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Published: September 23rd 2017
MOVING ON It was an uneventful and speedy journey to the our next destination and we were entertained on the way by our drivers, Roderico and Andreas. They had been up since 4 am that morning monitoring Scarlet Macaw numbers around Tárcoles before coming to pick us up. We passed more long rows of African Palms all along the roadside but also noticed several rice fields as well - they need a lot of rice here with all the rice and beans for breakfast, lunch and dinner! Roderico said that they grow rice in the rainy season and then plant vegetables, like melon and gourd products in the dry season, so get a ‘double crop’ from their fields. Some years though when the weather is drier than normal they have to import rice supplies from China as they cannot produce enough for their own market. Just as he said that it started to rain and when it rains here it certainly rains ‘cats and dogs’. Roderico said that the locals say its raining ‘cats and dogs and stones and boulders’ … … pretty true - but at least its a very warm rain … …
TÁRCOLES Cerro Lodge near
Tárcoles was only a hour and half drive, so we were soon heading off the main route and along the 3km track that leads to the lodge gates. Not much had changed since our last visit when Frederico, the owner had driven us from San Jose to his home with his son whom he had picked up from school. The lodge used to be a working farm owned by Frederico’s father before he turned it into a B&B and later increased the number of rooms and it became a small lodge. Since our visit he had built six new rooms and we were located in one of them, Room 19 which was quite near the main building which was handy.
The room was spacious and bright with superb framed photographs on the walls of the birds that frequent the lodge taken by a local photographer. The bathroom was amazing and very tastefully decorated it looked liked an outdoor garden, we had a huge double bed and a single one too and plenty of space with a wooden bench outside to sit and watch the wildlife which
surrounds the lodge.
The main reception and dining area had also changed a little with a larger decking area that looked out over the tree canopy towards the Pacific Ocean. On a clear day you could see across to the Guanacaste Peninsula. We said goodbye to our drivers and before long we dived into the refreshing pool that also had glorious views. We had missed having a pool in Manuel Antonio particularly after the long uphills hikes so this was pure bliss.
As with most of the accommodations we have stayed at on this journey it was extremely quiet, but at least we did have some company as three other rooms were occupied when we arrived. We met a pleasant
young couple from Munich (never did find out their names) when they arrived with their huge backpacks and really relieved to have made it. They had not realised how long the dirt track was from the main road and bus stop, particularly with their backpacks so were really hot when they finally arrived … …
We later met
Tom and Kim from Texas who had
just endured the terrible Hurricane in the USA. Kim said her house had been badly damaged and was completely flooded and unliveable - you cannot comprehend how they must feel, such widespread devastation which you have no means of controlling. Kim had also just had a double heart monitor fitted so had been through some harrowing experiences in a short period of time, particularly for someone so young. She had been advised not to go on holiday but she said she wanted to come and so she did. I am sure it was the right thing to do to get her away from the devastation at home and relax. We only spent a short time with them but they were a delightful pair and we had a lot of laughs and endured lots of jokes from them too! Tom with his ‘heavy texan drawl’ insisted that ‘we’ spoke English ‘funny’ - I think the boot is on the other foot Tom! Its amazing how many different words we use for the same things as those from the US of A … … We were chatting about ‘getting lost’ when travelling and he told us a tale of someone he had
met who said that, ‘he never got lost - just got confused for a long period of time’ … … They were both keen birders and we enjoyed exchanging stories on what we had seen and where around the world - Tom was able to spot a bird from miles away, he had such perfect eyesight probably from his work days as a ‘Ranger’ on a park in Texas.
Before they left for their homeward journey, Kim gave us a fruit to try she had bought on the side of the road on her way to the lodge. The fruit is commonly marketed all over Malaysia, Indonesia and Southeast Asian as well and is recognised by different names in different countries just to confuse the issue. In Costa Rica and Panama it is known as
Mamon Chino (nice name) while people of Thailand refer to it as
Ngoh. It looks like what we call a
Lychee but it is a
Rambutan. Lychee and Rambutan are both sweet tasting, tropical fruits that look strikingly similar. Both have red bumpy
spiky outer skin and once you break through this the edible bit is the
white flesh inside. This contains a seed or stone, much like a plum. Despite their similarities, these fruits are quite different in terms of nutritional value and taste.
From a nutritional standpoint, Lychee is a slightly healthier choice, boasting fewer calories and greater health benefits. That being said, Rambutan is still a great addition to a healthy diet.
With regard to taste we thought the Rambutan was not as sweet as a lychee and preferred its taste. We were to see many roadside stalls selling
Mamon Chino as we journeyed around the country as it was obviously the right season to harvest the fruits - fruit and vegetables are so much nicer when they are in season.
SCARLET MACAWS We were really amazed at the number of
Scarlet Macaws at Cerro Lodge - the last time we had visited we only saw a few flying around the area. This time we saw them every day as they flew in to eat the
Beach Almonds that were ripening on the massive trees in the gardens. They would squawk and argue amongst themselves in the trees, pluck the
ripe fruit, eat a little bit and then drop the rest to the ground. If you were standing underneath then you would be bombarded from above . ……
We saw them every day and Frederico told us about the research taking place in the area. Most of the ones we saw were tagged and had been raised in nearby enclosures and slowly released into the forests. He said that the release had produced good results and the parrots soon adapted to their ‘freedom’ but still lived close to their release site, some even returned to ‘roost’ at night. It was great to see so many of these magnificent red, blue and yellow birds up close but to see them fly was truly a brilliant sight to see. I tried to capture this with my secondhand camera which was very frustrating but will post a couple of my attempts. I was really envious of Kim who had a great Canon camera and zoom lens and I was hoping she might leave it for me but she took it home instead! I did ask her to send me some photographs and I would pretend they were mine,
but what you see is what I took as hers did not arrive in time.
We also saw many other birds around the gardens and on our nearby walks although sadly we did not get to spot the
Fiery-billed Aracari which we would have liked to have seen again. I posted a picture in our last blog of one that we had seen here on our last visit. We did see lots of different birds though including;
Hoffman’s Woodpeckers, colourful
White-throated Magpie Jays, which are bright blue, lots of chattering
Wrens and Blue and Palm Tanagers, Turquoise-browed Motmot, Blue-Black Grassquit as well as
Red-legged Honeycreepers. We also many
Hawks & Falcons but these were difficult to determine and we even saw a couple of
Black-bellied Whistling Ducks perched on a high branch in a tree.
Visiting the feeders in the gardens were also had several sightings of the striking
Montezuma Oropendola with their colourful face markings and two toned bill and of course the
Grey-necked Robin, the nondescript national bird of Costa Rica. Of course the
Variegated Squirrels also supplemented their diet with the fruits left for the
birds but were usually found hanging upside down on the trees.
Many
Iguanas and
Lizards also liked to visit the feeders as well as hundreds of beautiful colourful
Butterflies including the large
Blue Morpho. They are found mostly in Mexico and South America as well as Central America and we had seen them in the rainforests on the Osa Peninsula. They are just one of over 80 described species of butterflies that reside in the rainforests … … We have seen so many colourful butterflies in Costa Rica, some so large that when you first see one you think they are actual a Hummingbird. Not surprising really as the Morpho can be between 3 and 8 inches long whilst hummingbirds in Costa Rica can be as small as 2 1/2 inches. As with many bird species the male Morpho butterfly is much more vivid than the female, with the male’s brighter colouring designed to intimidate any rivals that might fly into his territory … …
We were not expecting it but we saw a couple of massive
Cane Toads which are not classed as a pest here as
they are in Australia. Not too keen on these amphibians, but he quickly disappeared as we approached. Later a large
Frog visited us in the dining area but we were glad that it soon vanished into the undergrowth too. Walking back to our room at night we would see the sudden spark of a Firefly in the foliage -
now these were magic moments. We enjoyed meeting up with Frederico again and he offered to take us into town to do our shopping but we decided we would do this on our way to Ostional to save having to carry it too far in the intense heat. We enjoyed chatting with him about the lodge and his future vision for his property. He did not want it to become too big that he did not get any time for himself and his son but he planned to build another couple of bungalows towards the bottom of the grounds and a specialist restuarant. He said he still liked to keep fit (when he had time) and we would often see him in his cycling gear ready to head off into the lanes - too much like
Tárcoles Bridge
Pink buses on the way to San Jose when one comes so does two more ... ...hot work for us.
We hiked a lot around the lodge most of which was thankfully along flat ground and we managed to find the path back to the river to see the
American Crocodiles. If you read our blogs from 2012 you will remember that the first time we had got lost and ended up near the river edge not realising that these huge Crocodiles were so close by. …… This time we remembered the ‘correct way’ to the bridge and arrived safely. We walked along the narrow edge of the road bridge, you really have to watch the massive trucks and buses which pass by at great speeds even if they see people walking along the side. As we walked three
bright pink buses heading for San Jose came speeding by.
The
Tárcoles River is one of four rivers flowing out into the Nicoya Peninsula and is home to one of the largest crocodile populations in the wild and they all seem to inhabit a small bank just below the bridge. These
American Crocodiles are not small, some are over fifteen feet long -
we counted at
least 30 basking on the banks and several drifting in the slow flowing river. We could see one very small lizard inching its way towards them - feeling very brave but we definitely kept our distance - someone got too close a few years ago and was never seen again.
Later I read an article in the
La Voz de Guanacaste about the Crocodiles in the Tempisque River where they are concerned that there are three males to every female, when normally its more on a one to one basis. Subsequent research has suggested that the cause is a synthetic steroid known as methyl testosterone which is often used to raise Tilapia, a common practice in the region. The cause for concern is that male crocodiles are more territorial than females and they travel to other places where they previously had not been endangered cattle and even people crossing these rivers. We will ensure that the tilapia fish is off the menu for us now … …
On our last day at Cerro Lodge we met Sandy and her husband who came from Montana but were now living in the Arenal area.
They had bought a share in a bed and breakfast with someone who let them down badly and they were now struggling with running the place, particularly with the recession still rife across the country. They were a great couple and we hope they manage to sell up and move back to the States very soon. They gave us a huge carrier bag full of tangerines from their garden and Paul was delighted as he loves them.
TIME TO MOVE ON AGAIN We enjoyed our time at Cerro Lodge and were glad that we had decided to return. It was a shame we did not see any mammals this time or the
Fiery-billed Aracari, Frederico said that they had not returned for many years but it was great to see so many
Scarlet Macaws now inhabiting the area.
The hotel staff at the lodge, as on our previous visit were extremely helpful. Special mention to
Aurelio (Chef/waiter) and Yanory (Receptionist/cashier/information). We can only hope that our next stop has the same level of luxury and such pleasant staff as we found
there. Aurelio and Yanory came out to wave us off and gave us a little souvenir of the lodge to keep and Frederico also came and said goodbye before he headed off on another cycle ride. You never know maybe we will return again in another 5 years time ... ...
As we waited for our transport the young ‘Munich Couple’ arrived with their heavy backpacks, three between the two of them and we felt really sorry that they had such a long hike to the bus stop, even though we had told them of a short cut down the lanes to the ‘crocodile bridge’ which would save them probably about 30 minutes, still tough though with so much luggage.
Paul was amazed as the young girl had a bright
Blue Michael Kors Bag strung across her shoulder, which of course is standard gear for backpackers - wish I had brought mine!!! We asked our driver whether he would drop them at the end of the track to save them a long hike and he readily agreed, so we left Cerro Lodge with them in the back. Once we got
to the end of the track the driver was telling them where to catch the bus and asked where they were going, they said they had to get to Puerto Arenas to catch yet another bus to Monteverde so he said he would drop them in Puerto Arenas, which we did as we stopped their to stock up on supplies. By the time we came out of the Supermercado they had disappeared, I do hope they made it to Monteverde in the end.
We got back in our transport and continued our onward journey towards
Ostional National Park really looking forward to seeing the Olive Ridley Sea Turtles - and hopefully we will see you there … … …
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D MJ Binkley
Dave and Merry Jo Binkley
Really enjoyed this blog
We'd like to go back to Costa Rica. Enjoyed hearing about the people you met along the way....and your funny English. :) Great bird photos. Eager to read more.