Exploring the Arenal Observatory – Costa Rica day 2

For our second full day in Costa Rica we wanted to explore a bit of the Arenal area without a guide, so we decided to make our way over to the Arenal Observatory Lodge and check out their hiking trails. It was a pretty easy drive over from La Fortuna and after a stop at the lodge itself (more on that in a bit) we headed out onto the trails.

A tree completely encased in moss
The Catarata Danta looks beautiful with all of the lush vegetation around
Notice how you can see right through this glasswing butterfly

The trail quickly left the manicured grounds of the lodge and led off into the forest. It was a beautiful walk – not too hard and almost completely deserted. Our first destination was a small waterfall called the Catarata Danta. After a short, steep descent we found ourselves right at it’s pool. As always, I had to get out the tripod for some photos. From there we continued through the forest for another quarter mile before the trail started travelling along pastures with amazing views of the volcano.

The view from our lunch spot. Not bad!
Just sitting on the fence and watching the cows

We ended up hiking into the afternoon, though you wouldn’t have guessed that from the mileage. It was a slow wander with lots of stops to admire the views and check out various little birds in the woods. We even stopped for 15 minutes at one point to admire the leafcutter ants hard at work. There were even a couple of small waterfalls to see along the way. All in all it’s a beautiful area with artificially good views. That was also it’s downfall though, as it didn’t feel as natural as some of the other areas we visited.

Leafcutter ants carrying their handiwork down a tree towards home
One of the side waterfalls. It’s definitely smaller, but still pretty

After the hike we made our way back to the Arenal Observatory Lodge along the road and headed to the restaurant to get some food. What we did not expect was the spectacle that was the lodge’s observation deck and it’s bird feeder. It turns out the staff puts out a collection of fruit for the birds a few times a day, and the results are impressive. I spent quite a bit of time on the deck taking pictures of the various birds that were commuting in for, and fighting for lunch. Here are some of the highlights:

Montezuma oropendola – these have a wild sounding call
Red-legged honeycreeper
Brown jay
Collared aracari – a close relative of toucans
Blue-gray tanager
Green honeycreeper
Everyone is enjoying their lunch

It didn’t end there though, as there were also a number of interesting birds that came to the various fruit trees and flowers near the lodge for a snack as well. It’s clear why this place in particular as a reputation for being a birding destination.

The rufous-tailed hummingbirds really liked the verbena
I’m not sure what this one is
A yellow-throated toucan reaching for some fruit
Maybe a warbler?
Crested guan

All in all it was a great way to spend the day. If your goal is to see lots of interesting birds and are up for a bonus waterfall, this is definitely where you should go first.

Taken 11/12/23

Our first afternoon in La Fortuna – Costa Rica day 1

This yellow-throated toucan was sitting by the side of the road as we approached the parking lot for the falls

After our morning tour of the Mystico hanging bridges we took the afternoon to explore La Fortuna a bit. First up was lunch (it was great) then we made our way to the La Fortuna waterfall. The excitement started before we even arrived when we saw a toucan sitting on a branch near the side of the road. This was one of the big name birds we had hoped to see, so of course we had to stop and take a close look. It seemed perfectly happy just sitting there watching us, so after a few minutes and a few hundred photos (don’t worry, I’m only sharing the best one) we continued on. We knew walk to the falls was not far, so we were a little surprised to see how many signs there were warning us how strenuous the walk down and up the stairs would be.

Our first view of the falls

We quickly made our way down to observation area and were immediately impressed by the falls. They are strikingly powerful, and quite beautiful as well. I had some fun taking some long exposure photos of the falls and trying to capture the power of the spray that they threw up, but after about 20 minutes it was time to head back up. The climb back up was not as bad as the signs made it out to be, but it definitely got your heart rate up!

The main falls and the field of wet boulders at the base. Watch your step!
A little cascade near the falls that had a comparative trickle of water

To round out the day we headed back to our Airbnb for a float in the pool. The wildlife sightings didn’t end there though, and we saw a few more interesting birds right there in the yard. Definitely a fitting way to end the day!

This was our lifeguard as we swam in the pool. Very attentive

Taken 2/11/23

Walking the Mistico Hanging Bridges – Costa Rica day 1

Today I’m happy to kick off a review of our latest travel adventure – this time to Costa Rica! The aim here was to not only see the rain forest, but also to check out the huge variety of wildlife that live there – particularly birds. Let’s get started!

The mist clinging to the hillsides as we started our tour

Our trip started at the San Jose airport with an unfortunate rental car adventure. The company we had a reservation with gave up our car because we were “more than half an hour late”… Not great. After running around a bit to find a last minute alternative (at a price of course), we headed out to La Fortuna where we stayed for the first half of the trip. Fortunately the Airbnb check in was much more smooth, and our place was lovely. We quickly headed to bed and woke up ready to start our trip for real.

A bat watching us from his perch over the trail
The vipers hang out in the trees and sleep during the day

Our first stop was the Mistico hanging bridges tour. This tour was really an incredible introduction to the primary forest and some of the wildlife we had hoped to see. The guide pointed out all kinds of things that we certainly would have missed, and gave us lots of great information about the forest.

One of the bridges making its way through the trees
Walking along the bridge

The hike itself was not too hard. The pace was relaxed and there were plenty of stops. It did take quite a while with all the stops to admire the views from the bridges. Though this park is known for the bridges, I would not say they were the highlight of the tour for me. They gave you a good perspective of the canopy, but there was so much going on down below that it was incredible to look around along the entire trail, both for the plant life and the animals.

This rufous motmot sat looking for bugs near the trail
An owl butterfly Caterpillar on the railing of a bridge

Costa Rica is famous in birding circles for the diversity it has to offer. I am no birder, but they were still a special sight. There were a variety of colorful visitors that we saw on the trail. We didn’t see any of the famous birds we had heard about (yet), but they were still a lot of fun to watch.

This little one was quite hard to photograph

I could keep going on for a while about everything we saw on this walk through the woods, but I’ll let the photos do the rest of the talking. It was a very worthy first stop in the country and we were excited to continue the action for the rest of the trip.

Looking down the edge of the trail into the jungle
A beautiful waterfall that could have been a destination all on its own

Taken 2/11/23