In November 0f 2013 Steve and I were fortunate enough to go to Costa Rica with our very good friends Wandal and Martha Winn. We traveled to Costa Rica on Thanksgiving day. I did have a turkey sandwich at the airport during our layover. We were also in Costa Rica on my 57th birthday!
I have posted a lot of pictures for this trip and when they posted they did so in random order and I don't want to take the time to redo the posting. I'm going to leave it as it is as give a narrative.
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While traveling from Arenal to MonteVerde we stopped in a sleepy little town for a little break.
On the road to MonteVerde everything was so green,a little of and this beautiful bull in pasture.
This was a common sight. They would move their bulls around by walking them down the streets and through the towns. Sometimes they would hold onto the bull's tail or wave a large palm frond behind the bull.
In Monte Verde we stayed in these cute bungalows. We didn't stay anywhere with heating and there were a few times I would have liked that. The view from this room was beautiful,lush and green everywhere the eye could see.
While staying at our bungalow we discovered that the area was teaming with very hard working, industrious red ants. Not the best picture but you can see this ant is carrying a stick4 plus times his size. They were bringing things like this back to the nest and traveling long distances to get there. We watched them for a long time. Extremely entertaining.
We ate at this quaint restaurant in MonteVerde and returned the next day for the orchid tour.
This isn't a very good picture but here is a Coati. These animals are seen everywhere in Costa Rica. We had a group of 7 or 8 run across the road in front of our bus in Monte Verde on our way to Salvatura for zip-lining and hanging bridges.
I have zip-lined before and enjoyed it. After zip-lining at Salvatura in Costa Rica I realize my prior zip-lining experiences were but a small dot on the ocean. This zip-line rocked! My helmet was a little large. I felt so cool doing the zip-line, I didn't realize till I looked at my picture the guide took that I looked like a dork. I still feel pretty hard-core and cool!
While in Monte Verde during our orchid tour we saw this tree loaded with what would soon be butterflies.
While I was zip-lining Wandal and Martha did the hanging bridges tour. I could see some of this as I was zip-lining. Steve has a fear of heights so he went on the reptile tour,he was the only one on his tour. He likes to tell that story.
Beautiful views!
We learned that there are 340 different orchids that are indigenous to Costa Rica. We didn't see all of all of them but it seems we came pretty close.
Orchids come in all colors and sizes. Some are so small we needed magnifying glasses to see them. Thy provided the magnifying glasses on our tour.
I can't resist taking a horse picture. Their corral was overgrown with greenery. So different from our home in Arizona.
On our way to Jaco Beach we stopped to take the Crocodile Man Tour. We did indeed see large crocodile up close and personal. we also saw about 30 different species of birds. Our guide was very knowledgeable. Great tour. Beautiful scenery!
Something tells me that teasing a large crocodile with a chicken leg is not the brightest idea.
This cute family owns a Pizzeria in Monte Verde. When we were trying to find our lodging accommodations we ended up a little lost. I really had to use the bathroom. Just when I thought I was going to burst we happened upon the Pizzeria. I used the restroom,Wandal and Steve had a soda. We decided to go back there the next evening for dinner. Very good pizza and a very nice family,Oscar his wife and little boy.
Our first and our last nights were spent in San Jose. This was the hotel we stayed in both nights.
Wandal and Martha
On our way from San Jose to Arenal we stopped in this little town to walk the garden and visit the beautiful church. The church was decorated for a wedding. We read all of the posted wedding"banns".
The church was very ornate and very beautiful.
While in Arenal we stayed at the Tilajari Resort. I would recommend this place. Very nice.
The flora and fauna in Costa Rica are amazing. Do you see the large iguana sunning on top of the trees.
Then there is the little guy.
We visited the hot springs in Arenal and they have a sanctuary there where we saw cats like the Maragay,mountain lions also sloths and toucans.
On my 57th birthday everyone humored me and we rode horses through the cloud forest. It was a dream come true!
We went to a wonderful restaurant for my birthday dinner. Steve ordered the special which he said was delicious but the stake was larger than the plate! I fell in love with the Heart of Palm salads in Costa Rica. Steve who only likes thousand island dressing didn't care for the Heart of Palm salad so I got to eat his!
I didn't know what most of the flora in Costa Rica was named but they were so beautiful. This one fascinated me.
It was a wonderful,eventful,adventurous trip. Going on this trip with Wandal and Martha made it even more special. Good times,noodle salad to be sure
