No Bird Flies by my Window- Lone Palm

Today we were up at the crack of dawn to check out some birds in the Tenorio National park. We met our guide at 6:00 AM in the lobby of the hotel and we were presently surprised to see that our hotel had packed us breakfast.

  

A few of the birds we saw on the way to park.

As we walked the short kilometer to the park's entrance our guide pointed out over 20 different bird species including, black mandabled toucans, great kiskadee, Red-footed honeycreeper, and lots of tanagers including the red rumped tanager which was my favorite.

Sounds of the forest

When we reached the national park the forest became lush and it was amazing to just stand silently listening to the undisturbed nature. We walked through both primary and secondary rain forest to get to the first of the parks main attractions, the waterfall. We walked down over 300 steps and which each step, I kept thinking about the long hike back up the stairs. However, when we reached the bottom, I was so amazed by the beauty the journey up seemed worth it.

At the top of the stairs, needed a little break and ate our fresh fruit. After our quick break, we headed towards the Blue Lagoon. While Kayla and I were checking out the water, our guide was looking across at the lime green leaves. Then the guide asked for my camera which confused Kayla and me but I handed it over. He snapped a few pictures of the green leaves before handing it back zoomed in on one of the leaves. I looked at the picture and asked the guide what he was trying to show me. Then he pointed out the eye of the Basilisk lizard also know as the Jesus Christ lizard because of its ability to walk on water.  It was incredible that he could have found it.

Can you find the lizard?
Answer at the bottom of the post.

After we had sufficiently checked out the lizard, we continued up to the Miravilla to see the three local volcano peaks. Our guide warned us that it had been cloudy since October so we probably won't have the opportunity to see it. However, our guide was surprised to see a perfect panoramic view of not just one but all three peaks. We did our best attempt at a panoramic shot of the peaks and carried on with our hike.

The three peaks: Tenorio 1, Tenorio 2 and Monteverde

Then we made our way across two suspension bridges to the most important part of the tour, the chemical change. The color present in Rio Celeste is due to a chemical reaction between 2 clear rivers and when they join together the color is instantly changed to the brilliant aqua marine that makes Rio Celeste a major attraction.

Two clear rivers joining to make the brilliant blue

We concluded our 8 Km hike by seeing two motmots. When we arrived back to the hotel at 10:30, we grabbed a small breakfast before they cleaned up and quickly packed our room. We were on the road to Arenal by noon.

Motmots in the tree.

When we got to Arenal, we drove around looking for the best deal before deciding to stay in the town of La Fortuna. We grabbed dinner at a local Spanish place where the owners were from a town near somewhat close to Madrid. The owner were so nice to us and the food was great. We were even brought a huge pitcher of sangria which Kayla and I barely put a dent in it. We made a quick pass though town for some shopping before calling it a night. In the morning we are going to take a boat to the small Quaker town of Monteverde and we will spend either one or two nights before heading back for another day in Arenal. 

SANGRIA!!!

Octopus soup, Spanish tortilla and steak sandwich

Here is our lizard friend

Boats

This morning, our local friend, Alex, returned with a boat and moved us to a different hotel on Isla Canero. We wanted to check out as much as we could in our short time on the islands. About 20 minutes after we checked in, our tour boat arrived. My dad and I were surprised to see how full the locals fill the 20ft panga boat, but we got to met really great people during our adventure.

The first stop of the day was at dolphin  bay, where it is rumored that dolphins follow the boats. However, we were not that lucky because there were no dolphins this morning. So we were onto our next location which was lunch at a little restaurant in the middle of the Bocas. It was pretty yummy, but obviously a tourist trap because it was quite expensive and there was nothing else around.

Once everyone had grabbed lunch, we were given masks and snorkels and had the chance to snorkel for the next hour. It was amazing! There were so many brittle stars, sea cucumbers, tropical fish and tons of different corals. After we had all gotten sufficiently prune-y, we loaded back into the boat.

Sea Cucumber

Anemone

This fish kept biting my dad's camera.

Our final stop of the day was at Red Frog Beach on Isla Bastimentos. The white sand beach was beautiful and was named for the threatened red frogs found there. My dad and I spent a little time in the water before we decided to go search for the little red frogs. It was interesting because despite them being very bright red they were very difficult to see. However, once one was pointed out, it was easy to find more.

Dad and me at Red Frog beach

Red frog

Sloth in the tree.

As we all loaded back into the boat, we got lucky and saw a sloth right above the dock. It even moved for us which I think is kind of rare since they are such lazy animals.

We arrived back at our hotel just in time for happy hour. I got to try a passion fruit daiquiri while my dad had the local beer. While sitting at the bar we met a very interesting local who lived on the next island over and recommended a very local seafood place (which Alvaro had also mentioned). So with two great recommendations we figured we had to go.

We made it to the recommended restaurant, Alvin's, just as the sun was setting. We were treated like family by the local lady and her family, not to mention her food was amazing!!! After a great meal of shrimp and lobster, we wandered around the town's center where a group of locals were playing basketball while the kids were playing a competitive of tag.

The bocas are amazing!!! It is so beautiful and mellow here. Plus I think its really cool to hear Spanish spoken with a Rasta  accent.

Catching Turtles

At 7:30 in the morning Kayla, Victor and I are picked up by the PRETOMA truck and are taken to the Coyote Estuary where the PRETOMA boat is waiting for us. We were all excited because we were getting to partake in a new task with the sea turtles.

In Costa Rica it is very rare for  a Hawksbill turtle to nest, but there are a few locations where juvenile populations live; one of which is Punto Coyote. These turtles are critically endangered due to their beautiful shells that are used to make jewelry among other things.

The Captain and Erik untangling the net.

The plan for the day was to set a fishing net with very large holes out on the point and hopefully catch a couple Hawksbills, so we could tag, measure and place a GPS device on her. However, as the net was being placed, Erik explained the last time the net had been used there was a large storm and it was gathered quickly and might be quite tangled.

Turtle caught in the net.

Sure enough, it was a mess. As soon as the net was placed, we all put on our snorkeling gear and hopped in the water. We were instructed to be careful while untangling the net not to get ourselves caught in it, which is actually harder than it sounds due to wearing fins and  the visibility was pretty bad.

A half hour later the net was a good as it was going to get and we were back in the boat. While waiting to catch a turtle, we drove over to check on Caletas camp. We stalled around for 30 minutes before returning to the net to check if we caught anything, only to be left disappointed.  So we once again decided to wait another 20- 30 minutes before returning to the net again to find nothing.

By 10:45, we still hadn't caught a turtle and the tide was changing, so we decided to collect our net a come out again another day. However just a we were getting back to the net, we watched a turtle swim into the net. I couldn't believe it, after all this time I was finally going to get the to see a Hawksbill turtle!

Erik and Victor grabbed the net and started pulling the turtle towards the boat. Only as we got close to it could we see it wasn't a hawksbill, but an Olive Ridley, the same species I see everyday on patrol. Even though we were all disappointed it wasn't a Hawksbill, we still brought her onto the boat and tagged and measured her. After we all got a quick picture with the turtle, Erik and Victor helped lower her gently into the water and we all hoped to see her again soon on one of our nesting projects.