Costa Rica Photos!

Two days into the Costa Rican experience....

Day 1: Great local style breakfast at the Double Tree in San Jose. Awesome fruit, amazing coffee and gallo pinto (rice and beans)
Noon bus to Puerto Viejo is full. Gotta take the 2 o'clock. Bummer....... Michelle getting familiar with the guidebook:



4 hour bus ride to Puerto Viejo on the Caribbean side of the country. Fantastic mountains, rivers and bridges on the way. Very talkative American guy named Clay who claims to have been a drug runner in Florida and a tennis pro, surfed professionally on the tour and now has a rich Costa Rican girlfriend. Clay has a big facial scar and recent dental work from a bar brawl and is starting to look like Gary Busey in this photo:



The stories keep coming but he says he will take us around to look for a few cabinas on his 4 wheeler once we get to Puerto Viejo...... We check a few out and finally decide on Kaya's Place. Check out the link here for photos: Kaya's Place on Tripadvisor

Day 2: Wake early to grab breakfast and head out to explore the area. Tons to do down here in the Southeast corner of this country and I'm stoked to be back in the Caribbean. Puerto Viejo is famous for it's surf break called Salsa Brava. We see no monster waves and head out on a jungle trail that runs along a stunning, palm rimmed beach. Here we have our first encounter with leafcutter ants! Man these are so cool! Check out the Video:

Leafcutter Ants Video

Today, Michelle makes friends with lots of critters. First is a local dog on the trail to Cocles Beach who keeps us company for a half mile or so and next up is the Three toed sloth.

The sloth in Costa Rica is the ultimate chiller. Lounging in the trees they are said to move so slow that moss grows on their fur. We arrived at the Jaguar Rescue Center in time to get in on a massive tour. The tour included 3 toed and 2 toed sloth, howler monkeys, snakes of every kind including false coral and pit vipers, an owl, several caymans (small croc's) famous green tree frog and two jungle cats. The Margay Cat looked like a tiny jaguar..... Michelle has photos coming later. Also in with the monkeys is the Jaguarundi who hunts day and night and is also a legendary swimmer!

Finally, Michelle gets to get up close and personal with her buddy...... the 3 Toed:



These guys were hilarious. They would cling to you like a toddler and wanted nothing more than to relax and to hug an occasional stuffed animal or eat a flower. Fantastic! Make sure to visit the Jaguar Rescue center if you are ever in this area is their end goal is the release of all of their critters back into the jungle. They all have been taken in because of devious acts of man and habitat destruction..... you can help! Go see em for an informative look on the local critters.

Off for a snorkel after the tour where I spotted a huge barracuda in the shallows, a slipper lobster and several parrot fish. The reef here isn't much to look at but the 85 degree water is amazing! Our final stop for the afternoon is Punta Uva where we meet an Argentinian named Guillermo who is running the dive shop. He tells us about the trail to the point so we clamber up the 5 minute trail to an overlook and the water looks so refreshing. I head in for another swim as Michelle explores a cave. Finally, we round out our day with a few monkeys coming down from the canopy to feed as it's getting close to sunset.



All total we treked about 4.5 miles today, met some great people doing valuable work and learned a ton about the issues facing the people and the critters in this area. Tomorrow it's off to Panama to see the Bradfords...... we are so excited!