In search of critters

howler

Howler Monkey

There are many reasons people travel to Costa Rica; exploring the biodiversity tends to be on most people’s list. It was for our family. We wanted to soak in the rich and diverse flora and fauna and see as many different critters as possible. Some places you had to search for critters, other places not so much. As with most things in life, you have to be in the right place and at the right time. We were not disappointed and we were extremely lucky on our trip to Costa Rica. Although we didn’t see any jaguars (much to Mike’s dismay), we saw a rich array of critters rather consistently throughout our trip. Every day was thrilling.

Yep, that's a 2-Toed Sloth

Yep, that’s a 2-Toed Sloth

Even though Costa Rica is not a very big country, there are so many diverse regions to choose from; it made it very difficult planning the trip since we only had 2 weeks. I was like a kid in a candy shop. We ultimately decided to spend a large portion of our time in Cahuita, on the southern Caribbean coastline. We made a great decision. There is nothing like waking up to Howler Monkeys declaring the trees above your cottage their territory. While we were staying in Cahuita, that’s what happened just about every morning as the sun was rising. The neighboring Howler Monkeys would answer back – “Yes, we know, you told us yesterday and the day before. But remember this is our territory over here!” It would go on and on for at least an hour or more.

Howler Monkeys who declare the area around our cottage to be their territory.

Howler Monkeys who declare the area around our cottage to be their territory.

Our neighborhood 2-Toed Sloth.

Our neighborhood 2-Toed Sloth.

At breakfast time, I would survey the land and trees to see who else was there. With luck, a 2-Toed Sloth would still be hanging from the tree he was hanging onto for the last couple of days. Perhaps a Coati or two would even wander by looking for scraps.

The beach and National Park were only a 5 minute walk from our cottage, so we hiked and swam almost daily. Along the trail were signs “Don’t feed the monkeys” with good reason. While I watching Mathew and Mike playing in the surf, I looked up to see some White-faced Capuchins watching me. At one point, the whole troop got really close to beach – I thought they might try to steal someone’s food or bags. They were not timid at all, similar to squirrels or deer back home.

White-faced Capuchins

White-faced Capuchin

Don't feed the monkeys

Don’t feed the monkeys

Yellow Eyelash Viper

Yellow Eyelash Viper

One day while hiking through the National Forest, we saw a Yellow Eyelash Viper. They are as beautiful as they are dangerous and like to wait and ambush their prey. Luckily, it was hanging out digesting a critter it had just eaten. The contrast of its beautiful yellow scales against the green leaves of the forest was fantastic.

When you travel, what do you like to do? Please share and I will continue to share.

 

Costa Rica knows how to show you a good time

I do not think I have been anywhere in the world that has tourism down as well as Costa Rica. Well, maybe Walt Disney World, but that’s a given. It seemed that anywhere we stayed; they had access to a vast array of transportation and attraction options at their fingertips. No matter how close or how far we wanted to travel, they assisted us perfectly. It made traveling throughout the country very easy.

Everyone has certain things they enjoy to do when they travel. We love adventures, seeing critters, beautiful scenery, relaxation and good food.  For the most part, Costa Rica fit the bill in every way, except that good food was a bit of a stretch. After a day of recovering from our 17 hour journey from New York to Costa Rica, by the way of Mexico City, we traveled to the village of Santa Elena, just 20 minutes outside of the Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve.  Our hotel in Alajuela (just 10 minutes from the airport outside of San Jose) booked us a very reasonable private shuttle to Santa Elena. Not only did Eduardo drive the van, but he was also a tour guide with a wealth of knowledge. We learned so much about the area and history during our 4 hour journey up through the mountains. It was an excellent introduction to Costa Rica and perfect timing as it was the beginning of our trip. We even stopped at a roadside café for coffee, fresh tortillas with fried cheese and a blackberry smoothie, and, of course, used their facilities before we drove the last stretch of the long bumpy unpaved road to Santa Elena.

I didn’t know this when I booked it, but Santa Elena is a backpackers haven. The town appeared to have more hostels than hotels and everything a traveler needs including banks, supermarkets, public buses, restaurants, internet, art supplies, bookstore and a drugstore. It’s a little hippy Mecca in the middle of the rainforest. The prices for lodging are considerably less than in the village of Monteverde, that’s why I chose it along with all the other budget travelers.

Really hard to capture the awesomeness of the cloud forest.

It is really hard to capture the awesomeness of the cloud forest.

Hazel worked the reception at the Pensión Santa Elena, where we stayed in Santa Elena. She was an awesome concierge. She shared a wealth of information with us so we could pick what trips worked for our family. She did a fantastic job selecting guides for us too. It was the start of our trip, so we decided to go on some guided hikes, to get the lay of the land, see critters, identify the fauna and flora plus learn where to look for the critters. We figured after a guided night hike and day hike we could do the rest on our own.  This plan worked out great for us. Compared to most people we ran into, we saw more than our fair share of critters. We really lucked out with our guides too. During the night hike, our guide, Hector, was great with Mathew, he always made sure Mathew could see the critter he found as well as not lose Mathew in the dark.

Orange Kneed Tarantula we saw on our night hike. He was huge!

Orange Kneed Tarantula we saw on our night hike. He was huge!

Juan Carlos, led our day hike through the Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve, we almost immediately saw a Resplendent Quetzal, several 2-Toed Sloths, another Resplendent Quetzal, a Coatimundi, which came up to us like a squirrel would back home. We also saw an Orange Bellied Trogon  , many different varieties of hummingbirds, one actually sitting on its nest, and interesting flowers such as the Dutchman Shoes, Red Shrimp Flowers, Fern Trees along with a huge Paper Wasp nest, Green Walking Stick and some crazy looking caterpillars.  After a 3 hour hike with Juan Carlos, we set off on our own and actually saw 6 more Resplendent Quetzals, which are apparently rare but not if you sit in front of an avocado tree during their lunch time.

Walking above the canopy in the emergent layer. Amazing to get a birds eye view.

Walking above the canopy in the emergent layer. It was amazing to get a birds eye view. Some bridges were over 180 feet high.

Over 20 years ago, I read about walking through the rainforest canopy on suspension bridges and wanted to do it ever since. The next day we went to Selvatura, where they have 8 suspension bridge crossings through the Monteverde Cloud Forest.   It was better than I ever imagined, at several points we were above the canopy looking down. Although, we only saw a couple birds it was truly magical to experience to have that point of view. In two days, we experienced all layers of the rainforest – the forest floor, the understory, the canopy and emergent layer. Truly, a dream come true, and we were only a couple of days into our adventure.

Walking through understory.

Walking through the understory.