March 9, 2017
It was delightful waking up to sunshine and the sound of many birds singing and monkeys squawking outside our third floor open air room. As the hotel is so small, everyone gets acquainted quickly, especially the staff. At breakfast, each couple is chatting about and getting ready for the activities they and the staff organized the evening before. The staff orchestrates it so no more than 4 guests do any one activity at a time.
Entering the mangrove river system
Our activity for the morning is a boat and kayak excursion up the Esquinas River that drains into the gulf. The couple joining us were from Dorset England, Will and Pam. Our guide was the most knowledgeable, Gerardo, who gave us a super introduction to Costa Rican parks, forest reserves and wildlife refuges and talked at length about mangroves and creatures living within the area.
Deep in the mangroves.
Once we were out of the gulf and in the mouth of the river, we got off the boat and into our kayaks to explore the shallow and narrow mangrove system.
Pam and Gerardo ahead of us.
In addition to birds, we looked for animals and other creatures, but only saw 2 large crocodiles, one sunning itself on a sand bar and the other nearly hidden in a mangrove. That one looked very fat and ominous. Gerardo pointed out the many tiny crabs that feed on the mangrove, and how they determine the shape for the root system. Wherever a crab bites a mangrove root, the root splits, causing forking to occur. Crabs are indispensable to the mangrove system. There are four different types of mangrove tree; black, white, red and tea, each of which developed its own unique method of regulating salt.
Yellow Crowned Night Heron
We saw many birds we had already identified and some new ones, particularly a very pretty, large, two toned tan Whimbrel, which we have not been able to photograph.
Snowy Egret
Drinking fresh coconut nectar. Quite refreshing.
Reconnecting with our pontoon boat.
Bottle nosed dolphin in the Gulf
While on the boat we spotted dolphin both coming and going. They are sure hard to photograph, but lovely to watch. Back at the lodge, lunch was ready. We had ceviche again for lunch and lounged by the pool the rest of the afternoon.
In the evening, I joined a group for an evening forest walk. Mark had no interest. The walk was a bit long, but very interesting.
Summer Tanager asleep in a tree.
We saw three different birds asleep in different trees: a Summer Tanager, a Tropical King Bird, and a Golden Hooded Tanager. I tried to photograph them, with mixed success…mostly not in focus.
Blunt-Headed Vine snake. Holds onto vine with last 25% of tail and captures frogs & lizards while swinging freely. Only snake that has this capability.
We also saw many frogs (the most exciting of which were two Red Eyed Tree frogs mating), Cane toads, lizards, spiders, a Cock Roach, a gray Praying Mantis and a Blunt-Hooded Vine Snake, about the size of a shoe lace, laying in a low hanging cluster of leaves.
Yellow Eyed Tree frog. Same as the colorful frog on our Apple screen saver.
It was delightful to see a snake that was not scary. I was surprised at the biodiversity for 2 hour evening walk around the property.
When we got back to the lodge, Mark was waiting hungrily at the table. We had a pleasant meal and went directly to our room to enjoy the night sounds, read a bit and try to sleep.
Adventures with Julia 