Costa Rica vacation

oldwrench · Post by **oldwrench** » March 12th, 2010, 10:48 pm

grandkids are gone...... I can get back here again

We came to our first lodge, by the Sarapiqui River, in a beautiful rain forest. The lodge was comfortable and interesting. The units were modeled after the homes of the native tribes of the area. The lodge was right next to an archeological site. It also is net to a bat research station. We had a lecture about bats, and got to see some of the bats that they had captured for tagging. Cute little guys. The next day we visited a pineapple plantation and then went river rafting.

: our first lodge

: there were air plants everywhere, they even grew on the electric lines

: I would say something about a lovely bunch of coconuts...... but

: native artwork at the archeological site

: a reproduction of a native hut

oldwrench · Post by **oldwrench** » March 12th, 2010, 10:57 pm

: a native grave site

: the swimming pool, the water in the pools was very comfortable, so nice when the day got hot.

: They put out bananas and lots of small birds came to the feeder.

: The main building of the lodge was open tothe outside and these bats spend the day sleeping under the roof

: The Sarapiqui river, we went rafting on a portion of this river. We had a great time.

oldwrench · Post by **oldwrench** » March 12th, 2010, 11:09 pm

: We crossed the river on these bridges and went for a hike in the rain forest.

: this is one reason you want a guide, he taught us about bullet ants, these guys ar over an inch long and have a very vicious bite and terribly painful sting

: this is a walking palm, these trees can actually move to get into the sunlight. the movement is very slow, but they do "walk"

: I still wonder how the native people could have lived in this dense jungle

: one of the strange fruits that abound in the jungle

oldwrench · Post by **oldwrench** » March 12th, 2010, 11:20 pm

I almost forgot the pineapple plantation.

: a small pineapple, give it another month or so.

: ripe pineapples ready to be sorted and packed

: we were treated to some fresh pineapple and pini coladas, at 9 in the morning..... that's home brewed white rum he's pouring in one.

: I had mine without the rum, but Darlene had it both ways, one with rum and one without.

: This plantation covers hundreds of acres, it is actually owned by a bakery from Texas USA

Next we travel to the area of the Arenal Volcano...... see you later.

Zeratul2k · Post by **Zeratul2k** » March 13th, 2010, 4:33 am

That looks like breadfruit, IMO...

And living in the jungle is hard, but people can get used to anything, apparently.

oldwrench · Post by **oldwrench** » March 19th, 2010, 1:17 am

On Sunday we traveled from the rain forest of Sarapiqui to the active volcano, Arenal. It was their day of national elections and we stopped at a small town to see the election process. They make a real party day of it, lots of people out and lots of children running around, all trying to give you flags and bumper stickers of their candidate of choice. They had around 20 candidates for president alone, and lots more for congress. The first woman with a real shot at being elected was on the ballot. It brought out a lot of women to vote.

: Even the dog was campaigning for Lara.

: There were lots of kids around, it was a real party atmosphere.

We drove on to the Iguana restaurant. There are two big trees growing on the river bank next to the building, from the bridge over the river you can get right next to the tree branches, the trees are full of iguanas. There are over 250 iguanas in the two trees, the restaurant puts out food for them. You can get very close to the big lizards.

: proof that iguanas grow on trees

: they're everywhere, they're everywhere!!

Then on to the lodge at Arenal. There were elephants in the rooms.

Dinky · Post by **Dinky** » March 19th, 2010, 1:24 am

"I'd say something about a lovely bunch of coconuts, but...."

Heehee! Good one!
Loving the pics- keep them coming!!

JHawkNH · Post by **JHawkNH** » March 19th, 2010, 1:10 pm

I am surprised they they were giving you guys bumper stickers and such. Especially since you couldn't vote for anyone. At least you couldn't legally vote for anyone.

oldwrench · Post by **oldwrench** » April 7th, 2010, 4:01 am

Actually, they were very open about their election process, they made it more of a party day than anything else.

We stayed by the Arenal volcano, we got to spend some time at a volcanic hot springs spa, and in the evening, went way back on a really bad rock road to get a view of the lava flow. The volcano has been erupting continuously for over 20 years. It was cloudy, but we did get a couple glimpses of lava and rocks rolling down the mountain.

: The View of the Arenal volcano from our resort, The lava flow is on the other side. We did hear the mountain rumble though.

: A heliconia flower, there were lots of these around.

: A shampoo flower, the native people would squeeze the nectar out of these and use it as a shampoo.

oldwrench · Post by **oldwrench** » April 15th, 2010, 12:14 am

This seems to be a slow trip

We headed for Cano Negro, a river and waterway, with a large turtle and bird sanctuary. On the way, we stopped at a local school, the children were so cute, they danced and sang for us, then showed us around the school. After this, we ate dinner at homes of the school children's families. the food was very good, the homes and lifestyles were interesting. one of the travelers with us could speak some Spanish, so we were able to learn a lot from the woman who hosted us.