February 2007,, I just contributed to Helen's website: http://www.fands.org.uk/1.FANDSCostaRica.htm. I made this site later, all the pictures scanned from negatives or prints (some scratched!)

SAN JOSE 7th & 8th February 2007
Costa Rica	Promised visit sites	The Ramada hotel San Jose	Through the bus window
A good flight, a tedious stop at Miami to change planes and at San Jose a coach to the luxury Ramada Hotel
The Ramada Hotel		Pool and wet Bar	Breakfast Room
A street in San Jose	Houses with barred Windows, San Jose	A traffic short cut San Jose, the road was jammed	Lisa and Chris at the Bioparque on day two
Next day a coach to the BioParque in the morning and the Continental Divide and the Braulio Carrillio Aerial Tram in the afternoon
Bullet Ants	A Boa Constrictor	A friendly Squirrel	Black Turtles
A large cayman	Fer-de-Lance snake	Leafcutter Ants crossing	Aristolochia
Raptor sculpture from old iron	Termite nest	Whistling Ducks	Anhinga or Snake Bird
Sorting Bananas	Lianas	From the Aerial Tram	The Aerial Tram
TORTUGUERO 9th & 10th February
Tortuguero is at top right	Railway converted to a road	Disused Track from our bus	Volcano Irazun in the distance
Coach to Siquirres for breakfast and butterfly garden then on to Parismina to catch a boat to Tortuguera
The "Goth", our driver, with Hercules Beetle	Our breakfast stop at Siquirres	Ice Cold Coconut	A Coffee Plantation we passed (Trees provide nitrogen)
Waiting for the boat	Boats leaving Parismina for Tortuguero	A "Tortuguero Hotel" launch on the Tortuguero Canal, the sea is very shallow	Reception at the "Laguna Lodge", our hotel
Tortuguero Town Sign	The original tree has been "eaten" by a strangler vine	A Night Heron	Tortuguero General Store
Banded Owl Butterfly	Heliconia	A pink house plus locals	"Monkey ladder"
On one of the Tortuguero Creeks	Lichen on the trees	Montezuma Oropendula nests	Small "Blue Heron"
Just Orange juice	Northern Jacana, a lily walker	Folded towels at the hotel Laguna Lodge	Great White Heron
Broad billed heron	A creek	The far bank	A Cayman resting
A Jamaican style house in Tortuguero	A large White Heron	A village house	Large red aphids
Main Square	Art Work	The High Street	Bromeliads
	Anhinga taking off	Bare throated Heron	A Giant Otter has just ducked under
A Night Heron hunting baby cayman	Its prey	We also saw a trogon	A Poison Dart Frog in a Bromelliad "pond"
Tortuguero Catholic Church with no path to the door.	Turtle Beach	Turtle Beach again where green sea turtles lay their eggs	Tortuguero Airport
Our plane coming in to land	Our Co-pilot	Twin Otter leaves Tortuguero to take us onwards. There was no road	The Tortuguero Canal, damaged by earthquake, from our plane
LA PAZ & ARENAL VOLCANO 11th, 12th & 13th February
Our guide's boss at the breakfast stop	A village Church	An arrow points to the volcano	La Paz main waterfall
An early flight to San Jose then coach to La Paz Waterfall Gardens with breakfast with on the way
Liana with Bromilliads	Lower falls at La Paz	A butterfly Siproeta stelenes	The long view of Volcano Arenal
Cockchafer		Owl Moth outside	A Raccoon begging
Coati	Golden Toad		"Glass" frog
Another village church	"Postman" Butterfly	Hercules Beetle takes off	Monarch Butterfly
A boat trip across Lake Arenal
Port Arenal	Swiss-like lakeside Arenal	A toad in the hand from the shoreline	Black and Yellow Beetle
The summit of volcano, Arenal	View of the volcano from our Arenal Paraiso Hotel which had its own hot springs	Passion Flower	Arenal at night
OLD HACIENDA Rio Fortuna
Reception Class Rio Fortuna, 6.5 years	A Cowboy	Government Prefab for a homeless migrant family	Peter etc making tortillas
Helen went to the Rio Negro but I visited the school and the old Hacienda
A delicious Traditional Meal on a banana leaf which we ate	Smallholder Alginaldo & wife	Traditionally made Coffee	Tree Frog
Old Hacienda Living room, it was owned originally by a wealthy official	Hacienda Bedroom	Stone Age tools found on the farm	A two toed sloth way up in an isolated tree.
Fruit?	Emerald Basilisk	A Cassava field	The Cassava tuber
A papaya field	The farm cat	Wedding presents from long ago	Farm Produce
Fruit??	Jersey cross Brahma Cow on Rio Fortuna farm	Aniseed?	The sap of the Blood Tree
Trying a Grapefruit	A pineapple	A large, fast Scorpion	Rafael our guide and Alginaldo, the farmer
Santa Elena, El Sapo Dorado for lunch then Don Juan estate "Coffee Experience"
Port Arenal	Swiss-like lakeside Arenal,actually a reservoir	A toad in the hand from shoreline	The long view of Volcano Arenal
A Tican Cowboy	Green Hermit Humming Bird	Passion Flower	Bamboo Orchids
Ox Cart	Flame in the Forest Tree	A traditional Oxcart	A country house
Coffee fruit mincer/separator	Old coffee fruit mincer	Coffee bush	Coffee Roaster
Local Produce at a heritage shop	Old Style Kitchen	Cooking Range	Red legged blue honey creeper
MONTEVERDE Cloud Forest 14th February
Blue Morph but we didn't see a Quetzal or Tarantular	Helen on a "Hanging Bridge", Selvatura	Strangler Vine	Looking down on the jungle. No cloud, many tourists
Poison Dart Frog	The Canopy	Selvatura Hotel	Crocodile basking
Picnic Lunch	Lianas	The Canopy	Canna Lily
Plants grow in the bark	A golden frog, our hotel sign	Tree top Flowers	Large red Aphids
Green Hermit Hummingbird	Hanging Bridge over cloud forest Monteverde	Howler Monkey	Yellow Finches?
PAN AMERICAN and SAN JOSE 15th February
Off the Pan American Highway	Hummingbird taking off, wings too fast to photograph	Baselisk lizard	Service Area off the Pan American Highway
Living Area	Banana Flower	Various Plants	Service Area
Road side view	The only US made road	Hammock shop	The Suburbs
Yellow Poro Trees		Bungalow	Roadside Cafe
Kis ka dees	Female Iguana
Iguana in mating dress. The Cafe owner feeds them!		Spider with remains of a rival	A howler ignoring us
CORCAVADO 16th,17th & 18th February
Corcavado is at the bottom	Landing at Palmar Sur	Arrivals Palmar Sur	To "La Hacienda" to buy Flip Flops which were useless in the sea
The boat for Corcocavardo at Sierpe	A boatyard Sierpe river	Great Potoo Chick on the river bank	Landing Point at Corcavado which had been a cocoa plantation
Corcovado Lodge landing point, we had to wade ashore	Crocodile lurking	Basilisk, Jesus Christ Lizard	Crocodile lurking doesn't enlarge
A refreshing swim in the jungle	American Whiptail Lizard	Jungle Falls	Howler Monkey
The Guides' Shalet	Dawn bird watch at Corcovado with an American whose legs were devastated by mosquito bites	Pedro, the Chief Warden and Manfred our guide	Cano Island and yacht sailing by
"Enamelled" Tree Frog	A Coati begging at the kitchen	Lichens	Student Lunch Break Corcovado
Milk trees bleeds white sap	Pedro, Chief Ranger Corcovado	Mangroves	Palmar Park with "Lithic Spheres" made by pre-colombian Disquis people
Julia Butterfly	Longnose bat	Longnose bats camouflaged	Leafcutter ants
Spider Monkey	Poison Dart Frog	Derelict Banana Loco at Palmar	Knotted Lianas
A Giant Bamboo which was an owl roost	Ice cold coconuts	A Cicada	American Whiptail Lizard
Sunset	Jorge	Orchids	A privy
Botany Student Camp	Teaching Area	Manfred leads along the beach	A tiny hermit crab in Manfred's hand
Candlestick Tree	Hot Lips	Leafcutter Ants	Leafcutter Ants
A Coconut sprouting	Anteos Butterfly	Cricket	Students on the Beach
A Coati slinks off	Capuchin Monkey	We saw a Tayra and baby but it was too fast to photograph (from the net)	Green Kingfisher
Roots spreading out	Crocodile plant leaves	Diseased Cocoa Beans	Iguana
Abandoned Locomotive and oil wagon	Peter and Helen	Sierpe River Bar and Beach	Ferry boat
First Class lounge?	Palmar Sur Airport, Departures	Airport Restaurant	Palmar Sur
SAN JOSE 19th & 20th February
San Jose is in the Centre	Mellia Pooland wet bar	Through the plane window	San Jose street
A nightmare of a stop over in Miami with incredibly slow immigration procedures but we arrived home OK eventually
A tapestry in the Mellia	Blue Morph on my finger		"Christian Barbers" Miami