.. and a meandering river.
After our 7 days here, though, we did wish that we had been close enough to walk to a settlement where we could have independently gone for a coffee or a drink and seen some real Costa Rican life. Can't have it both ways of course, being in the rainforest and also near modern life, but we did miss having an opportunity to speak to a local other than those working in the hotel.
Excursions:
Canopy Walk:
We were really looking forward to our guided treetop walk in Arenal rainforest: a 4km. circuit comprising both trails of the forest floor and a series of 5 suspension bridges (distances up to 236m and heights up to 70m) with complete views of the forest canopy.
Until recently little was known about life in the tops of tropical forests, as it was nearly impossible to get so high. Early explorers used ropes and pulleys or ladders carved into tree trunks to make their way up. Today, biologists explore the forest canopy using towers, suspension bridges and construction cranes.
About 90% of all organisms in a rainforest are found in the canopy. The sun that barely reaches the forest floor strikes tree tops with full force, fuelling the photosynthesis that eventually results in leaves, fruit and seeds. With such a bounty of food, animals abound in the canopy as well.
Before too long we saw our first tayra, an omnivorous, solitary animal from the weasel family that hunts rodents and other small mammals, as well as birds, lizards and invertebrates, and climbs trees to get fruit and honey. Commonly found across the whole of Central America,habitat destruction is causing their numbers to shrink, but this was not a problem here.
We made our way through the gardens below where our very knowledgable guide pointed out a plethora of plants of interest
........ ascending slowly
to the bridges.
The first suspension bridge was 45m long ....
with a maximum capacity of 15. Here, as at every bridge, there was a guard to count us on and to ensure no-one stepped onto the bridge until it was emptied of the previous group.
Some of the group had been nervous of the height and of how much the bridge would sway and not everyone had come on the trip. We were told to walk slowly in single-file, holding the sides of the bridge as we went. It
did definitely sway, but in a gentle way, and it definitely was
a long way down: but the sheer beauty and wonder of the trees soon overcame any concerns.
The views were stunning
As Sue had been one of the first to get on she had the chance to look back at some of the others following .......
The second bridge was a mere 21m long
Definitely an excursion not to miss!
Cano Negro Wildlife RefugeAnother very successful excursion was to what is considered by many to be the third most important wetland in the world, home to a number of the world's rare plant, animal and bird species.
Cano Negro is a fresh water lagoon covering over 800 hectares between the Pacific lowland's monsoonal climate and the Caribbean coastal area's humid climate, the wintering ground of thousands of migrant birds.
We headed to Los Chiles where we swapped our coach for a surprise: we'd had no hint of the somewhat less conventional transport to the River Frio (Cold River) for our 2 hour boat journey!!
After a safety talk and donning of life jackets, the next stop was a half day trip on an inflatable boat, in groups of 4, each with an experienced guide who would, as well as doing all the rowing, point out to us birds, animals and fauna of interest and answer our questions. We'd never been on anything quite like this before and it was anything but the another boat trip we had been expecting.
It was a bit choppy at times but not a part of the river with rapids or weirs to contend with so we were in good hands with no fear of falling into the path of any crocodiles....
... and the guides were constantly pointing out to one another what to show us.
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| A brave man indeed to get in the water! |
At first it was difficult to see beyond the dense green foliage.
But as we travelled on there was a wealth to see.
Birds, of course.
And then other creatures ....
... some so well camoflaged it was difficult at first to focus on them.
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| And a wonderful sloth, of course having a rest. |
Half way through the trip it was time for a coffee stop, but not in your conventional coffee shop. We clambered off the boats onto a small island in the river where we entered a private home complete with family photographs of Grandfather
which the family had very enterprisingly turned into a cafe for passing tourists. Coffee and cakes were served .....
and our guides had a chance to take a well=earned rest.
And we were to encouraged to stretch our legs and have a look around. It was only then that we saw the
Christmas decorations that had been left up, or perhaps were permanent? We never found out,
Then back on the boats for the homeward lap.
There'd been no shortage of crocodiles so far but on the return journey they came out in force.
Sometimes you weren't quite certain what you were looking at ......
.... and then it popped up!
They weren't always solitary
and even when they appeared to be sleeping you knew they were always watchful.
This trip had been a definite highlight of the holiday!!
Night Safari
This excursion looked interesting when we had originally booked the holiday so we thought we would give it a go. It was incredibly cheap too so we had realistic expectations .... unlike many in the party who turned up not just with the requisite torches but also with multiple cameras and other techy gismos and dressed as if about to go on a Big Game Safari. We duly got into a couple of Land Rovers and headed for the main road outside the hotel, only to drive a few minutes before turning back into what appeared to be another entrance. A few minutes more across a dirt track and we parked by a series of buildings housing hotel grounds staff.
Our driver and his family were going to walk us round the land near their home and show us whatever was to be found that evening. Very enterprising! Who knew what we would find?
The grumbling started very quickly about the paucity of wildlife big and small, as did the shoving by the usual culprits of anyone who dared get in the way of a perfect camera shot. Our 'guides' soldiered on drawing our attention to what they could find which was, in the circumstances, pretty interesting and which we would never have seen without their pointing it out to us.
After about 30 minutes we were back in the cars on our way back for dinner. Apart from the hilarity of the ridiculous actions of some, we enjoyed the whole thing: walking in a pitch-black rain forest, listening to the unusual sounds, taking pleasure in the simple things on offer. What's not to like?
La Paz Waterfall Garden:
Our last excursion had the definite feel of a time-filler: somewhere to take us to spend some time and have lunch on our ride back to San Jose and the flight home the following day. There always has to be somewhere like this but, despite advertising itself as the most popular tour near San Jose and by far the best place to see wildlife in Costa Rica (!!?), La Paz was a disappointing end. We had seen such a plethora of wildlife and forest in a natural environment, to see what were in reality replicas in an artificial and overtly tourist setting grated. As Lonely Planet says, it is 'a polished storybook garden complex'.
The gardens opened in 2000 but the construction of the Hiking Trails, Butterfly Observatory and Reception began in 1998. The Park covers 70 acres of land, including 40 acres of rainforest and 30 acres of pastureland, and has 3.5 kms. of hiking trails and viewing platforms for 5 waterfalls.
Undoubtedly the gardens were beautifully colourful.
And the birds were numerous, colourful and easily observed and photographed
This bird, beautiful as it was, may well have been the only toucan we had seen BUT it wasn't free.
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A bird feeder, albeit it in a tropical garden.
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The Big Cats were majestic and almost too beautiful, as if a painting in a gallery.
But were they resting or just plain bored? They weren't pacing back and forth as you see in the worst of zoos, but certainly seemed to have nothing to entertain them.
We'd been fortunate enough to see these creatures on our Night Safari.
This seemed to sum up the stopover here.
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