Grey neck wood rail.. semi aquatic bird

Sided stripe palm pit viper-green snake-very poisonous

Green walking stick

Bark scorpion

Sleeping Tree Keel Toucan up in a Tree …. their beaks are powerful …kill their predators

2 toed Sloth. Dark brown -juvenile… night traveller… white as adult

Stream anhole (lizard)

At dinner, we saw a nine-banded armadillo cross the grass.

Isla Damas is actually Da Mas meaning to “to grow” and not “lady” because the island would grow in size.

Costa Rica and Quepos particularly is a major exporter of bananas

2% of population are indigenous out of a total of 5 million

98% literacy rate

95% renewable electricity, very ecologically minded and the lands are protected.

Mangrove roots are filters of the mud that gets washed in and the makers of land. Crabs clear the silt away from the roots.

Note-we saw animals or birds with asterisks.

*Lesser night hawk…. migrates to and from Canada…. was almost undetectable sitting on a branch.

*Spiny-tail black iguana… “chicken of tree” name in Spanish is “Garrobo”

*Capuchin monkey… most aggressive

*Tiger Heron on branch

*White ibis

*4-eyed possum… omnivore… little, little with fur like a labs ……and teeth!

*Cattle egret

*Jesus Christ iguana… can run on water…actually ski

Mangrove trees are most important oxygen producer in world after plankton …

-Pineapple mangrove.. like fan going into water

-Black mangrove… no obvious roots but little spikes coming up in soil around it .

-White mangrove… looks like termite. The nodules on trunks is how it gets rid of salt… roots come out of 1/4 way up trunk..

-Red Mangrove roots almost don’t look like they have a trunk… lots of roots

Mangroves protect the coastline in case of tsunamis

*Woodpecker

*Green heron

No shrimp farms are allowed anymore because of pollution that they create. Tilapia farms are allowed on land with absolutely no access to the river or ocean. That is what should be done in. Canada!!!

Damas Island was created by a hurricane that split it from part of the coast mangrove area.

*Silky anteater… smallest anteater in world.

Palm oil trees

*Weavers…males make the nest

*Tiger-faced crab

Lunch across beach before Manuel Antonio

Parasailing @ Manuel Antonio

Stay at Villa Romantica… probably a 2 star but quite sweet….. and it had a pool…. yeah!

First go off to Manuel Antonio Park to look for wildlife on our own (US$16) but we’re not very successful. It was so hot(30C) & so very humid we just went to the beach in the park to cool off. Even that wasn’t very successful ….water temperature was apparently 24!!!

I cannot believe the price of food (bbq chicken….$13CAD)& liquor in grocery stores and food and drink in restaurants….. way more expensive than at home in Victoria. We went for dinner later (at El Guarato) that was excellent but required a small loan! All prices include taxes plus 10% tip whether you want it or not. But on the other hand local bus is about .75 CAD and a taxi $6.75.

More pictures to follow. Too hard to download very many!

n

Street mural

Mexican Embasy

Fish mural

Reminds me of Rail station in Maputo… designed by Eiffel

Rotary park…

Street murals

Rotary Park

n

Attention-getting entrance

Mural inside hotel restaurant

You all know the there is air pressure when on a flight, right? On first leg of our journey I had my metal water bottle with me in my backpack. I had refilled it after clearing security. While on the flight I decided to take a sip. Well…… the damn thing sprayed water like a geyser all over my face, hair, the top I was wearing & the seat I was sitting in. It looked like I had an accident …..lol! Well I did in a way. I told the couple I was sitting with on the next leg what had happened on the first only to have it happen AGAIN! They said they had never seen that before and neither had I. Let this be a warning not to take any water in sealed containers on board a flight and make sure to have all containers of liquids in sealed plastic.

We arrived late to the airport (10pm) but Jeanette was there waiting (she had arrived around 2:39) along with the GAdventures transfers guide. The drive in from airport to the hotel was very long, arriving at to our hotel ….. finally around midnight. It was a long day!

January 25/19.

Not too exciting day…. slept in, rearranged suitcases and went for a short walk. It’s a kind of scuzzy area we are in but as we walked farther afield, it got better. We found a lovely little park maintained by the Rotary Club. I have to mention too that there are quite a number of murals on the buildings….. beautiful! Pictures to follow….I hope!

This is a test for me to see if I can add pictures without too much difficulty and to resize them. Okay that wasn’t too bad. Please tell me if the pictures came through without being too big or should I make them smaller ś