hey little bat!

January 3, 2010 The Early Bird & Monkey Tour started at 6:30 am. (We held up the group a few minutes, as we were a bit late.) This was a walking tour on Bosque del Cabo's grounds with Carlos as guide. Carlos with his telescope I was side-tracked by the banana tree bird We did see a lot more birds than this one above; it's just that I couldn't photograph them because I don't have a proper zoom lens for it. (By the way, binoculars are a must.) And, sadly, my bird identification skills are still somewhat at a 2 year old level; and, thus, all I can tell you of the above is: "bird." Also, today at least, the tour was more bird than monkey. a little squirrel monkey looking very picturesque Carlos spotted something in the trunk of this tree a mated pair of scarlet macaws in their nest Afterwards, we had a quick breakfast, then it was time for horseback riding at 9 am. next post >> Bosque del Cabo Horseback Riding previous post << Su...

January 2, 2010 All we had booked for today was sunset kayaking. We left Bosque del Cabo at 1:30pm. Eric drove us to Puerto Jiménez, to Escondido Trex. However, we could have arrived an hour late because that's how long we waited for the other couple - who were staying at a different lodge - to arrive. Actually I think they arrived even later than this because our guide walked us to the water and got us situated in our kayaks before they even showed up. Then when they finally showed up, they were so darn rude. A meager hello, no apology, no smiles. Nothing through the whole damn tour. (I dislike snobs.) The water was nice and still - I very much needed it to be, as I'm not at home in the water. This was actually quite a feat for me to agree to doing this. At dinner the previous evening we had met a psychologist and his wife, very nice, interesting, active, and well-traveled couple from California. We discussed what we had done here at BDC and what we had planned and the ...

Sometimes we didn't book any activities, so we'd have the afternoon all to ourselves, which we filled by simply relaxing. However, for animal lovers like us, any rustling in the trees meant that we had to get out of the hammock and have a look... capuchin monkey need more zoom! two monkeys here looking for snacks afternoon views from our deck ride - nowhere next post >> Sunset Kayaking on the Golfo Dulce previous post << Osa Wildlife Sanctuary

New Year's Day 2010, part III The Osa Wildlife Sanctuary, also known as Fundación Santuario Silvestre de Osa , rescues, rehabilitates, and releases orphaned, injured, and displaced wildlife in Costa Rica's southern zone. Carlos explained to us that we could not bring in any food or drink and we had to remove all jewelry, anything that the animals could pull off, even sunglasses - not sure about regular eyeglasses; I'm glad I put in my contact lenses. The monkeys liked shiny objects and were not shy about helping themselves to them, as some previous tourists had unfortunately discovered. You can bring cameras in, of course, just be careful with them. (Also, children under 10 years of age are not allowed.) Once we stepped off the boat and waded through some water to get to the shore, it was quite muggy and buggy. We met the owner and later his wife. And we met the animals... scarlet macow showing off the nocturnal kinkajou  looking wistful (or sleepy) now that'...

New Year's Day 2010, part II Deeper into the Golfo Dulce... The further out into the gulf we got, the inkier and "thicker" the water became. The Golfo Dulce is one of the deepest gulfs in the world, more than 1000 feet in parts on the Golfito side. Carlos said that Jacques Cousteau dived here (and never made it near the bottom.) You could just feel the depth as the waves quieted down. Supposedly our boat driver is the only driver that can navigate a boat of this size down the river at low tide.   our guide Carlos, explaining mangrove ecosystems  kingfisher The mangroves are home to many animals, one of which was causing quite a commotion below. Everyone, except me, was standing on one side of the boat to see this animal. I - freaking out on the other side of the boat with my 90-something pounds - was trying to keep the boat from tipping over. (Nobody else seemed too concerned, but I don't know how these things work?!) inspecting an animal in t...