In the Shadow of the Arenal Volcano

Our story left us at the pineapple plantation. After some delicious pineapple treats, we boarded the bus for the drive to La Fortuna, the town closest to the Arenal Volcano.  Arenal is one of the 300 volcanoes in Costa Rica.  Five of them are active.  Arenal is one of them, but its last eruption started in 1968 and ended in 2010.  

We were extremely lucky to get a perfect view as we arrived.  Most people see only the clouds that settle around it.

Our rooms were lovely little individual cabins with only one catch - everything at the hotel was UPHILL.  My cabin, of course, was at the top.  Oh well.  It more than makes up for the water aerobics classes I’m missing at home.

Because of the volcanic activity, the area is filled with hot springs.  Our hotel had some of its own, so naturally I soaked my tired muscles in the hottest one of several.  Actually, it wasn’t terribly hot.  I expected bubbles, but there weren’t any.  Still…what a view!

Unusual wildlife and stunning birds crop up everywhere.  A block or two from our hotel we stopped to take a peek at another sloth.  This one was a 3-toed sloth with a baby.  She, too, was camera shy, but, heck, a sloth spotting is thrilling regardless.

I stumbled upon several interesting species wandering the hotel grounds.

This Great Currasow strutted near the hot spring.

There’s his missus trotting behind.

This Plain Chachalaca loudly called for attention.

This giant hamster is called an agouti. He was fearlessly nibbling something tasty near my front door.

After breakfast the next morning we headed out for a hike through the Hanging Bridges park.  True to its name, the park contains 16 hanging bridges, some more stationary than others.  Many of them did sway, but they didn’t phase me.  I’m a thrill seeker at heart.

Yikes!  A termite nest!

This tree sounds hollow.

Don’t touch these leaves…the tiny ants have a powerful sting that keeps predators at bay.  Toucans manage to avoid it by slurping them up with their very sticky tongue.

The vine-y growths on the tree are called “strangler figs.”  They are parasitic and eventually kill the tree.  They grow from the top down to the ground.

 Pit viper

Eyelash Viper

These leaf cutter ants were one of my favorites. I’ve seen them on video, but they are much more fascinating in person.  They take the leaves back to their nest and chew them up to produce a fungus that they feed to the queen.

More howler monkeys!  How cute is this guy?

“You lookin’ at me?”

Right about here, misfortune struck.  The howler monkeys started howling and I fumbled to get my phone to record it.  In the process I dropped my camera on a rock.  I tried to fix it, but I think it’s kaput. I still have the camera in my phone, but that’s much harder to stabilize and zoom in for the animals. 😩

BUT…I did record the howler monkeys.  I guess it was worth it.

Some bats taking a snooze. Did you know they were precursors to monkeys and aren’t rodents?  We learned all about them at the bat exhibit.

Three of us brave souls climbed down to see the waterfall.  It was beautiful and very serene.  Of course, the three brave souls had to climb back UP again!

Green Hermit Hummingbird

Broad-billed MotMot

They make their homes in holes like these.

Crested Guan

If you thought this was a full day activity, think again.  We stopped for lunch, had a little time to relax and off we went for a cultural experience and tamale making!  More about that in the next installment.

River Boating and Pineapples!

Pura Vida!

We packed quite a lot into the past few days - lots of touring and talks on the rain forest, the culture in the area, pineapple growing and volcanos 101.  These tours may be for “mature” people, but the pace rivals any trip I took in my youth.

On Thursday we boarded a boat for a leisurely trip down the Sarapiqui river.  The object was spotting wildlife, and Andres and our boat captain, Pedro, didn’t disappoint.  Their expert eyes quickly recognized birds and animals of all kinds.  I would never have seen most of them if they didn’t point them out and flash a mirror to show us where to look.  There seems to be no end to the fabulous variety of birds here.  In fact, Costa Rica is one of the most biodiverse countries in the world because of its formation.  The origins of Costa Rica lay under water until two tectonic plates slid over one another and raised the mountains and plateaus of Costa Rica.  When that happened, animals from the north traveled south and animals from South America moved north. 

Here are some of the birds we saw along the river (well, the first bird is me!):

A little mangrove swallow traveled with us.  We thought she might have a nest in the eaves of the boat.

 

Green Ibis

Anhinga

Some long nosed bats sleeping on a log.  I was fascinated they rested right out in the sunlight.

Bare-throated Tiger Heron

Trees reaching for water

Little Blue Heron

Tri-color Heron

Sun Grebe

Andres spotted some animals for us as well.  

Do you see the cayman?  I didn’t, until I looked at my photo afterward.  It’s incredible to see how well camouflaged all the birds and animals are. 

Howler monkeys!  I got excited and snapped a few (😊) photos.  I was disappointed they didn’t howl for us, but Andres said they were preoccupied with eating the leaves.

I was on the lookout for sloths to show my little fourth grade friend, Abby.  She LOVES everything sloth.  They are extremely hard to spot because they are so well camouflaged.  Andres and Pedro saw one in the trees and it took me forever to see it myself.  It’s a two toed sloth, which has longer fur and a different face  from the 3-toed version.  Andres has a big spotting scope and took these pictures on my camera.  The sloth wouldn’t turn around for us, but still very cool.  You can see the algae that grows on their fur — perfect for them to snack on while they are busy not really moving. Doesn’t everyone love sloths?

We said goodbye to the river and traveled to an organic pineapple plantation for a tour and talk on growing the fruit.  Pineapples take a year to mature.  The best are dark, not yellow, and it’s bad to tap them to see if they are ripe.  The ripeness depends on the color.  Our guide, the owner of the plantation, said the best fruits are not exported, so if we want the most delicious pineapples, buy them frozen.

They are planted by hand.  This gentleman can plant 1000 a day!

The seed of the pineapple is the leafy top.  In this climate, you just dig a hole, drop the seed into it and you will soon have a pineapple plant.

The best part - our guide stopped the tractor, walked into the field, yanked a pineapple plant out of the ground and served it to us.  It was so delicious, I want to keep the taste of that pineapple in my memory forever!  

Our last stop at the plantation.  Lucia the dog needed a nap. Me too!