Christmas and Crocs in Costa Rica

Since our last entry on Christmas Eve every day has been packed with action, animals, adrenalin, and adventure. Since we did so much in such a short time we are going to break the entries into short journals covering one to five days.

On Christmas Eve we anxiously awaited the arrival of our first guests from Canada. Owen and I went to the highway and with Christmas lights attached to the car we waited for the McLeods to notice us. It only took fifteen minutes and there they were at 8PM sharp as promised providing strong evidence that the McLeod family is from Canada. After some big hugs and a quick look at the decorated car they followed us to our house. I can tell you that it was a very big day for us to have some people whom we love and trust to spend time with us. Of course our guests were very tired from their journey so we unpacked the “extra” luggage and I took them to check in at the cabinas. To test the navigation ability of our guests I led them to the Villas Posada del Sol and told them they had to find their way back to our house the next morning.

Christmas morning arrived and as usual the boys were up bright and early with the added excitement of Christmas presents bulging under the tree. We allowed the boys to open one present each before our guests arrived and they tore into them with the same level of vigor that existed in Canada. The boys were so pumped about seeing their relatives it didn’t even seem like Christmas and much to our delight they passed the navigation test and arrived soon afterwards. We did the usual pass around presents and then tore away leaving no present unscathed. The boys were especially thrilled with the Canadian flavour of the floor hockey sticks that arrived by special delivery the night before. We had a traditional Costa Rican breakfast of Gallo Pinto with scrambled eggs with ham and enjoyed catching up and watching the kids play. It didn’t take long for everyone to have the need to cool off so we headed over to the cabinas to swim and relax. While the kids played the adults visited and prepared supper. We enjoyed a non traditional Christmas dinner of BBQ steak and jumbo shrimp with a couple of bottles of fine Argentinean wine. It was an early night, as most are for us, and we let the McLeod’s get some rest before our first big adventure.

Since it was the first day trip of the tour we decided to keep it simple. We headed to Parque Nacional Carara which is about 45 minutes from our house. Carara means crocodile in one of the indigenous languages but we didn’t see any crocs at the park. On our hike we did get to see some of the featured animals of Costa Rica without the services of a guide. First we saw some leaf cutter ants doing their thing. Really quite amazing how organized and efficient these ants are and I’m glad I don’t have them in my yard eating my trees. Next we spotted a sloth lazing up high in the trees. We lucked out as a guide was letting people take pictures of the sloth using his scope and we took advantage of the opportunity. Throughout the hike we could hear the Scarlet Macaws teasing everyone with their “song” which is more like a screech. We were having trouble spotting them but were hopeful as they are magnificent. I have been noticing that the pretty birds here screech and the average looking all black and brown birds have the most beautiful songs. After taking a short break on the trail we started up again with aspirations to see some more animals. As we left one trail for another a guide with some clients came around the corner and told us that we might see some monkeys about 200 meters down the trail if we hurry. We didn’t really hurry but before long we could hear some serious crashing in the trees. We didn’t think it was monkeys because it sounded like an elephant or a large animal such a puma. We stood still and waited…hey look it is a troupe of monkeys moving through the trees. There were about five or six adult howlers with a couple of babies in tow. What a great deal thus far as we really expected a nice walk in the forest with the chance to see wild animals but we were getting the full show.

We had hiked a couple of kilometers already so the Nowlan/Dore family headed to the entrance on the shorter trail and the McLeod’s took the long way back. It worked out for both groups. Benjamin was getting so tired of walking but toughed it out and was rewarded by getting to see two scarlet macaws fly into their nest. The McLeod’s encountered a troupe of white faced capuchins on their sojourn. While waiting Mom, Benjamin, and Owen made friends with a giant iguana who had learned about eating leftover ham sandwiches near the park office. After leaving the park we stopped at the famous bridge which goes over the Tarcoles River. The bridge is also known as the Crocodile Bridge and we weren’t disappointed. There were many large and small crocodiles swimming and lazing on the shore and hundreds of people gawking and taking pictures. I wonder just how many people stop at that bridge every year. We stopped at an excellent soda for lunch on our way back to Esparza for a typical lunch and were not disappointed by the service and the excellent meals. As it was getting late in the afternoon we skipped the beach and headed back to the pool and had a mellow night. We decided that the next day would be a beach day and we all went to bed nice and early in order to be prepared.

---

---