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Published: November 23rd 2007
Tuesday I went on a combined tour of a national park and then a coffee plantation. In a small country that is home to more bird species than all of the United States and Canada combined, I assumed I would see some birds on this tour, but so much of what I saw - birds and more - was because we had a good guide.
We drove about an hour and a half from the resort while our tour guide, Manuel, talked to us about the history of Costa Rica and about the tour we were taking. Along the way, the driver noticed a house along the side of the road that was selling some of the local moonshine that Manuel had talked about, so he stopped and picked up a bottle for us.
I wish I could remember the name of the stuff - it was very high in alcohol content, but disguised by a light, sweet citrusy flavor that made it easy to drink. I lost my pen somewhere that morning so there were a lot of details I didn’t get to write down…
We stopped in a couple of small towns along the way and
Male Iguana
They turn orange when they're hunting for the ladies...saw a church and some architecture that dated to the first Europeans arriving in the area.
The park tour was conducted by boat along a fairly wide and slow flowing river. The captain of the boat had the eyes of an eagle - I have no idea how he could spot camouflaged animals from a hundred yards away and get us over to them usually without scaring them away.
We saw crocodiles, many iguanas, dozens of bird species, and a couple different kinds of monkeys.
There was one modest tree that illustrated the diversity and abundance of wildlife we saw along the tour. On this one tree, the guide first directed our attention to parakeets sitting on one of the branches. Then, he explained to us that the mound on which the parakeets were sitting was a termite nest.
Apparently, Parakeets lay their eggs in termite nests when they can find one where the termites secrete an enzyme that repels most intruders. Not only does it not repel the Parakeets, but their eggs hatch an average of several days earlier with the addition of this enzyme which has the added impact of keeping other predators away.
Then, a branch over on the same tree amidst termite trails were a family of bats hanging below a branch. Again, I can’t remember the type of bats, but they are fairly small and the way the line up on the branch they resemble a snake slithering up the tree branch as they wiggle and flutter.
And just the next tree over there were more monkeys.
I think the pictures say a lot more than I can; check ‘em out…
Oh, and go back to the
Show Me The Monkey post to see more pictures.
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Robyn
non-member comment
Love all the photos, David! Thanks for taking "us" along on your trip.