After a year of planning and anticipating, we along with our son Troy and his wife Carmen left Madison for the Caribbean side of Costa Rica. After a day of flying we were shuttled from San José to Hotel Bougainvillea. With extensive gardens of tropical trees and flowers. We only had a couple hours in the morning to explore before heading to our first adventure.
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| Rufous-naped Wren |
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| Blue-gray Tanager |
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| Malachite |
We had a bus ride through Braulio Carrillo National Park and the mountains to the Caribbean side of Costa Rica stopping for breakfast and a walk through a butterfly atrium.
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| Unknown tropical butterfly |
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| Blue-morph caterpillar |
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| Blue-morph Butterfly |
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| Chrysalis |
We then boarded a boat on the Rio Suerte and the coastal canal for 1 1/2 hours to Laguna Lodge where we enjoyed birding the grounds and a dip in the pool plus great meals.
There were beautiful tile mosaics on floors and walls all over the lodge area.
The next morning, we took the Nature awakening boat tour of the Tortuguero National Park and were treated to the exotic birds and wildlife of Eastern Costa Rica.
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| Bare-throated Tiger-Heron |
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| Northern Jacana |
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| Keel-billed Toucan |
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| Purple Gallinule |
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| Green Basilisk |
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| Amazon Kingfisher |
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| White-faced Capuchin |
After breakfast back at the lodge, we re-boarded the open top boats for different back-water streams at the park.
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| Strawberry Poison-dart Frog 1/2 inch long |
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| Caiman |
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| Many flies were pestering the caiman |
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| Boat-billed Heron |
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| Green Ibis |
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| Three-toed Sloth |
That evening we explored the frog ponds, looking for the iconic Red-eyed Leaf Frog. Ty got some great photos, but I ran into a nest of fire ants that itched for the rest of the trip, (22 bites on my left foot alone).
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| Fire Ant hill |
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| Green Iguana - five feet + |
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| Red-lored Parrot by tree cavity |
We walked the grounds early next day and walked to the beach enjoying the cooler breeze. It was hot (95) and humid (95%) most of the time.
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| Montezuma Oropendola |
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| Great Green Macaw |
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| Pale-billed Woodpecker |
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| Brown Basilisk |
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| White-ringed Flycatcher |
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| Magnificent Frigatebird |
We then took the boat ride back to the dock where we boarded the welcoming air-conditioned bus to the restaurant where we would pick up our rental car to drive to our next destination and adventure.
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| Goliath Beetle munching sugar cane |
A Howler Monkey roars good-bye as we travel on.
Love & Prayers,
Ty & Ida Baumann
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