July 23-24
Hello everyone!
After having spent a while, arguably too long, in San Jose, it was time to head off to see the real reason I had come to Costa Rica…
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| A three-toed sloth |
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| Black iguana |
Costa Rica is renowned as an animal hotspot. Animals which aren’t really found on the African continent, so a new experience for me.
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| Green iguana on a tree in the town of Quepos |
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| Squirrel monkey |
Well, most of them. Here are some crocodiles, seen from the main bridge connecting San Jose with the Pacific coast.
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| There were 13 American crocodiles by this bridge |
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| This particularly large specimen is known locally as 'Mike Tyson' |
Anyway, back to the new animals. This is partly due to their environment. Around 25% of the country’s land is registered as protected, including over 30 different ecosystems.
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| Rivers and trees |
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| The mangrove forest has 123 bird species |
One of these ecosystems is a mangrove forest, located a little bit north of Manuel Antonio National Park. These usually have a tangle of straggly roots which seemingly fall over each other into the narrow waterways. You can see these in a boat…or a kayak…
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| The mangroves can be black, white, brown... |
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| Roots protruding high above the water line |
Our kayaking trip started serenely under leaden skies. Birds weren’t particularly forthcoming but it was still relaxing to paddle through the canals accompanied by the chirping of crickets.
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| Birds may have been put off by the noise of kayaks |
It became slightly less relaxing when thunder started rumbling in the distance. Then it started to drizzle…then rain…and suddenly…
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| Skies beginning to darken |
Unsurprisingly, there are no pictures from the massive downpour that ensued for the next 30 minutes. Phone stowed in a ziploc bag under my clothes, which were already saturated, I spent this time either paddling frantically or trying to bail out our kayak with my hands. This was a futile battle.
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| What to know: you will get wet! |
Eventually the rain started to relent, which allowed us to spot a couple of herons. We also found a raccoon. Two of our group were a little too keen to see this, inadvertently flipping themselves into the murky water. No crocodiles around, thankfully.
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| The raccoon is in the middle of the picture |
Mercifully, the following day was dry. We were heading into nearby Manuel Antonio National Park, which was the principal reason for coming to the Pacific coast of western Costa Rica.
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| MA is the smallest of Costa Rica's 28 national parks |
This is the country’s smallest national park, yet arguably its most popular. It became a protected area in 1972 and is a gorgeous combination of white-sand beaches and soaring trees.
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| The green iguana is apparently the largest lizard species in Central America. They can also 'drop' and regenerate their tails! |
Manuel Antonio NP is home to a wide variety of wildlife. It is also wildlife which is incredibly difficult to spot without an expert on hand with his massive telescope. Our man Herbert immediately found organisms as diverse as bats and basilisks.
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| A lesser double lined bat. I have no idea how Herbert spotted this. |
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| A helmet headed lizard. It's in a circle because we were taking photos through the telescope. |
Within the first hundred metres or so of starting our ramble in the jungle, we’d also come across the first of many Wild Red Land Crabs. There are 30 species of crab in Costa Rica and this is possibly the most colourful. He talked about a ‘Halloween Crab’, which could easily be this owing to the bright, Jack-O-Lantern legs.
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| These live in the forest but breed in the ocean |
By then we had already seen an animal synonymous with Costa Rica: the sloth. Other people had spotted the lazy, long-limbed mammal; however, it was so high in the tree that it was only with a telescope that its charm can be fully appreciated.
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| Sloths are notoriously slow - this is because it takes them up to two weeks to digest a meal |
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| Sloths can sleep for up to 20 hours a day! |
With the guide we saw four sloths. There are two different varieties: two-toed and three-toed. The three-toed sloth is said to be the smilier species, though all sloths I saw seemed pretty content. The three-toed sloth is the one hanging upside down in these pictures.
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| This three-toed sloth will come to the ground once a week to poo |
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| Sloths are very hard to spot in the trees! |
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| How's it hangin'? |
Looking up finds sloths but looking down and around finds other fun things…
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| Red eye leaf frog - it was sleeping and hiding so we couldn't see the eyes |
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| A Panamanian white-faced monkey - these were playing at the beach as well as jumping through the trees |
one of 53 species in Costa Rica
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| A caiman, a smaller version of a crocodile which grows to about 1 metre |
What’s interesting is that many visitors to Manuel Antonio National Park don’t spend that long looking for wildlife. When there are pristine beaches steps away, I can understand why.
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| Espadilla South beach, which has stronger currents |
I can understand, but I prefer spending my time in nature, particularly when it’s nature I won’t normally experience. I fuelled up on a piece of banana bread at the cafeteria - you can’t bring your own food into the park. I ate this in the company of two iguanas and a colony of ants. A worker asked if I spoke Spanish, then pointed up and said ‘perezoso’. Another sloth.
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| A black spiny-tailed iguana, which can grow to over 1 metre in length |
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| Sloth number five hanging in the tree |
Walking a bit later on, I heard a rustle in the leaves to my right. I turned to see what looked like an iguana scuttle out of sight. As I turned back, I noticed a flesh-coloured worm sliding up a branch. Well, the bottom half was flesh-coloured. The top section was a vivid green, and a snake’s head was attached to the top.
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| The camera couldn't focus on the snake - it's the horizontal object in the middle of the picture |
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| I think it's the green vine snake but I'm not sure |
The trip to the Pacific coast was wet and wild, though I’m very glad the downpour during the mangrove kayak trip didn’t happen in Manuel Antonio National Park. Not that the sloths would rush for cover…
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| Kayaking: wet |
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| Manuel Antonio National Park: wild |
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| Sloth: probably still there by the time you read this! |
Love you all,
Matt
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