A Costa Rican Recce Uvita 4th Feb

Back onto the bus and heading South to Uvita. This should be a much less developed coastal area and just becoming popular with the surfers. The beaches are protected so there won't be sunbeds or the usual beachfront paraphernalia. Here be whales!

Well, not quite here, but be patient because I hope we will shortly walk along the whale. Meanwhile Uvita beach looking North. Not too busy today. From about the same place I photographed the beach looking South, here we are looking towards the Marino Ballena National Park.

This huge and surprisingly quiet beach is perfect for anyone who is wanting to learn how to surf.

After all that exertion in the surf Helen is ready for a sit down in the little house that we have rented.

Or, better still a lie down on the terrace.

One of our neighbours from the jungle that is about ten yards away from our front door. This is the Scarlet Rumped Tanager.

Spotted in the forest is the Lineated woodpecker.

Not a very good picture I'm afraid, but this is the Great Kiskadee which has a brilliant yellow breast which is revealed in flight. For you taxonomists it is the only member of the genus Pitangus.

You remember that I mentioned whales at the start this blog. There's two reasons why. Firstly the Ballena Marine Nature Reserve was created to protect the whales. Although Blue and Wright whales are seen here, it is the Humpback that is the star. In July through to November, humpback whales arrive from Antarctica to calve in the warm water of Ballena. December sees the humpbacks from California and Canada swim south for calving until April. Also commonly seen marine animals are Olive Ridley and Hawksbill turtles, Common and Bottlenose dolphins. We had planned a whale watching trip but the price tag of $140 rather put us off. We have had good whale watching both off New Zealand and New England in the past so we decided on whale walking instead. Puzzled, well have a look at the picture below.

This is the famous whale's tail that extends from Uvita beach. It is only walkable an hour or so either side of low tide. The whale's back is a sand bar and the tail or fluke is formed by rocks and sand. We walked along the beach towards the whale and encountered these spoors. There was no human accompaniment and without Cameron Roy to help, I used Google lens to identify that is was a raccoon.

Meanwhile overhead the peloton of Brown pelicans was pedalling past.

Here's a shot of Helen on the back.  This was full low tide about 10.15am. The sun was relentless and the sand already too hot to walk on without shoes. This picture needs a little explanation. Helen has her back to the tail so the camera is looking down the whale's back, on the horizon to her left is the north pointing end of the fluke.

Having completed our whale walk we returned along the beachside trees for a little shade. Only when we passed the sign did we realise that we might not have been alone.

Moreover there was company overhead, as Helen spotted. This is, of course a Howler monkey. If you are wondering what the white monkey nuts are, then I can tell you that mature male Howlers have white testicles.

The day had one last surprise up a tree before we left to catch our bus. A three toed sloth.

So just a four hour bus ride to San Jose, a taxi to the airport and a 1.00am flight to Mexico City arriving after 4.00am. I better just finish with a final sunset from Uvita.

A Costa Rican Recce Manuel Antonio National Park 1st Feb

Manuel Antonio is Costa Rica's smallest and most visited National Park. It comprises of humid tropical forest and a stretch of coastline that is both very beautiful and has amazing biodiversity. It was established in 1978 and consists partly of re-naturalised agricultural land. Compared with many of the country's other parks it is accessible being only 132kms by road from capital San Jose. There were also two cruise liners at anchor off shore on the day that we visited.  Entry ($15 per head) is strictly controlled. Only 600 people per day are allowed in and the Park closes every Monday. This means entry is restricted to around 150,000 people per year.

You and your bags are searched mainly for food but the person in front of us had his cigarettes confiscated. There must be no feeding of animals, despite what people are told this remains a major problem around the world in such parks.
This park has planned laid trails all of which have water run-off facilities or are raised above what is for most of the year is flooded ground.  Here is an example.

This type of path is in the minority, most are wooden boards (there's plenty of raw materials) or stone and earth paths. Most have wooden handrails to help with the walking and to keep you on trail.
We were greatly thrilled to encounter a troop of White faced Capuchins. There were about eight of them play-fighting in the trees. These creatures are very bright and their behaviour has already changed by the presence of humans. They will approach people and if a bag is opened they will steal things as quick as a flash..

Another picture later on in the day..This is how they lay on the tree branches.

Allowing you to get pictures like this.

We wandered further and heard that some sloths had been sighted up a tree not far ahead of us. Although we had already sighted a sloth in Monteverde it was a fleeting nocturnal view. This male was asleep but seemingly having a happy dream. He is the Brown throated three toed Sloth.

We got this view of a second one, possibly a pregnant female.

There is access to the beaches at several points and here we are on Gemelas beach.

Beach scavengers abound here is a hermit crab

He is after the nutrients left in the dead red snapper, along with a few of his mates.

Always lurking about is the impressively large Black spiny tailed Iguana.

This is the viewpoint at the end of the appropriately named viewpoint trail but you cannot access the beach from here.

We retraced our footsteps then decided to cut up the Howler monkey trail in the vain hope of seeing or hearing some Howler monkeys. We did come across this large male White nosed Coati.

We then had to rush somewhat as the park was closing, in fact we looked to be the last visitors out. As we were approaching the exit we heard some crashing in the trees above us. It was those Howler monkeys who, thinking that the visitors had all gone, had come out to play.

Not the easiest subjects to capture on camera.

You may have noticed the absence of any photographs of birds. There were birds present, we could hear them all over the place, rarely saw them and as you can see totally failed to photo any.

A Costa Rican Recce Thurs 31st Jan

Montezuma is a hard place to leave, but more especially so when you are doing a beach launch with luggage. Have a look at the Costa Rican west coast. You will see the Nicoya Peninsula. If  you look at the southern tip facing across the Gulf you will find Montezuma. We are travelling in an open speedboat directly east for another beach landing on Playa del Jaco. The distance is almost exactly 50 km. It usually takes about an hour but it was so rough today it took an hour and a half. A regular traveller on this route has never known it as rough before. There were six paying customers ($35 a head) and two crew,  William and David. You can meet them in the picture below.

Firstly the luggage had to be stowed after being wrapped in strong polythene bags.

The sea does not look particularly rough in this picture but the waves were still high enough to toss the boat backwards as Helen tried to board resulting in her total immersion. Unfortunately I missed the photo opportunity. The girl in the picture is Ellen from London. She was on a sabbatical few months from her work and shared the journey with us as far as Quepos.
Here is a view back towards the accommodation we have just left behind. We were in the bottom floor of the building on the shore, centre left. You can make out the parasol over the barbecue if you expand the picture.

I did say that the journey was rough, but it wasn't seasick rough it was more up in the air and smack back on the water rough. Each time the boat went aerial off a wave we landed with a bone crunching crash and a cacophonic thudding of fragile fibreglass on granite water. This take off and landing was occurring every 3-5 seconds. To be fair the waves did ease up a bit after we got about three quarters of the way across allowing us to have a gentle discussion about Brexit and Donald Trump. There was however to be no bridge over troubled waters. We did also see large fish leaping clear of the water which we immediately assumed were dolphins but turned out to be sting rays. 

Included  in our $35 was a minibus ride from the beach to a bus stop on the main road to Quepos. Here we were able to get a coffee, use an ATM and nearly miss the bus. We managed to chase the bus and it stops for us thanks to Ellen's sprint. The bus takes us along the coast through a few small villages and after an hour and a half we pull into Quepos bus station. It's a bit of a walk to the apartment but very nice when we get there. The apartment is very well kitted out and even included a slowcooker. The outside with our balcony. 

The inside showing our breakfast bar and cooking facilities. These bars with their high stools are copying a what you have in the typical "soda" or breakfast/lunch cafe.

Of course the essential ablutions. This nicely illustrates the procedure with toilet paper. As is common in many other countries or areas with less well developed sewerage systems the paper goes in the bin and only the direct human offerings go down the toilet. This arrangement also allows for easier natural recycling. 

Quepos main raison d'etre now is servicing the National Park or more precisely the tourists who visit. It is also a thriving seaside resort. The beaches are down by the park so need transport to get there. Fortunately there's a public bus service which runs every ten minutes through the day. The old banana port of Quepos now serves the sport fishing industry. If you want to bag yourself a marlin or a sail fish then Quepos is one of the best places in the world to set out from. We decided on another day on the beach, with sunloungers, the first we encountered in Costa Rica. 

The tent and zipwire arrangement behind us was Kolbi, a local mobile phone company who were also responsible for the very loud music that played all day. The older Beethoven wouldn't have minded but Mozart would have left. 

Between my knees you can see the twice blessed coconut. They can be bought from vendors with little carts carrying cold boxes. When you buy one the seller cuts the top off very skillfully so a hole remains just big enough for a straw to be inserted. Lie back and enjoy the first blessing, the cold water. When this is finished you need the man again who this time chops a wedge off the bottom to give you your spoon, then cuts the nut in half without chopping his hand off. Second blessing, the flesh. The flesh of these immature nuts is thinner and more moist than that of the mature coconut we are used to. 

There was lots to do on the beach. First and foremost the surf which was great and knocked me over. Others could manage somewhat better. 

This next picture which includes one of power boats that tow the paragliders also reminds me of the painting by Hokusai only without Mt Fuji for contrast. 

As the sun began to set we were in for a fabulous and ever-changing light show. I offer you a small selection for you to pick your favourite. I couldn't. 

JMBT would have loved it.