January 25, 2016 - Parque Nacional Volcan Tenorio

Our friends, Steve and Mary, took us to Parque Nacional Volcan Tenorio today. It was a long drive timewise – about 1-1/2 hours to get there, but not that far in distance. We were on very narrow, bumpy, gravel roads and left their house in the rain. As we got closer to the park, the rain had mostly stopped.

Steve and Mary have Costa Rican residency and when we went to pay the entrance fee, their cost was only $2 per person! A nice benefit of being an expat in Costa Rica.

There is a concrete trail to begin the trek to the waterfalls, but it quickly ends and becomes a muddy path. We could have rented rubber boots for $4 per person, but we opted to just go for it! A few times we went off-trail through the brush to avoid being sucked into the mud and not being able to get out!

The last part of the trail to the falls in a long section of steps. The railings are made to look like wood. Nice touch.

We were treated to the beautiful falls as we descended the last section.

The “Cataract of the Celeste River” is the waterfall which is about 20 meters high. Normally, the water is a really beautiful blue color, but because of the rain, there was too much sediment in the water. The river, the Río Celeste, becomes blue at a point where two clear-water tributaries merge, at a point called El Teñidor. There are numerous scientific theories as to where the Río Celeste gets its color. Most recently they have discovered that rocks at the bottom of the river have a mineral coating that includes silicon, oxygen, and aluminum. It is the size of these minerals, as well as the reflection of the sunlight, that gives the water its incredible hue. We didn’t get to see the blue, but Steve and Mary have seen it several times.

After our hike we stopped at a local “soda” for lunch before heading back to their house for the evening. It is still raining tonight, but we hope it will stop so we can visit the Arenal Volcano and have a stop at one of the hot springs.

January 24, 2016 Monteverde to Nuevo Arenal, Costa Rica

Today we left Santa Elena and drove to Nuevo Arenal. It was raining/misting off and on for the first hour or so. Much of the road looked like this and we were thankful for the higher clearance of our 4x4 rental car!

We were treated to several beautiful rainbows along the way.

As we got closer to Tilaran, we saw several wind turbines. We learned from our friends, Mary and Steve, they are the ones manufactured by Vestas, near our home in Colorado! It was still very windy today so they were working pretty hard.

The road was paved about 10 km outside of Tilaran – it looked much like the gravel road, just not muddy. After we got to Tilaran, however, the condition improved to a well-paved road.

We stopped in Tilaran for gas and parked near the town square to look around. There was a funeral being held at the church and we thought it odd that a funeral would be held on Sunday. Steve told us it is a law in Costa Rica that anyone who dies has to be buried within 24 hours because they do not enbalm the bodies. This is the cemetery in Tilaran.

It was a short drive from there to Mary and Steve’s house in Nuevo Arenal – about 30 minutes. We had some nice views of Lake Arenal as we circled it from the south.

We got here in plenty of time to visit before the Broncos football game. Mary and I used to teach at the same school and we are all big Broncos fans. We were not disappointed in the results!! SuperBowl bound – yahoo!

We enjoyed playing cards and visiting until late in the night. The rain started up again about 9pm and continued all night. Not sure what the plans for the day will be because of the weather, but we will see!

January 23, 2016 - Santa Elena, Costa Rica

It was rainy when we got up today but we decided to go to the Monteverde Butterfly Garden anyway. The drive across town only takes about 10 minutes and by the time we arrived, most of the rain had stopped and the sun was out, but the wind persists!

The cost was $15 USD or $8000 Colones per person for the 1-1/2 hour tour. There was a large group of 20 going through with another guide, so David, the owner’s husband, gave us a private tour. It was very interesting to see the four greenhouses set up for the butterflies, as well as some of the insects they have at the gardens.

Morphos butterfly – beautiful blue when open


Grecian shoemaker butterfly

Orange Tiger butterfly

Clear wing butterfly – it is not dead! David caught it and put it in Tobey’s hand so we could see through the wings. After a minute, Tobey blew on his hand and it flew away.

Stained-Glass wing butterflyThe orange and black butterfly is a Small Postman and the black and white are Zebra butterflies.

Orange Julia butterfly

Malachite butterfly

Owl butterfly

After seeing the butterflies, David showed us some of the insects they have at the gardens.
Green-leaf katydid

Brown and green leaf katydids

Cockroach

Tarantula

The Monteverde Butterfly Garden has been in operation for 22 years. David and his wife, a couple from Canada, bought it three years ago and have become an important part of this Santa Elena community. They do educational programs for the local schools and allow the local people to visit at no cost. He told us that all of the profits from the gift shop go toward purchasing books for a free library they are helping start here. http://www.monteverdebutterflygarden.com/visit.html

After our tour, we had lunch at SaborTico, a local restaurant before heading back to our hotel where we napped and read. It has rained off and all all afternoon, often sideways because of the wind, even though the sun is out! The next big decision – what to have for dinner! Tomorrow we head for Nuevo Arenal.

January 22, 2016 - Monteverde, Costa Rica

Today we went to Curi-Cancha Reserve located just outside the town of Santa Elena.

In 1970 the Lowther family purchased the property and named it Curi-Cancha, the name derived from “Golden Enclosure” in Inca. At that time the property was approximately 1/2 pasture and 1/2 virgin rain forest. In the ensuing 45 years the Lowthers cleared no areas and allowed the majority of the pastured areas to re-grow into forest. In 1997 the property was legally designated a Refugio de Vida Silvestre and in 2011 Curi-Cancha Reserve opened to tourists.

We arrived about 8:30 and hoped to get a private tour, and we did. The admission is $14 US per person, and we paid $20 US per person for our guide, Jose.

Curi-Cancha is a birdwatcher’s paradise with over 200 species of birds in the park. My goal was to see the Quetzal – and we did! Jose did an excellent job spotting the quetzel and we were able to see it through his scope, as well as with the naked eye. These are the male and they are quite colorful!
Quetzel video

We were also lucky to see the Three-Waddled Bellbird and a Toucan flying, but weren’t able to get pictures. There are many species of hummingbirds in the reserve and they have set up feeders in one area to attract them. It was great to sit and watch the different ones.



We spent almost 3 hours with Jose learning about the flora and fauna, as well as the birds and mammals in Curi-Cancha. The tiny orchid was smaller than my fingernail! 
Cloud forest canopy

Fern palm

There are many ficus in the forest and they are an interesting tree. Sometimes they are known as a strangler fig because they grow on the outside of another tree and eventually the inside tree dies and rots away.


We also spotted a coati which is a member of the raccoon family.

Further along the trail we came to a HUGE number of army ants. It was pretty interesting to watch them. Army ants video It was a great tour and a wonderful experience!

It was almost noon when we finished so we stopped in Santa Elena and had lunch at Don Jose’s Coffee and Chocolate Restaurant. We met a girl who is from Windsor, Colorado – just about 15 miles from where we live – who is spending 2 months here! She is volunteering at the Butterfly Gardens so we may try to go there tomorrow!

After lunch we rested before heading back to town to eat again! We ate at Taco Taco and shared the fish tacos! They were pretty tasty. We also ran into a couple that we met in San Jose on our coffee plantation tour! Costa Rica is a small place!

At 8pm we went on a night tour at the Refugio Vida Silvestre Monteverde which was only about 5 minutes from our hotel. It was $25US per person and well worth the price. Our guide was Antonio and he did a great job, also.

In the tree at the beginning of the trail we saw a viper! They are poisonous and he was pretty big!


Almost immediately following that, we spotted a 2-toed sloth up in the trees. He had spotted a second one earlier on the 6pm tour, so we got to see two!



We continued along the trail, searching for birds, insects, and snakes. How he was able to spot these things in the darkness is beyond me!



Tiny frogs

Horned Katydid

Leaf-Cutter ants

Red-kneedTarantula

We finished about 9:45 and were dropped off back at our hotel. Great tour, great experience, really a highlight! Tomorrow there will be more to see – we just have the hard job of deciding what it will be!

January 21, 2016 - Manuel Antonio to Monteverde, Costa Rica

It rained last night – a lot! It started about 9:00 and poured until well after 10:00, so I was nervous about our drive today.We got an early start on our journey from Manuel Antonio to Monteverde today and the roads were dry and fine. The staff at Hotel Flor Blanca were kind and helpful and concerned about Tobey. They all made a point to ask how he was doing before we left. Very nice.

As we headed north from Quepos we passed a palm oil processing plant. Production of palm oil is mainly along the Pacific coast of Costa Rica and has contributed to the economic development since 1970.
Our first stop for the day was Carara National Park – about 93km north of Manuel Antonio. The park’s name comes from the Huetar natives’ language and means “crocodile.” The Tarcoles River (Rio Tarcoles), which forms the northern boundary to the park, is inhabited by crocodiles almost year round. The park is also home to scarlet macaws and ghost bats, so that was our main attraction.

We paid our entrance fee ($10USD each) and hired a guide, Antonio, for $22,000 Colones ($42USD) for the 2-1/2 hour tour.Antonio spotted a scarlet macaw in its nest. We looked at it though his viewing scope and got a few good pictures before it flew off.

We later saw another one that was hanging upside down out of his nest which seemed very odd to us. The picture below is NOT upside down - just the bird is!

We saw a couple pale-billed woodpeckers, but it was very difficult to get their picture!

There were also Jesus Christ lizards, as well as many iguanas in the park. We did spot a couple of agoutis which are mammals related to guinea pigs – but larger – in the brush. They are a brownish color and very hard to get picture of!

After 1-1/2 hours, we headed back to the parking lot and drove to the other trailhead to find the ghost bats.

It didn’t take long to locate them. They hangout on palm leaves! They almost look like they should be a stuffed animal or cuddly pet. Just north of the park we stopped at the bridge of the Rio Tarcoles to see the crocodiles. There were probably 25 or more!

Crocodile video

Just north of the bridge we stopped at the Los Cocodrilos Restaurant for lunch – burgers and fries – before continuing on to Monteverde. Much of the road was paved for which we were thankful! However, it seems we encounter cows on the road wherever we travel!

We continued climbing and had beautiful vistas along the way.

We were surprised after the pavement ended and we were on gravel roads to look to the west and saw water. We need to find out what it is!

When we were almost to Santa Elena we spotted a rainbow over the valley below. Pretty amazing!

We arrived in Santa Elena and stopped at a hotel but they had no vacancy, but they let us use their hotel WIFI to get online and find a hotel. We booked three nights at the Hotel Miramontes. Our room is the one on the left in this little chalet. It is quite large with a king sized bed and a double bed!


It is windy and cool here and we will be sleeping under blankets and a quilt tonight – much different than the sheet and air conditioning! There are so many activities in the area it will be hard for us to decide what to do tomorrow! Stay tuned …