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In Costa Rica, there is no debate about when schools in Costa Rica take their "spring break." Everyone is off for Semana Santa - the week before Easter Sunday. So, with the boys off school and some friends from Minnesota (Dave, Naomi, Nicole, Abby, and Allison) down for their kids' spring break, we decided to do some traveling.
Our first stop was Puerto Viejo de Sarapiqui. This is located in the north central part of the country, about 2 hours drive from San Jose. The town itself used to be a major inland port for the banana and coffee trade - until they built a railroad to the coastal port city of Limon. On the drive there, we stopped at a little town called La Virgen which has a well-established serpentario (snake zoo!). We walked past dozens of snakes and other reptiles in glass cages, including huge anacondas (not native to Costa Rica, in case you were wondering). Then, thanks to a suggestion in one of our guide books, we asked if we could hold one of the snakes. The woman happily obliged - pulling out a ball python and placing it in Steve's arms. The boys petted it as
it slithered around his arms and finally after repeated suggestions and assurances from Steve that it did not hurt, each of the boys took turns holding this awesome creature. It was a cool combination of cold, moist skin with intense muscles.
In Puerto Viejo, we stayed at a little cabina run by a family whose father and son are well-known birders. Our place had a nice hammock on the porch and lots of birds on the property, including a spectacled owl and a mealy parrot that were rescued. That first afternoon we met our friends at Tirimbina rain forest preserve. We saw chestnut-mandibled toucans flying through the canopy, crossed cool suspension bridges over the river, and hiked through humid rain forests. It built up a good sweat and appetite that a swim at our friends' hotel and dinner at a local restaurant helped cure.
Very early the next morning, we woke to take our birding tour with Alex, the guide from our hotel. He quickly became Kyle's new hero. He spoke very good English and was incredibly knowledgeable about birds and other wildlife. We spotted about 45 different species of birds - toucans, woodpeckers, parrots, trogons, falcons, hawks,
egrets, and a whole bunch of other little birds. The two highlights were hearing (but unfortunately not seeing) a great green macaw - very rare with only 50 pairs in all of Costa Rica - and a scaled pigeon - a bird that Alex had never seen before.
Steve and Sam left the walk a little early so that Sam could join up with our friends for a boat tour on the Rio Sarapiqui. They saw howler monkeys (including one that almost pooped in the boat - much to the kids' delight), bats, a caiman (like a crocodile but smaller), two turtles, and snakes. And, of course, the captain was happy to let each of the kids take a turn at driving the boat - fortunately no one ran it aground.
Later in the afternoon after our friends resumed their tour and left for Arenal volcano, we went out to Centro Neotropico Sarapiqui. While Nancy walked through the indigenous cultures museum, the boys wandered around the grounds and to Kyle's delight spotted a slaty-tailed trogon. There was also a small archaeological site.
We rose early the next morning and drove to catch the boat to take us
to Tortuguero. We were making such good time that we decided to stop in the little town of Cariari and have someone take a look at the strange noises coming from our front tires. After being referred from the gas station to another place and then redirected back across the bridge out of town, we met a wonderful mechanic who called all over the place looking for replacement brake pads for our 1997 Honda CRV. This was a good thing since the old ones had worn dangerously thin. He charged us a fair price and we were on our way again, enjoying the lack of squeaking brakes.
Click
Tortuguero to read Kyle's account of our trip to Tortuguero.
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Grandma Barb,
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Can't wait
The blog and pictures are great....we can't wait. Love, Grandma Barb and Grandpa Vern