We drove through Braulio Carrillo National Forest where the foliage was lush and thick.
Named for Costa Rica’s third president Braulio Carrillo Colina, the area
protects 6000 species of plants and 333 birds. We saw a couple of small
waterfalls. We stopped in the rain
forest bordering the national park on the far side for an aerial tram ride through the canopy of the forest. We couldn’t have
asked for a nicer day. The sun was shining on a clear day.
We boarded a six passenger gondola where
a local guide was waiting for us. He was good about identifying and pointing
out birds to us. We saw a rare black bird, a duck sitting in a tree, lots of
palm and mahogany trees. There were several streams running on the ground
below. It was so quiet up in the canopy---the only sounds being those of birds.
After the tram ride we took a half hour
nature hike on the rain forest floor. We all were fascinated with the many
leaf-cutter ants busily working away. Their nesting area was huge. The guide pointed
out a small, but very poisonous snake. This private rain forest covers 470
acres and the tram is fourteen years old. It was a new experience for the girls
and great fun for us all!
Butterfly gardens are always fun and often one
sees unusual butterflies that you’d probably not see in the wild. It is hard to
photograph butterflies as they always seem to be in flight. We saw lots of the blue morpho butterflies on this trip.
The beautiful blue is easy to spot as it stands out against the green
backdrop. Later we rode by many
pineapple fields and banana plantations. The last few miles to the canal boats
for Tortuguero National Park were
over a bumpy dirt road. At the dock
people were selling coconut milk. The coconuts were small and round. For a
dollar a fellow with a sharp machete cut off the top of the coconut and
inserted a straw. Not only were the perfectly round coconuts a different shape
than the ones we were familiar with in Hawaii, but the ‘milk’ was clear and
very mild in taste. Until I watched the actual process of preparing the
coconuts I thought they may have filled the nut with water. There was perhaps
an eighth of an inch of coconut meat in each shell. I liked the cool and
refreshing ‘coconut water’.
There is only one way to get to Tortuguero National Park
and that is by boat. There are no vehicles in the park which consists of
several islands connected only by canals. We all boarded a large canopy-covered
boat for the hour-plus ride to our hotel. Enroute we saw howler and white-faced
capuchin monkeys, snowy egrets, green iguana, rose spoonbill birds, and a small
crocodile called a caiman. A caiman can survive in either fresh or salt water
and is the most numerous specie of the crocodile family.
Monkeys
were seen several places during this trip with the girls. At the beach they
played and scampered just beyond us. One monkey came down on the beach and
lifted a pack of crackers from a gal’s beach bag while she lay sunning and
oblivious to all the activity. The white faced monkeys are very social and are
great fun to watch. We also had the chance to see and watch sloths---are they
slow! It would take all day for them to climb up a tree!
