Tempisque River

The Tempisque River originates in the uplands of Costa Rica and Nicaraugua, draining from volcanoes down the the Pacific to its estuary near the Palo Verde National Park.  We took a boat tour with David as our tour guide, and he and our boat captain maneuvered us close to monkeys, crocodiles, iguanas, and many lovely birds.

The drive from Los Almenos to Palo Verde is about 1.5 hours, and the roads are challenging as you pass deep into agricultural lands of rice, sugar cane, canteloupes, and cattle.  The boat dock is on a side tributary to the Tempisque, and shows the huge tidal fluctuation of the estuary--greater than ten feet high to low.

As we entered the main channel of the Tempisque, we say many egrets--the most numerous bird around on this trip:

Herons of various colors and sizes were also plentiful--boat-billed (seen but unable to capture a picture), blue, juvenile great blues, adult great blues, green herons--they were fishing the shoreline avoiding crocodiles.:

The crocodiles were there also--such as the one at the top of the blog--and another swimming in the middle of the river:

We were fiortunate to first encounter a large group of white-faced Capuchin monkeys, who climbed all over our boat (and us):

We also saw Howler Monkeys (which actually roar), but kept our distance from these territorial animals which will fling poop at you if you get too close.  These were eating some white fruit in the treetops.

Iguana's were plentiful, from this nearly grey one high in tree foliage...

To tan ones to orange ones:

We also saw a group of bats hanging in a line on a tree--mimicking a snake, we were told.

Tomorrow is another day at the beach!

Soaking in a Tide Pool

Today is Friday and  we booked a couple of excursions with Stefani's help in the office at Los Almendros.  The light in my bathroom was replaced, and a man investigated the hot water heater, but has to return tomorrow with his tester.  The leak under the sink will wait till some other day, but we have figured out that it doesn't cause a problem if there is no hydraulic head, so we just don't use the stopper nor fill the sink when we wash dishes.  No problema.

This morning we lazed away nearly two hours sitting in a lovely big tide pool, watching spotted, yellow, and striped fish swim around us (or run into us to see if we were edible).  A Great Kiskidee came down and perched on the rock next to us for a long time--I had no camera with me (thus the internet picture above), but he was a very pretty bird.  We took a taxi to the town  (young man does not believe in slow, even when passing slower cars which do not move over and it sure doesn't look like two vehicles can share the lane) and lunched at Los Milanes today.  We enjoyed the  "typica" meal, which was delicious,  We walked back to the market, picked up some more supplies, and took a much slower taxi back to Los Almendros.

By now it was time to soak in the pool/tub on our patio and as we did a very large bird flew into the trees overhead.  He kept the tree between us and him, so we never did make him out, but he was definitely big, much bigger than a pigeon, more large chicken sized:

   The trees also hold a large insect (?) nest:

Tomorrow we take an excursion up the Rio de Tempisque--hope to see parrots and monkeys.

Los Almendros #3

The view through the foliage to the beach beyond is lovely, and the surf is crashing close at high tide, a time when the sea engulfs the tidepools to the north.  Many boats are sheltered in the small bay, and fishermen are shuttled out to their boats by locals, it seems,   Several men were also fishing from the beach, using toss lines.

Overhead, pelicans flocked by, some just driufting in the water, and other diving into the sea, making a large splash.

As we walked back toward the north end of the beach, a magnificent frigate bird passed overhead:

The tide pools were exposed, although the tide was quickly coming in, and we could see the water was clear and would be good for tide pooling:

We were pretty warm by this time, so we headed back to enjoy our private pool-tub on our patio:

First Day In Costa Rica

Thanks to a wonderful Christmas present from Laura, Chris, and Deidra last year, the three stooges (me, Helen, and Liz) are off again to stay a week in Costa Rica at the home of Peter and Darcie.  Yesterday, Carlos picked us up at the airport, drove us to the Auto Mercado to get supplies, and brought us to #3 in Los Almendros, a little outside Playa de Coco.

The house is right on the beach, has three lovely bedrooms all with ceiling fans (needed as it is quite warm and humid here this week).  Stefani from the office called to check with us last night, and we will meet her on Friday as she is gone from the office today.

Things we will be checking on--replacing the light bulb for the vanity in the master bedroom, leak under the sink, and how to get hot water (although the cool shower was fine this am).  We  have decided not to use the toaster oven since both Liz and I got a small shock when touching it, and will make toast-in-a-pan, which worked fine this morning.

Everisto came by this morning to work in the yard, and I introduced myself to him as "Susana, una amiga de Peter and Darcie" who he told me were very nice`people, and I agreed.  We spoke Spanish as well as I could, but my brain doesn't work as fast as it did  50 years ago when I first learned it..

We have all been to the beach and waded a bit, and later today will spend more time there.   The magpie above is hanging around our balcony--really pretty bird.

Off to the beach again!

Lassen Volcanic National Park

We left Mendocino on a Tuesday and drove straight through to Lassen Park, selcting campsite B50 which was very quiet and private.  The location was a good test for Lauira's new bug tent, which worked wonderfully, and also served as a warming tent as it has wind block sides that can be lowered to make it warmer inside.  We floated in Manzanita Lake, but only Laura had any bites.  Ity is a beautiful lake, surrounded by forest, with ducks, coots, geese, and an osprey.

The trails around the lakes and nearby area are good, even for one like me with a wonky knee.

 The pine squirrels are a hoot as they scurry around pushing pine cones to their "spot" then scaling them, then burying the scaled cone.  

The camping spot was quiet even over the busy weekend, but on Monday smoke had moved in--so much smoke settled on the lake Monday morning while Laura fished that we decided to head north to avoid it, heading to Goose lake.  This as a record breaker--tying up aroiund seven, but still getting two great campsites.

The deer are very plentiful in the park, and it has been a great year for quail apparently.  A hawk dropped down by Laura's tent,swooping up a vole or mouse, and carrying to a stump.

We decided to check out Lily Lake, as Goose lake is so low--but the lake is as serene as always.  Laura watched several fish rise, so we will be returning for her to fish.

The drive in allowed us to see several more deer, including a beautiful stag.

The trees are turning color:

We also stopped at a little pond with no name, and did not see any fish, but it was a pretty spot with lots of tules, and Laura found a little friend, aggravating it with a piece of grass.  The waterbug is about the size of a half thumb.

A storm is moving in, so we will see what develops...

Note:  What developed was a water line malfunction last night in kitchen, so we have had to turn off water to the trailer,  but are still making things work for us.  More later...

Turtles in our Condo Bay

Today is our last full day in the condo on the Kona side--we were going to drive north again, but decided instead to go down to the little beach by us and wade in the sea.  Helen wandered up the up the beach to look at tidepools while I waded out into the shallow waters and stood in the soft surf.   As I stood there, i caught a head popping up our of the water about 25 feet away from me, and guessed it was a swimming turtle since I could see a dark shape moving under the water too.

I got out of the water to leave the turtle in peace and joined Helen for tidepool exploration.  She had seen several small fish as well as some small water snakes. The water is crystal clear (below), and you can see deep into the pools.

Here are a few of the fish pictures I captured looking down from above on the rocks into the pools, spotting many of the same species of fish:

We returned to the sandy portion of the little beach, and once again say a turtle swimming.  he never came completely out of the water, but he came in close to shore allowing me to capture "parts" of him--a flipper, a back, etc.:

Pearls & Rays by the Bay

We wanted to dine again at Don the Beachcomber, but found out they were only open Th-Fri-Sat, so we are glad we had the opportunity when we did last Friday night with Holly, Lary, and Shane.  It will be a special memory.  So, we still went north to Hilo Hattie's, but Helen and I decided to try Rays by the Bay at the nearby Sheraton later.

At Hilo Hattie's I decided to do the Pick-a-Pearl stand, which I had passed by for several years.  I chose the ugliest oyster I could find, and the lovely sales lady opened the oyster and out popped two beautiful pinkish pearls.  Well, I couldn't stop myself--I had them set into some sterling plumeria leaves (above).  She gave me a free oyster pick and this time my oyster had only one, but larger.  I didn't have that one set and am bringing it home.  Helen also chose and oyster, and she too got a pearl, but didn't have it set.

We then headed south, and had a lovely dinner at Rays by the Bay of a shared Pupu tray plus dessert. The waves were high, although not as high is the last two days. The ocean is very close, nearly as close as at Don the Beachcombers, so here is a view from our table of the crashing surf: