Costa Rica - Part 4

More images from Bosque del Cabo Lodge on the Osa Peninsula.

Bathroom visitor

Because of the shallow topsoil, the trees had evolved various strategies to support themselves.  We found these buttress roots quite pretty.

This vine looks like a giant spring

On the Osa Peninsula, the forest floor was warm, damp and dim

One of many varieties of heliconias

 

Great Kiskadee

male Cherrie's Tanager

female Cherrie's Tanager

 

Chestnut-mandibled Toucan

A small flock of Scarlet Macaws

Green and Black Poison Dart Frog

After a night of heavy rains, these land crabs were everywhere!  They ranged in size from about an inch to 3 or four inches.  Once it dried up, they disappeared again.

A small herd of White-lipped Peccaries frequently 

wandered through the grounds of the lodge.

This Brown Basilisk lizard would come and climb into the vegetation next to the bar during happy hour.

Costa Rica - Part 3

The Osa Taliban maybe?  No, it's just Nick and Barbara as we arrived at a local stable for a horseback ride.

Part of the ride was along a deserted beach.

We stopped to explore some tidepools full of urchins.

There were a couple of people cleaning up the beach, using a cart pulled by a water buffalo.

After getting back to the lodge we saw a few other things.

A Red-lored Parrot

A Scarlet-rumped Tanager

A Red-legged Honeycreeper

Several Scarlet Macaws

Palm fruits

Pineapple plant

A Black Vulture

A tree with impressive defenses

A Black Hawk

And a Crested Caracara

Costa Rica - Part 2

Bosque del Cabo is located at the south eastern tip of the Osa Penninsula in southern Costa Rica.  The Osa Penninsula is covered by tropical rainforest.

There were many flowers around, some familiar, some not.

These Golden Orb Spiders were very common.  Some spanned nearly 3 inches!

There were lots of diiferent kinds of butterflies.

We could not hike any of the trails without frequently encountering leaf-cutter ants carrying their bits of harvested vegetation back to the nest.

We frequently saw both Spider Monkeys ...

... and White Faced Capuchin Monkeys.

This toucan is a Fiery-billed Aracari.

A Black Hawk

a Great Tinamou

Costa Rica - Part 1

On February 26th 2013 Barbara, Nick and I boarded a flight out of Los Angeles bound for San Jose, Costa Rica.  That night we spent at the Hotel Irazu in San Jose.

The next morning we boarded a small commuter plane for the 45 minute flight to Puerto Jimenez on Costa Rica's Osa Penninsula.

After landing in Puerto Jimenez, we were driven over dirt backroads in a four wheel for about 30 minutes to our first destination, the Bosque del Cabo Nature Lodge.

This was our "cabina" named La Palma, complete with mosquito netting and a "garden" shower.

This is the outdoor dining room.  Every meal was fantastic.

And finally, the bar and swimming pool.