Wednesday, February 26
After breakfast this morning, Greg and I go for a walk down towards the beach again....I'm still looking for a picture of the scarlet macaws! Once very abundant throughout tropical America, they are now only in areas where they are protected. The pet trade and habitat destruction caused a serious decline, but protection in Costa Rica has seen a slow recovery.
Not much happening at the beach, but on the way back we hear the macaws' loud squawking and walk down a short side road to see this beautiful pair! Yeah!
A toucan lands briefly nearby, but I can't get a good picture.
And then I spot another macaw. A single one this time. Andrey has said that they mate for life and if one dies the other continues on alone.
At 9:30 we board the bus again. We will be heading back to San Jose today, but first we stop at the Tarcoles river for a bird and crocodile tour. The river comes some 60 miles from the city of San Jose and, unfortunately, carries a lot of trash. People clean this area regularly, Andrey says, but there is always more.
Almost immediately we see a large crocodile basking along the river. He is referred to as "Captain Hook" because he is missing his front left foot. Approximately 70 years old and 14+' they can possibly live to 100!
Many, many birds. Here are some.
tri-color heron
Above is a basilisk lizard. Note the green spot on the log in front of him. This is a very effective light that Andrey uses to help us locate animals. He never places it on the animal and notes that sometimes the animal will chase the spot, like cats do.
This is one of the many small swallows which flit around the boat. As we travel the boat scares up some insects which these swallows gobble up. Finally found one at rest!
common black hawk
Anhinga with a group of whimbrels.
Osprey with his prize.
Male Magnificent Frigate Bird . He inflates that red throat pouch to impress and attract the females.
Female magnificent frigate
Royal Terns
White Ibis - the brown ones are juveniles.
Kingfisher
Green kingfisher
A few more crocodiles. This one draws up beside our boat. I notice that at the end of her snout there are 4 little "horns" sticking up, but when I turn to ask Andrey about them they have disappeared! Andrey explains that they are the tips of teeth that appear when the mouth is totally closed. Huh! Who knew?!
This croc is sitting with its mouth open - their way of cooling down.
We go near the mouth of the river where it meets the ocean and see many brown pelicans and shore birds.
There are a few fishermen along the way.
Back on shore, we have lunch near the boat launch and I again follow the noise to these two scarlet macaws near the parking area. They are jumping around and making a racket, and then they hang upside down!
We climb back on the bus for the ride to our last hotel near the San Jose airport.
But after just a few minutes, Andrey asks who likes ice cream and treats everyone to an ice cream at Pop's. Very good. Andrey encourages everyone to get cones to avoid the plastic cup trash.
I check-in by phone for tomorrow's flight - everything looks according to schedule. Phones have worked well here for internet and there haven't been many places without AT&T service or wi-fi. We are fortunate to have a direct flight to Houston while some have a long day of travel to their homes. The hotel has a free shuttle to the airport.
Back near the city, traffic becomes heavy.
We reach the Wyndham Hotel near the airport, where we unpack for the last time and enjoy lunch. Goodbyes to Diego, who did an excellent job getting us safely around the country. We have a 6PM "debriefing" meeting where everyone shares thoughts on the trip. Andrey deservedly gets lots of kudos. And everyone agrees that the group we have traveled with has made things extra enjoyable. The kindness and consideration and Pura Vida attitude has been outstanding! Andrey has put together a list with everyone's name, state and email address and no doubt some will keep in touch.
The farewell dinner is a nice one and we get the best night's sleep of the trip.
