January 2009 – Page 2

Los Angeles Cloud Forest Reserve

Jan 032009

Another 45 minutes of travel and we stopped at the Los Angeles Cloud Forest Reserve where we had a 45 walk with a naturalist through the cloud forest. More leaf cutter ants(!) and some beautiful birds were the most visible wildlife, plus we learned more about the flora of a cloud forest.

Oliver, our naturalist guide.

Cloud forest, and me.

More leaf cutter ants! The worker ant has cut the leaf and is carrying it back to the nest. The smaller ant you see on the leaf is a nurse – she’s cleaning the leaf and will help grow fungus on the leaves inside the nest.

This leaf cutter ant nest is over 10 years old. What you see here is about 8 feet in diameter, and very fragile. If you were to step on it it could collapse.

Built on the bottom of a giant leaf, this nest is home to either bees or wasps – I didn’t stick around to find out.

One of the many beautiful birds we saw in the cloud forest.

Twenty minutes of the drive to and from the cloud forest was along a twisty two way, one lane, road. Normally not that unique or interesting, unless you’re doing it in a tour bus with small trucks coming the other way. Marcos proved his skills.

A half an hour further down the road and we stopped for lunch, then on to Doubletree in Puntarenas for the next two nights.

Puntarenas

Costa Rica '08, Jan 03 '09

Jan 032009

The Doubletree is a resort-type hotel right on the beach. After checking in around 4pm we went for a walk along the beach – enjoying the beautiful weather and watching some of the locals net fishing. We followed that with a drink on the pier while watching the sun set.

Puntarenas has a gorgeous beach.

And I have a gorgeous wife.

Net fisherman.

Beach, pier, and a very bright sun.

Sunset and a cocktail.

After dinner we relaxed for a bit, then Eric and I went for a walk back out the pier. Once at the beach we saw that there was an algae bloom happening of phosphorescent algae that I’ve seen in Southern California before. When the algae get churned up they glow blue. We first saw breaking waves lighting up as if they were being hit with a spot light, then we realized what was happening. We continued out to the end of the pier, where the pilings would cause the water to light up every time a wave came by. As our eyes adjusted to the darkness, we started noticing bursts of blue underwater, presumably made by darting fish. Then we noticed splashes near the surface where fish would rise to eat smaller fish, then a blue streak would shoot back down deep – they looked like meteors under water. This submerged fireworks display was dazzling, and we enjoyed it for about half an hour before heading back in, sad that for the first time on the whole trip neither one of us had a camera with us.

Crocs and Macaws

Costa Rica '08, Jan 04 '09

Jan 042009

The day started with a short sightseeing trip to Rio Tarcoles, where we watched a large population of crocodiles laze about in the sun. We had a great vantage point from directly above them on the highway overpass – close enough to appreciate their size and power, but safely up out of their reach. Though Costa Rica has made a huge commitment to eco-everything, this river is very polluted. The crocs, however, are amazingly resilient and have no problem surviving in the murky waters. Sadly, two of them had garbage stuck around their necks. Remember those lessons about not tossing your six-pack plastic rings away uncut? These were living examples of what can happen.

Tastes like chicken.

Big croc. (Image processed)

Croc/rock camo.

Peaceful co-existence (not). A few minutes later I looked away for a moment and the croc took a snap at the bull. Drat, bad timing!

Sadly this huge guy has gotten a plastic ring caught around his neck.

We then headed down to Camaronal beach, where we walked around the small beach community in search of Red Macaws. We finally spotted a pair (they mate for life) in a beach almond tree. It must have been some sight watching the group of American tourists standing under the tree gawking up at the birds, while local Costa Ricans on vacation were enjoying their beachside campsites all around us, unimpressed by what is a very common sight to them.

Wild macaws, reaching for a nut.

Got it!

Lazy Sunday

Costa Rica '08, Jan 04 '09

Jan 042009

Back at the hotel it was laze in the sun time. We nabbed some lounge chairs and hammocks, sunglasses, suntan lotion and read (or slept) our way into the afternoon.

Reading “Death by Black Hole” by Neil deGrasse Tyson on the beach. A great collection of articles by a brilliant scientist/author. This chapter is called ‘Footprints in the Sands of Science’ – appropriate, yes?

Sarah and I took a couple of classes – the first was a “coffee class”, which was not quite what we expected. Rather than learning about the history of coffee, or how to brew the perfect cup, or a tasting of different blends, roasts or varieties, the class was really about how to make coffee-based cocktails, complete with bartender and lots of samples. We had a great time!

The hotel also offered a towel folding class which we thought would be fun – we’ve enjoyed the elephants and swans that have shown up on our beds at various hotels. They’re surprisingly simple to create.

Another sunset at the end of the pier – this one a little less dramatic because of the clear skies, but nonetheless very relaxing and beautiful.

After dinner Eric and I took Kevin and Sarah back out to the end of the pier to see the phosphorescent algae, but the bloom was a fraction of what it was the night before so it was difficult to see. I went out much later and tried to get some time exposure shots, which were only moderately successful. (Pictures to come…)

Sarchi

Costa Rica '08, Jan 05 '09

Jan 052009

Our last full day in Costa Rica, and the main agenda item is to get back to San Jose to fly out tomorrow. We had three stops along the way – the first was in a town whose name I missed, where we walked around the plaza, visited the church, and most importantly had ice cream. Kevin and I have agreed that a proper diet should include ice cream three hours after breakfast every day if possible.

Our turn in the front seat today. Much more thrilling than I thought – this bus is gigantic.

Our lunch stop was in the town of Sarchi, which is famous for their painted oxcarts and painted everything else. We watched some of the local artists painting souvenirs.

Cans of paint.

Paint pots.

Palette detail.

Artist’s drawers.

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