Our grand finale at Curi-Cancha – Costa Rica Day 9

After our first couple hikes in Monte Verde we were a bit apprehensive about our final day and the early morning birding tour we had signed up for. We made our way up the hill to the Curi-Cancha reserve to meet our guide, and like before, started off with some hummingbirds. This time the weather was much better though and the “hummers” were enjoying and fighting over the large verbena bushes on the edge of the parking lot. By this point we had come to expect the hummingbirds, but these were a joy to watch.

My favorite was the purple-throated mountain-gem. This little male was quite interesting to look at the entire time with lots of wild copper and green color on its chest and sides, as well as a clear white line coming off the eye. The real stunner though is when it turns to look at you. At that point you get a chance to see that purple throat and his metallic blue green cap. The color comes from the structure of the feathers, which makes it very directional. You can see the difference in the two images below which were taken only about 2 seconds apart. It was really incredible to witness.

You can see the purple-throated mountain-gem’s feathers that will form the colorful display, but they look very plain from this angle
The same bird showing off his colorful head and neck

The show from the parking lot continued though, and we ended up spending about a half hour admiring various birds right from there.There were Baltimore orioles, brown jays, and even parrots. From there we headed off into the woods to find some of the more elusive species.

Over our first few stops in the woods it became clear that we had a truly excellent guide for the day. He was extremely engaging and clearly loved spending time looking for these birds. He was always happy to answer questions and seemed to immediately know where to find every bird we saw in his massive book of costa rican birds. He pointed out a number of trogans, flycatchers, and tanagers, but I’m going to skip over all of those for now, as you have seen all those already in my previous posts. Ok fine, I can’t resist. here’s just one for you:

This little yellow faced grassquit was not happy that we were passing through his field

Now if you have ever looked into birding in Costa Rica you have surely heard of the resplendent quetzal. This bird is famous for its color and impressive tail feathers, but we had yet to spot one on our trip. This wasn’t too surprising, as they are quite reclusive. Given that we were quite surprised to hear our guide confidently check his watch and say something like “well, we should head to the avocado tree, the quetzal should be arriving soon.” We hadn’t been let down yet though, so we were happy to head that way. It turns out the quetzal took an extra half hour to arrive, but sure enough it did eventually come and sit in the avocado tree that he took us to. She was still pretty tough to get a good look at, but she definitely did look nice. The crowds of people quickly closed in and before long there were about 40 people admiring this one bird. It was pretty surreal.

The female resplendent quetzal resting in the avocado tree

At this point we were riding high and thinking that this was clearly a tour that was well worth our time. However, the guide had more in store. We continued to walk the grounds of the reserve and were treated to a couple of encounters that were even more incredible. The first was an emerald toucanet that was enjoying the berries on some of the bushes on the side of the trail. It happily hopped from branch to branch and gave us lots of opportunities to admire it. It’s a pretty large bird that we had previously only seen from a distance, so it was a very special moment.

The toucanet keeping an eye on us right back
The keel billed toucan says “Helloooo?” from far above

The second memorable encounter of the day was a lesson’s motmot that we came across perched on a branch at chest height right on the edge of the trail. It simply sat there looking for insects with it’s bright red eye, and didn’t seem to care at all that about 10 people were circled around it admiring the amazing colors in it’s head and neck, as well as the incredibly distinctive tail.

Our friend the lesson’s motmot keeping an eye out for food on the trail
Sometimes you need to do a big of preening to keep up those good looks

The Curri-Cancha reserve is different from the cloud forests in that it is not an entirely natural environment, but a former plantation mixed with some old growth forest. The result is a much more open feel, with fields and much more open views. This gave the reserve a lot more variety in the trails than elsewhere, and we had a wonderful time exploring them. After the end of our tour we even came back for another hike later in the day and explored a bit more.

A rotting stump with some crazy patterns
A strangler fig tree with the light peeking right through the “trunk”

In the end Curi-Cancha was the perfect capstone to our adventures in Costa Rica. We wrapped up the day happy and the next morning started our trip back down the mountain and to the airport. It’s an incredible country that I feel like we just barely scratched the surface of. I would highly recomment it to anyone with a sense of adventure and a desire to see some wildlife.

A golden-browed chlorophonia sitting in the mistletoe. Apparently it’s their favorite
I leave you with this very relaxed Coati

Taken 2/19/23

Visiting the cloud forest – Costa Rica day 7

For our first full day in Santa Elena we went right for the main attraction, the Monteverde Cloud Forest Biological Reserve. This was the main reason we decided to visit this area, so we were excited to experience the cloud forest. Given that this area is famous for its biodiversity, especially in birds, we signed up for a birding tour for the whole morning. Unfortunately it was raining steadily when we arrived, so we knew it was going to be a bit of a slog.

The hummingbirds really were going for the feeder this morning

The tour got off to a great start at the hummingbird feeders where there were clouds of hummingbirds flying in and out to grab a bite to eat. They would yell and fight at each other and simply did not care about our presence. It was really something to feel the wind of these little missiles as they cruised by our heads. From there we headed up into the main portion of the reserve to spot some more birds.

You get one guess as to what this yellowish flycatcher was up to…

Unfortunately, that is when we realized what kind of tour this would really be. We spent a couple of hours slowly walking the trails looking for birds. We did see a few from time to time, but never got a great view of them. All the while, the rain just kept dripping down on us. I only ended up with a few really good photos, and I’m pretty sure that breakfast was everyone’s favorite part.

A violet sabrewing screaming for attention from the ladies
This black faced solitaire didn’t seem to mind the moisture

After our tour ended we decided to go for another walk along the forest trails on our own. I was really feeling the need to move around after the super slow birding tour, so we set off on a big loop around the park. The hike turned out to be lovely, though still wet. The cloud forest is certainly a different landscape than what we had seen in the Arenal area. There was moss everywhere. We saw a few more birds on our loop then headed back to our room to dry off and warm up a bit.

This collared redstart was busy hopping around the trail looking for insects
A small waterfall from a dedicated viewpoint. This one was underwhelming after all of the falls we saw in Arenal.
A scenic suspension bridge had some of the few longer views on our hike

Taken 2/17/23

Exploring Santa Elena – Costa Rica Day 6

Welcome to Santa Elena – and the second part of our trip! While the arenal area is known for the volcano, activities, and rain forests, Santa Elena and its neighbor, Monteverde, are known for their cloud forests. This area is much higher elevation, so the climate and wildlife is quite different. After getting settled in we decided to start by spending some time exploring the town. We started off by visiting the butterfly gardens.

This is one of the few photos that I managed to catch of one flying. They are fast!
Not sure what this caterpillar is, but it sure is interesting looking!
I believe this is a type of owl butterfly

The gardens were quite impressive. There were a wide variety of butterflies, as well as fascinating caterpillars and flowers. I would definitely recommend it to anyone staying in town for a few days.

A passion flower

After about an hour we headed back to our room to freshen up for dinner. We decided to spend some time watching the sun set from our room, which had an incredible view of the western sky. We could see all the way to the pacific ocean from our room. This turned out to be a daily activity for us, and the sunset was consistently beautiful.

Chilled wine and a sunset. An excellent pairing
The sunset over our pacific view

After our meal (it was great, as usual) we visited the frog pond. Its a small attraction right in town, so it seemed like an easy spot to visit that sounded interesting. Unfortunately our expectations were too high. It turned out to consist of a series of terrariums with different frog species. We did get a tour, but it was so rushed that it was practically a satire of itself. This one you could do without. At least we got to see a pretty cat?

A friendly stray cat that lives among the frogs tanks

Taken 2/16/23 to 2/17/23

Around Arenal – Costa Rica Day 3-6

In addition to the all the tours and hikes we did that had tons of photography opportunities, we also spent some time exploring the area around the Arenal volcano. One of the big ones that we were looking forward to was a whitewater tubing trip. The trip was an adventure all the way through. It started with the GPS instructing us to drive through the whitewater river, continued down the river (without the car this time), and afterwards we even saw some capuchin monkeys hanging out after we were back off the water.

This seems like a nice spot to enjoy an avocado to me

After the tubing we headed up the hill towards Rio Celeste, a river famous for its blue waters. The weather was looking spotty as we had lunch at the trail head. As we ordered we heard some other hikers describe the conditions: too much water to be that classic blue. We watched the rain pour down as we enjoyed the meal, but it cleared up as we finished. Encouraged by the break in the weather we decided to head up the trail towards the falls. As it turns out, it really was just a break in the rain, and it started raining again as we got to the falls. After a short visit to admire the raging water, we headed back down and back towards our place.

Looking down the stairs towards the Rio Celeste falls

The next day was our sloth tour. As you know by know, that was incredible, so despite the fact that the weather was marginal I was excited to get out and see some more that afternoon. We decided to make our way over to the Arenal National Park to go for a hike. The trail started off in some more open and shorter vegetation. The birds clearly liked the access to the sky, and we saw and heard a number of them flying around. The highlight on the way in was our first good look at a keel billed toucan.

A keel billed toucan looking down at us

From there the hike entered went through the jungle until we got out to an old lava flow. By that time the rain was picking up, so we didn’t spend too much time taking photos. We continued around the loop through a huge amount of mud until we made it back closer to the car. Unfortunately, the birds didn’t seem that keen on the mud either, and we didn’t see much until we were back in the more open part of the trail.

A very wet parrot

The next morning it was time to head to our second main destination – Santa Elena. The drive over started off pretty simple. We drove along the northern edge of Lake Arenal to the northern tip, then started heading back along the south side.

The northern end of Lake Arenal

We soon were off the paved road and onto dirt. From there the road steadily got worse and worse. The potholes got bigger, the road narrower, and the hills steeper. Before we knew it we were face to face with a mandatory stream crossing (it wen’t fine) and hills that were so steep that the 4×4 rental car struggled to get up the hill (we got there). Eventually we crested the ridge though and drove by a series of huge wind turbines before driving along the ridge to Santa Elena.

Taken 2/13/23 through 2/16/23

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

Fall Colors on Mt. Monadnock

Today I have a timely update for the season, some gorgeous fall colors on Mt. Monadnock! I went for a very nice 6 mile hike there earlier this month in what must have been their peak leaf season. The hike and weather was excellent, the colors were stunning, and the views were amazing. I can’t recommend this one enough. Enjoy!

A high alpine pool near the summit
There was plenty of interest along the ground with the bright red maple leaves everywhere
The colors looking down into the valleys were stunning. It gives a great perspective of the change from the high alpine pines to the lower elevation maples, birches, and oaks.

Taken 10/8/22

Mt Tripyramid Loop

It’s definitely been a while since I added any new photos here, it’s been a busy summer. Don’t worry though, I’ve still been going on plenty of adventures and taking plenty of photos. Today I have one such adventure in the white mountains with my cousin. We started at the Livermore Trailhead and headed up towards the Scaur and Waterville Flume. The Scaur was a nice overlook, but was otherwise not too noteworthy. The flume on the other hand was a little more unique. We hiked to the bottom of it and spent a few minutes poking around the stream and the little chasm it passes through.

The bottom of the Waterville Flume, our first stop of the day
There wasn’t too much water coming down the flume, but it was definitely pretty

We were still feeling pretty fresh, so we soon headed out and up towards the day’s main event: Mt. Tripyramid. The approach is simple enough, but the trail quickly starts ascending up a creek bed that slowly becomes an open slide. This section of the trail is extremely steep. (1500′ in 0.7 miles) It quickly became scramble on all fours, and did not let up much until just before the summit. On the plus side, the views are spectacular the whole way up. We had plenty of time to take it all in as we picked our way up and stopped to catch our breath.

The beginning of the north slide. It’s hard to appreciate the steepness of this from the photos, but
Nearing the top of the slide

This is one of the most impressive trails I have ever done in the whites. It really is something that has to be experienced. Once we cleared the top of the slide and finished off the last of the elevation and arrived at the summit of North Tripyramid. From there we continued south along the ridge to the middle and south peaks as well. It’s a good thing the views from the climb were so good, because the summits were nothing to get excited about. They were all covered in trees and offered virtually no views. Once past south peak though the fun began again, with the descent down the south slide.

The view from the top of the south slide

This slide was about the same steepness as the one we came up, but was tighter and had more gravel along the way. Fortunately it was also more boulder covered, so we made steady progress back down. From there it was a long but uneventful hike back out to the car. All in all, I really enjoyed this hike. It’s a great example of going on a hike “for the journey.” Totally worth the trip, but doesn’t have much of a “destination” either.

Taken 9/10/22

270 Camp to Pearce Ferry – Grand Canyon Days 16 & 17

We only had to cover 9 more miles to get to the takeout and had a full day to do it, so this was a pretty relaxing day on the water. We started off with a relaxed morning around camp. I took a few more photos of the travertine cave I had stayed in for the night now that there was more light, and then checked out a couple of small hot springs that were adjacent to the camp. They weren’t that hot, but it was neat to see warm water come bubbling up out of the ground.

I think the travertine looks biological when you see it up close like this
The larger of the hot springs near our camp. The plant life clearly appreciates the consistent source of water.

Much like the day before, the Colorado is very calm, very wide, and very slow through this section. It was a laid back trip, though it did require constant rowing to make sure we were still making progress.

Looking downstream towards the last curve in the river before we paddle out of the canyon
One of the many slides we saw along the side of the river as we passed

Though it was a short day on the river, it wouldn’t be complete without a lunch time stop. The stop for this section of the river was Columbine Falls. It was a short hike up to this pretty little ribbon of water that flowed down the wall. According to the guidebook this used to be a much more impressive sight though, as the canyon it drops into has been slowly filling up with silt because of the slow pace of the river below. There were signs of the accumulation all around, as we hopped across the rocks at the bottom of the falls.

Looking up at Columbine Falls
Another “book of worms” rock that was laying by the side of the trail. Honestly this was even more impressive than the actual book we had seen a few days earlier

True to form, the canyon did have one more surprise in store for me. It became obvious as we got closer and closer to our camp that the canyon was not going to slowly fade away, but would have to end suddenly. However, even knowing that it was incredible to see how it changed all at once. After we left Columbine Falls the river rounded a bend and cut right out into the surrounding low desert. The cliffs simply ended over the course of a quarter mile of water, leaving us in completely different terrain. By the time we got to camp a mile later you would never know that the canyon was even there. The entrance simply blended into the edge of the Colorado Plateau in the distance. It was pretty surreal, and also made for another unique camp on a sandbar.

Looking upstream from the Columbine Falls trail head. Can you tell we are a half mile from flat terrain?
Our last camp. No lack of space at this one! Definitely a lack of cliffs though…

We all relaxed that evening, played some bocce (I finally won one), and reminisced on the trip and everything we had experienced. The next morning we floated the last half a mile to the takeout and disassembled the rafts. It was an epic adventure. 17 days on the water, miles of hiking, thousands of photos, and more stories than I can count. I would recommend the trip to anyone that loves the outdoors, and I’m sure I’ll be back at some point.

Pearce Ferry Rapid is the reason for the takeout. That wave in the middle would have no trouble flipping a raft

Taken 11/11/21 & 11/12/21

Surprise Canyon to 270 Camp – Grand Canyon Day 15

As I mentioned last time, by this point we were comfortably below the rapids. Our morning routine didn’t change too much, but we did take things on a little differently once we were on the water. Instead of each raft paddling independently, we instead tied all 7 rafts together into a barge, complete with a bar. We all took turns rowing while a couple people in the back kept tabs on the steering. It really was a fun way to relax and enjoy the views.

The view from the barge. The bar boat is in the background
Despite the flat water, the impressive cliff walls continued

Going into this section I had expected the canyon to start to flatten out as we made our way closer and closer to Las Vegas and Lake Mead. However, the canyon continued nearly the entire way. The views of the cliffs and rock layers continued all day long as we wound between the mesas. The signs of civilization did pick up as we went. The first indication that things were changing was the sight of helicopter tours flying low over the river, giving customers from Vegas a little taste of what we had been enjoying for so long. We saw many of these helicopter tours fly in, transfer their passengers to boats for a short river cruise, and then fly back out. I’m sure I would enjoy the flight, but I’m also pretty sure they get a lot less for their money than we did.

A tour flight cruises up the canyon towards us
They landed here for their boat ride

In addition to the helicopters we floated by the Grand Canyon Skywalk that juts out over the rim on Hualapai land. It gave a real sense for the depth of the canyon to see the little specks of people on the skywalk through the telephoto lens. It really puts the size of this place into perspective in another interesting way.

Can you see the skywalk in this photo? It’s right in the middle
The skywalk a little closer up. Those specks along the walkway are people looking down at us

A little further downstream we also floated by the towers from the aerial tramway that stretched from the south rim of the canyon down to a cave that was mined for guano in the 50’s. This site later shut down because the resources were exhausted, and because an air force jet crashed into the cable, nocking it off the towers. You could still see the cable lying on the hillside on the south slopes.

The top tower from below. Can you imagine the cable spanning that distance?
The lower tower just below the cave

This day of floating ended up being our longest day on the river. In the end we covered almost 20 miles on the slowest water of the trip. It was a tiring day, so we were relieved to arrive at camp. It was a small camp, but quite interesting. I ended up spending the night in a small travertine cave at the back of camp. It was clearly carved by an occasional waterfall, and had a neat little chimney view and lots of nooks and crannies. Everyone else thought the scorpions and sheep skulls made it too creepy, but I enjoyed my spot. I slept great, and was ready for the last full day.

A scorpion living on the wall of the cave
My sleeping spot lit by my camp light

Taken 11/10/21

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