Home!

Aaaahhhh - dry air!  After 16 days of 90+% humidity it feels so good to be back in the dry air of Utah!
Friends picked us up at the airport, and Murphy was absolutely ecstatic when we arrived home - lots of kisses and wild running around.  The young lady that stayed at our place and took care of Murph and the house did an excellent job as always - everything was in perfect shape.
Diana had her PG Tips (English tea) which she had missed during the trip, and I'm back on Peet's coffee again.  The ground is still moving on us - just sitting here typing it seems as if we are at anchor with a very gently rolling swell.
Things seem very quiet now - no scheduled activities, just able to sit, drink our beverage, read the paper and watch the birds.  Speaking of birds, the hummingbirds are still here despite 35 to 50 degree temperatures.  We filled their feeder this morning and immediately they were there to drink.
A flower note - heliconias are everywhere in Costa Rica. At the hotel in San Jose, I went out at night and caught these with spotlights on them.  Such beauty everywhere.

Puerto Quepos - our last stop

This is our last post, as tomorrow after breakfast we dis-embark and go our separate ways.  We are staying overnight in San Jose, and catching our flights on the 7th - didn't feel like rushing around so quickly.

Diana and I split up today, I took a 5 hour walk through Manuel Antonio National Park and she took a ride through the mangroves.  So our pictures come from both of us!
Diana saw capuchin monkeys, turtles, herons, tree snakes, and local things as she walked around town.  The capuchin mother and baby are one of the many monkeys she saw.

My walk through the National Park was filled with wildlife; a lot of black iguanas, howler monkeys, snakes, the Jesus Christ lizard (so named because he walks on water!), along with hummingbirds, butterflies and flowers.
We landed in this idyllic cove, beach number two in the park. The lizards greeted us immediately!

This is the Jesus Christ Lizard above!
The howler monkey below left was a beta male, eating leaves by himself.

We also saw quite a number of sloths, both two toed and three toed.  The one below was a three toed sloth.

This green frog is very interesting - I looked at it a long time before I realized it was not part of the plant!!

Finally, no matter where you go in the world, somethings never change!  This sign was in the Pharmacacia in the small town as we came out of the park!

Osa Peninsula

Again, the sunrise delivered us into paradise!

An incredibly diverse day!!  We started with what was described as a moderate 2 hour hike, that turned into a muddy, slippery 3 hour hike with more attention to not falling down that what we were walking through! But we did manage to capture a bit of beauty in the rainforest.

After getting back to the boat and a shower and brief nap, the call went out that there were humpback whales!  We managed to get pictures of a breaching whale and tails, as we were entertained by two adults and a newborn. Apparently the pattern on the flukes (tail) are unique to each whale and allow identification.  These came from Antartica to have the baby in warm waters, and then will return - some 8000 miles one way.

Then, as we sipped champagne on the deck, the sunset ushered us into the evening with a double rainbow and simple awesome beauty!

Miscellaneous

I've had a request for more animal pictures; unfortunately, we have not see very many animals.  We'll be in the Corcovado National Park today, perhaps a jaguar will show itself :-).

Here's a view of a rainy day - was wondering how to show the rain when this presented itself.  Also, a white-faced capuchin monkey from Isla Coiba that I forgot to post.  Shooting against a cloudy sky does not make for much detail, but I did what I could!

Golfo Dulce, Costa Rica

Another wonderful day in paradise!  Rain in the early morning, then sun and partly cloudy until about 5, then the skies open up again!  Must be the tropics!

Great skylines this morning, followed by a visiting pelican that sat on the front deck for awhile.

After an emergency drill, we motored on to the Orchid House for a few hours of heaven with orchids growing wild, birds, and just beauty of the tropics!  Here's a few pics from the day.

 

 

Isla de Coiba

A wonderful day at this national park, whether we were hiking and trying to find monkeys and birds, or snorkeling in one of the most beautiful reefs in the Pacific!  My day started with the hike, (Diana took advantage of the day and stayed on ship and relaxed) and we saw birds, rainforest and monkeys, including the Coiba Island Howler Monkey.  No howls this morning tho'.

I have read about the "le heure bleu" or the blue hour but had not yet experienced it.  A noted photographer wrote about it sometime back - it is the hour after the 'golden hour' of sunset.  She said to not put away your cameras but instead, put them on a tripod and wait a bit.  This picture is unretouched - an incredible blue.

Tomorrow off to the wonderful private botanical garden at Casa Orquideas, which spotlights more than 100 species of orchids as well as plantings of ornamental palms, bromeliads, cycads, heliconias flowering ginger and spice trees (WOW)! Diana is drooling.  If you are seeking this on Google maps, look for Golfo Dulce.

Darien Jungle

Today was a real expedition!  We anchored a couple of miles off the mainland, and took the Zodiacs 10 miles up a river to an indigenous Indian tribe named the Embera's.  The trip had to be timed to the tide, as the river is impassable at low tide.  So we went up about 2 hours before high tide, which resulted in pulling the boats over some of the rapids.  The chief sent his son to be our escort in a dugout canoe with a 15hp outboard motor on it!

Also, it rained most of the day!  But for most of us, that was much more preferable to having a sunny day, when it is soooooo hot and humid that one can hardly breathe!  So we got wet - big deal!
We visited with the Embera's and had lunch with them.

They were a welcoming, loving group and we had a lot of fun with them.  The kids took our hands and walked with us from the river to the village!

 

After traditional dances, food and purchase of crafts, we were off back down the river at high tide.


Even then it was dangerous as there were half-submerged logs that could easily shear a pin in the motor if the pilot was careless.  But we all returned in good spirits and agreed that the day was truly a memorable one.  Helps to have champagne on ice when you return from one of these!