Nicoya Adventure - Part 2

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Our next stop was the funky town of Montezuma - full of laid back folks enjoying the good life on the Costa Rican coast. The boys explored the tidal pools and then we had dinner at an open-air restaurant overlooking the beach. Kyle and Sam also helped support the local economy by purchasing hand-carved wood necklaces of a dolphin and crocodile respectively. We headed back to our hotel before the nightlife got too crazy. We came back the next morning to check out the waterfall just outside town. Unbeknownst to us, the trail to the waterfall is a bit of a challenge in the rainy season. Thankfully, there was Carlos. He and his grandfather operate the parking lot at the trailhead but he took one look at the boys and offered to help guide us to the falls. This included not only showing us the way, but also literally taking the boys one-at-a-time on his back, stepping from rock to rock at the stream crossings. It is an understatement to say that we could not have made it to the falls without him. And boy would we have missed out. The falls were spectacular - I am not sure the pictures do it justice. We all jumped in and swam in the deep pool; the intense power of the falls prevented anyone from actually making it underneath the falls. The excitement didn't stop there. While we were drying off at the car, we were paid a visit by a couple of howler monkeys in the trees above us. One was a mother carrying a baby as she jumped from tree to tree and even hung upside down to grab at some leaves.

We then drove on down the coast to the Cabo Blanco Nature Reserve. It was established in the 1950's by a husband and wife from Denmark and Sweden respectively. We were the only ones there (aside from the park ranger) and went on a 4km hike through the forest - seeing bats, termite nests, birds, lizards, and beautiful butterflies (none of which landed long enough for a picture). At the end of the hike, in the little picnic area that overlooked the ocean, we were greeted by a prehistoric looking lizard (according to Sam's "Reptiles of Costa Rica" guide, we believe it's called a Black Ctenosaur). He did allow Sam to get close enough for a pose!

Then it was on to Santa Theresa - which gets its own post.

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