Blogs from Central America Caribbean - page 20

Thursday June 2nd: It was sadly the day to pull out from our lovely loft on the mountain top, overlooking the Whale’s Tail at Uvita. We all pitched in and got out by 9 am. But we still had had plenty of time for birding!! In fact we picked up 3 more lifebirds this a.m. Then, Great excitement – the well-paved road up the mountain that led to our terrible dirt road had been undermined by the 10 hours of rain (it stopped at 4:30 a.m.) and part of the road had dropped, and at least 4’ at the right edge had dropped even further. Crews were out already but what if we hadn’t been able to pass! We were happy to slow down as David was already trying to take a photo of the gray-headed ... read more

This day was another beach day – in order for Lauren and Daniel to have their surfing lessons at last at noon. It wasn’t very sunny in the morning but it was still lovely and warm and the ocean is amazingly warm. No one lost glasses or hats or goggles today, but the waves sure were high! We had stopped beforehand at the supermarket and for lunch we had a very typical Costa Rican sandwich of white bread, cheese, and a spread of refried beans. To me it tasted a bit like braunsweiger. It hit the spot. The kids did really well in their 2 hour lesson, which took place in the last 3’ of water. Just like yesterday, the shelf of the beach went on forever, very sandy, and we never felt a drop off. ... read more

What happened to the 30th? Well, we were up at 4:45 yesterday in order to leave at 5:30, and this blogger was just too pooped to pop last night! Why were you up so early!? We headed northwest along the coast towards a national park: Manuel Antonio, for an early morning guided bird tour. We have decided that having a guide is truly the only way to go: Oscar is in his low 30s and his father was a guide – he knows the birds by their calls/songs, AND knows a ton about everything natural. AND he knows where to park, whom to pay, and how much. So $360 was what the group paid, and it was well well worth it. First we went to a road overlooking a valley near the Rio Naranjo. The toucans ... read more

Sunday the 29th We were awake VERY early – it’s 2 hours “behind” – and we were able to get in over an hour’s worth of birding before a lovely Costa Rican breakfast of “gallo pinto,” namely the spotted rooster: eggs, black beans mixed in rich, with a flour tortilla. And really good coffee. The driver Gerardo picked us up at 9:30 and we bid goodbye to Villa San Ignacio for a 4+ hour drive s.w. to the Pacific Coast. We learned that there are barely any roads except for single, and lots of hills, and scary driving, and yet we saw lots of bikers!! We stopped at a super muddy river where crocodiles abound, Tarcoles River, got to visit el bano, and bought some snacks. We are finding the various plantain snacks very tasty, esp ... read more

Costa Rica!! Whew, getting up at 2:30 to leave at 3:15 was a challenge, but the flights to Miami and then into San Jose were both uneventful. I read a book; David watched a movie. We arrived early and had no problems going thru immigration, etc. Costa Rica does not even require covid tests. We are traveling with Matt & Emily McClung and their children Lauren, 16, and Daniel, 12. This will be fun! Matt had arranged for us to be picked up at the airport. It was a “people mover” van. The only thing was that the man was confused and thought it was just 4, not 6, but everyone fit in with the bags anyway. It only took about 20 minutes to reach our destination of Villa San Ignacio, which to my eyes is ... read more