Carara National Park lies between rain-forest hills and the (seasonally) drier coastal plain. This well-preserved "transitional" forest harbors a great diversity of animal life for its modest size. What was striking to us was how much more prominent reptiles were here than in other areas we visited-- including this eyelash viper below that had ensconced itself in the hinge of the ladies latrine!
The Pacific Coast around Quepos is fairly rocky,
but our resort, Arenas del Mar, had two great sandy beaches . . .
. . . along with lots of colorful tropical land crabs . . .
. . . and iguanas of varying size (who, incidentally, like to eat tropical land crabs).
After trudging through a variety of ecosystems looking for birds, we decided to take a break and go for a boat ride and a secluded swim in a lagoon inside Manuel Antonio Park . . .
. . . and of course ended up doing some more birding (female frigate birds roosting, below, a sight rarely seen on the mainland) . . .
. . . and at the oddly patriotic rock that makes up one of las gemellas, or "twins" . . .
. . . we saw these lovely bridled terns and a brown booby.
But it wasn't all birds. We did see a few dolphins . . .
. . . and more than a few white-faced capuchin monkeys to say adios as we departed.
. . . along with lots of colorful tropical land crabs . . .
. . . and iguanas of varying size (who, incidentally, like to eat tropical land crabs).
After trudging through a variety of ecosystems looking for birds, we decided to take a break and go for a boat ride and a secluded swim in a lagoon inside Manuel Antonio Park . . .. . . and of course ended up doing some more birding (female frigate birds roosting, below, a sight rarely seen on the mainland) . . .
. . . and at the oddly patriotic rock that makes up one of las gemellas, or "twins" . . .
. . . we saw these lovely bridled terns and a brown booby.
But it wasn't all birds. We did see a few dolphins . . .
. . . and more than a few white-faced capuchin monkeys to say adios as we departed.
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