To the Sloths and Beyond

 Yesterday we were off to see the sloths. They have a very slow metabolic rate, about half of that of other mammals their size. They move only when necessary. They will climb down from the canopy once a week to defecate. Their weak muscles are adapted for hanging, not for supporting their body weight. Their claws lock onto the branch, so they expended no energy while hanging.

Johnny was an excellent guide. 

We saw eleven sloths, some two toed, some three toed like this one.

American Whip Tail lizard

Green and Black Poison Dart Frog.

After seeing the sloths we headed for Tamarindo on the Pacific coast.

The hills were covered with dozens of windmills, but only a few were operational.

98% of Costa Rica's power comes from renewable sources. 80% of that is hydroelectric.

Great breakfast at Pico Bistro

My Huevos Rancheros were delicious.

It's a beach day. Life is Good.

Mistico Hanging Bridges

We headed out to Mistico Hanging Bridges, hopefully to see some parrots and monkeys. This park has trails that wander through the rainforest and suspension bridges that cross over deep ravines.

The lush green country side.

Leaf cutter ants headed home.

At home the leaves nourish fungus the ants cultivate for food.

This tree canopy looks like fine lace.

This very unique vine is called Monkey Ladder. 

I looks like a ribbon winding its way through the canopy.

The hive entrance for a very small, but important pollinating insect

Suspension bridges really unnerve my sister

Up at the top you can see a person standing on one of the suspension bridges

Becca letting her inner monkey out.

We found some monkeys romping through the canopy

Another great day in Costa Rica.

Butterfly Conservatory

We headed out exploring and found the Butterfly Conservatory. It covers four different atriums filled with 30 different species of butterflies. Each atrium leads guests through a unique section of the rainforest where one can experience the butterflies in their natural habitats. These beautiful butterflies are never released into the wild.

butterfly habitats

Interesting plant

The Blue Morpho Butterfly

The Golden Shrimp plant

The Blue Morpho Butterfly

Maritza and Becca admiring David's new friend

The Glasswing Butterfly. My favorite.

For diner we went into La Fortuna. 

La Vida is a very lovely open air restaurant 

I forgot to take a picture before I started eating my delicious pork ribs 

flavored with a wonderful smoky pineapple sauce.

So So Good.

And Away We Go

We are bound for Costa Rica for 27 days. Traveling slow allows one to immerse themselves in the local culture.  We are flying in with a hotel reservation for the first night. 

Goodbye Vallarta

Hello San Jose

Interesting chair in the hotel lobby

The buffet breakfast was included with the room.

It was not self serve. 

It was a delicious.

OK, where should we go. We decided on visiting the Arenal Volcano and surrounding area. There are hot springs, river rafting, zip lines and ecological preserves in the area.

My sister, her grandchildren, and I heading north in our rented 4x4.

Dad is driving and mom is navigating.

One thing that impressed me was the great roads and the minuscule amount of trash.

There were many streams and one lane bridges to cross, this one was the largest.

Our first view of Arenal Volcano. 

It is an active andesitic stratovolcano in north-western Costa Rica. 

The last eruption was in October of 2010. My sister was visiting then and watched red hot lava flowing down the mountain side.