7-8 cu metres rain per year in Tortuguero as opposed to in Guanacaste had only about 2 cu. metres…. but in 4 months.

There were over 400,000 Indigenous peoples before Europeans came but that number

dropped to 40,000 within 30 yrs

70% Europeans died too because of climate & diseases

The greater the middle class the more stable the government …. happened here because of blending of population earlier than in other countries

Costa Rica gained independence in 1821.

There were 5 original Central American countries (Guatemala, Nicaragua, San Salvador, Honduras & Costa Rica …..now there are 7 (Belize … formerly British Honduras & Panama were added).

Taxes on coffee brought theatres and culture to C. R.

SAN Jose 3rd city in the world to have electricity after Paris and New York.

Bananas became equal importance export to coffee after the railway was built.

Macaws largest parrots in world

It has 6% of diversity of world

Main income producers are 1-Service-Tourism, 2-Agricultural-pineapple, 3-Industrial-medical equipment (Intel was first)

We see Crocodiles where we have a stop. Main differences between Crocs and Alligators ….,Crocs lay with throat on ground and open their jaw upwards (Gators lift necks and drop their jaws), they have 2 ridges down their backs as opposed to 1. They can live in fresh, brackish and sea water (Gators only fresh water)

Punta Arenas is main port on Pacific coast but very small…2 slips for imports (predominately vehicles from Asia) plus one nearer the city bfor cruise ships.

Trees change to deciduous as we turn off the main highway (Pan American Hwy).

1948 year CR abolished the military.

We stopped at a coffee producers co-op on the way.

The coffee produced in this area is Arabica. Arabica beans are grown at altitudes between 800 and 2000 metres above sea level. It has half the caffeine of other types. And dark roasted coffee has less caffeine because more of the oils are removed by the roasting process. It’s nice that they use no chemicals. It takes a picker (all by hand) an hour and 20 minutes to pick a 12 kilo basket for which they make $2US. For that they sell a 46 kilo bag for 300$ after it’s all been processed.

While there I spotted a Blue-grey tanager …beautiful!

We stopped a little while later where our transportation changed to a tractor pulling a trailer cart. While waiting to have our luggage moved, we got to walk around when I spotted a Passerini tanager…with quite a wide red stripe down its back.

Enroute we passed by free housing for poor people. All have satellite tv and cable and wifi.

We also saw a white-fronted parrot along the way. Also I saw for the first time ever….howler monkeys. For your information they have extremely large white testicles (shows up very well in contrast to their very black bodies). They show their testies (with their legs spread apart) to show that they are the alpha male.

This portion of the trip today was about 2 hours long on the bumpiest road ever. The accommodations…well…..a “lodge” in the middle of absolutely nowhere, beds encased with mosquito nets, great huge covered deck overlooking a lovely garden and river beyond. It was very rustic to say the least. Linda described it as going to a cabin in the bush that was built in the fifties. After dinner we all went for a walk around the property looking for wildlife. We managed to see a number of frogs, one toad , a praying mantas and a vine snake that as so very long and skinny….but my camera ran out of battery. No matter …the bugs were incredible! They were absolutely awful ….flying in your face constantly! Yuck! I called it quits!

A “still” of the longest zipline….almost 2 kilometres long

Crab nests on the roots of the mangroves

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2-toed sloth seen on night walk