I am back from Costa Rica. An amazing, amazing month. The last four days may well have been the best four. I stayed at Selva Verde Lodge in the rainforest — it was a magical place. Here are two shots, more to come, but I am off again tomorrow for another month and have run out of time. I’ll post more when I can.
This is a parrot snake eating a frog. It was right outside the dining room during lunch.
And here is a Howler Monkey Mama and Baby.
The way out at high tide.
The way in at a lower tide when you don’t want to get your feet wet and sandy. Here the boat operators don’t bother getting in and out of the boat.
Here’s Danny, our guide.
Here are a lizard (first) and iguana (second)
A caiman lurking in the brackish swamp. Danny told us that they hang out in the shallows (near the path) because crocodiles are in the deeper waters (inland form the path) and a caiman makes a nice dinner for a croc.
Bats. Bats sleep in a zig-zag pattern along a tree to try to convince a predator that they’re a snake.
This is a boa. It is one of those instances when I have no idea how someone spotted it. Once seen, the information passed between guides so everyone could try to see it. The boa is wrapped in a coil on top of a branch with leaves underneath. You can see a couple of sections of its bodyin the photo. Mind you, I stared up at the tree for a good five minutes before I figured out where it was, and didn’t get much of a look at it even then. It wasn’t until I uploaded this photo to my computer and enlarged it that I could see the snake clearly.
This sign is at the bridge over the Tarcoles River. I shot it last week, but since we went by it on the way to Manuel Antonio, I figured it worked in this batch.
This is a shot of the cloth from one of the vendors near the entrance to the park.
And this is three exposures combined:
In case you wanted a ride…
The ubiquitous White-Faced Capuchin.
Four of us on the beach.
This shot is an HDR: several different exposures combined into a High Dynamic Range image.
This is the beach by Manuel Antonio shot by the light of the full moon. Judith is the dancing blur on the right. Mike has the white shirt on; he must have shifted his weight during the exposure. The multiple blurs in the surf are Tonia and Mark.
I kept my camera nearby this morning and shot these either from my casita or two steps out the door. It was a nice morning.
I was finally able to ID a hummingbird, as I caught this one sitting in the bush outside my door. It is a Canivet’s Emerald Hummingbird, not common in the Central Valley except in the west, where we are.
In the mammalian realm, we have a squirrel (or chipmunk). I love the long bushy tail on this guy.
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The lovely orange / white spotted butterflies are plentiful.
Here, they are mating. This ritual went on for several minutes
And finally, here is one of those amazing Montezuma Oropendolas in flight.
I walked down to the ferias del agricultor early this morning, remembering to take my camera. Here are the stalls.
Here’s one of papaya vendors. He’s always busy!
And a papaya up close.
These are the local oranges. They’re very tasty, perhaps closer to a tangerine than our navel oranges. Plus, the “oranges” are mostly green.
And everyone’s favorite pineapples:
When I got back from the farmers’ market Carlos had a surprise for us, one of the resident scorpions.
Here he is counting the bulbs on the tail: seven. This is a big scorpion and has enough zing to kill a human. (Then why is Carlos holding it?)
Here’s a closeup crop of the stinger:
Mr. Scorpion wasn’t too happy about being the object of our attention.
This is our hangout, or rather, the gate from the colony property to the path wending its way through the trees on a slippery, muddy path downhill to the the restaurant. The sign and path are only for the benefit of us at the colony, and I think we (happily) provide them with a good chunk of their business.
Here are shots of Judith and Mike.
And here’s another sunrise shot. It is from several days ago, the last clear morning we had.
And, really, I can’t have a post without a crocodile entry!
