Geo: 9.88667, -85.5722The last 24 hours or so seem to have been devoted to reptiles: snakes, iguanas, lizards. This morning when we woke up there were a couple small crabs in the kitchen. Currently they are sitting in plastic cups on the sink while Mike evaluates their utility as bait. It sounds like they may get a pardon since they are small.I also attended a bird party a little after dawn. I got some nice shots of at least 4 or 5 different birds, including some parrots, and saw a few more. If anyone has IDs for these guys, that would be a big help. In a few minutes we are going to walk down to Samara. We think it's about 5K and includes a river crossing. Mike will probably ferry Alex over, but everyone else ... read more

Geo: 9.88092, -85.5698We woke up to a gorgeous sunrise and Alex scampering toward the pool. We spent an hour or two watching the local wildlife and making a fruit salad with mangoes, tiny bananas and the world's best pineapple. After some pool antics we suited up for a walk to the beach.We had an entire cove to ourselves, with the exception of three Tico surfers who stayed well away from us. The waves were just right; not too large, not too small. We bounced around in them for a while. Alex mostly stayed where the waves rushed up on the beach, playing in the sand. After the first initial rush of excitement to be at the beach, Mike took off with the fishing pole he made with a couple pieces of wire and a stick and ... read more

Geo: 10.3041, -84.798We woke early so we could make our 7:30 reservation for a guided tour at the Santa Elena Cloud Forest. I say "early," but every day is an early rise here. The sun comes up around 4:30. We gathered our rain gear just in case. We've been very lucky with the weather so far, but you are almost guaranteed at least some rain in the cloud forest. Cloud forests get their name from having clouds parked in the forest a good chunk of the time. It makes for interesting microclimates and ecosystems. We met up with our guide and two other people in our group. Steve and Cindy hail from Maryland. Cindy is a biologist for the Smithsonian: we were impressed.The guide was able to answer all of our questions and offer us so ... read more

Geo: 10.3041, -84.798Wow. What a day! This will be a long entry because it was a day jam-packed with activity. We started early because we told Richard, our house caretaker, that we would be ready to go by 7. He offered to take us to a local adventure park called Selvatura (selvatura.com) where he gets a 10% discount. Richard drives a Suzuki that is an adventure experience all its own. It has half its windows, no seatbelts, the gas tank sits inside the passenger compartment and it has to be hot-wired to start. Combine this with six people trundling up a road that looks like it is washed out regularly and you have an unforgettable ride. We found out afterward that Richard's car is actually illegal so he has to be careful not to drive it ... read more

Geo: 10.3041, -84.798Two quick, on-the-fly entries from the internet cafe before dinner: An assortment of random notes from the Big Travel Day.Alex's favorite part of the day was arriving at the house in Monteverde. He was struck by the green tiled floor, the spectacular view and the swallow-like birds swooping around the roof.Dad's tongue-in-cheek favorite part of the day was the microwave cheeseburger on the airplane from Houston to San Jose.Josh saw cows with long ears like lop-eared rabbits and dewlaps. They decorated the sides of mountains, roamed in fields and munched weeds in ditches by the side of the road. Usually they were white. Sometimes they were close enough to touch as we drove by, if we had opened the windows and leaned out a bit. Josh heard (herd) his sister making up songs in ... read more