costa rica - la selva

costa rica was fantastic. the pictures really dont do it justice, although we took so many it was quite a bit of work to post them. many are from arnaud and francios. we were there for 11 days from match 9th to the 19th (i had to fly back one day early to start work). this is the first of 5 posts: la selva, carribean, arenal, monteverde, and the pacific.

arnaud, francois, erin and i on the carribean side



la selva - day 1 and 2
march 9-10

erin does research at estacion biologica de la selva which is a couple hours north of san jose. we flew in, got our car and drove to meet her. la selva has a 40 hectar reserve of old growth rainforest which has all sorts of bugs, birds, monkeys and the like.


the river through la selva







watching for tucans



tromping through the rainforest. really, once youre 20ft off the path you cant find your way back


not all of these flowers are at the reserve but there were tons to see all over. erin, if you can supply me with names, ill add them.













this leaf was like 5ft across



the little speck in the leaf is a tent-making bat. they nibble the leaves until they fold over and then sleep there.



howler monkeys. we saw a family of them with two kids. they were so high up in the tree you could really only see them with binoculars, but later in the trip we saw some up closer and took better pics.



these guys are everywhere



leaving

costa rica - carribean

carribean - day 2-5
march 10 - 13

the carribean was kind of like how you see it in post cards. palm trees hanging over the beach, beautiful beaches, the whole shabang. we drove very far south, almost into panama to get away from the gringos. almost everybody down there speak english and spanish because so many of the people are from other islands. its a very rasta sort of place. we stay between puerto viejo de talamanca and manzanillo, which is the furthest south you can drive.



postcard



the beach was almost deserted and goes on for several miles




water proof camera case =)








our guide book stated there was a nice 5km hike where the road ends to another beach. it did not state that the majority of this hike was through ankle to knee deep mud.




the first part took us past some scluded beaches. there are no further pictures of the hike because the mud would have annihilated the camera. we arrived and would have had to turn around immediated to still have enough daylight to hike back. luckily we got a ride from a couple of panamanians.




in full gear.



arnaud



francois








we did a bunch of body surfing and boogie boarding



crashing waves



a few seconds later the wave broke




half a second later the wave broke



francois with this mai tai and cuba libre




erin




it was happy hour so we all had the same drinks







we ate dinner at the cabinas were we were staying and got phenomenal fish. its served with patacones (fried plantain) and gallo-pinto (rice and beans which, on the carribean side, are cooked in coconut milk).



typical place in puerto viejo de talamanca







taking notes from the monkeys



antes



despues




packing up

costa rica - arenal

arenal - day 5-6
march 13 - 14

after leaving the carribean we dropped off erin in san jose and drove to see volcano arenal. arenal is active, though it wasnt terribly so while were there. you can, however, hear the explosions and see smoking chunks of rock and lava tumbling down the mountain.



arenal is almost always wrapped in clouds. i took this picture a little befor 7am from a little cabina in la fortuna were we staying. our host was a very friendly family that spoke not a single word of english.




arnaud and francois by the muy peligroso sign



a lava flow from 1992



they dont let you go any closer but you can hear it from here.



by night (duh). but if you look close you can see the lava glowing read nearer the base of arenal



by night (!, you can see stars). lava is near the top and the red from the previous picture is gone so you can tell that it was "exploded" there from probably near the top.



near arenal a bit outside la fortuna is a 90m waterfall.



the little specks on the right side are some college students climbing around behind the waterfall.



lunch. i think we ate plantain chips, cheese, bread, mayo and some fruit for lunch almost everyday. most of the time it was in the car as we were driving from one place to another.













going for a dip



behind the falls



laguna arenal on the drive to monteverde





friendly critter looking for a bite




laguna arenal again. really the pictures dont come within a mile of showing how beautiful this place was. laguna arenal is a reservoir and the largest body of freshwater in central america




one of the best kite surfing spots in the world. you can see a kite surfer in this picture.




this one was actually on the way too arenal, but if you look closely, near the other side there are two planks that a laid across the roadway because a part of the bridge failed, ie, if you cant aim the tires over the planks you fall off the bridge.




shortly after san jose also on the drive to arenal. on the way we drove through san francisco and los angeles.