COSTA RICA

February 2007     a jungly place click photo for larger picture HOME

   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

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