June 22 - This morning started early - we slept wonderfully with the windows open, until a noisy bird decided everyone should be awake at 4:45 am! Someone said it was a vireo, but since I didn't see it in the dark, and there are 3 pages of vireos in my bird book, I don't know what kind of vireo - except noisy.
After breakfast, we loaded into a bus and started our drive across the country. We first stopped at INBio Parque, a natural preserve with a sampling of Costa Rica's rich biodiversity. There we could get close up and personal with butterflies, green iguanas, 1000's of plants, and the Nicaraguan national bird - the Motmot. We also saw caimans - shorter versions of alligators. We had a great lunch there, consisting of rice and black beans, fish, plantain - called Casado - the national meal of Costa Rica.
After lunch it was back on the bus to cross the continental divide, through the Braulio Carrera National Park and cloud forest. It took us 2 hours to cross half the country. Our destination for tonight and the next 2 days - Selva Verde Lodge and Rainforest Reserve. It's been raining since we got on the Caribbean side of the mountains. Below is our cabin and the view from the dining room. Tonight we were going to go on a night hike into the rainforest and across some hanging bridges (yikes! in the dark, even!). But it has been cancelled because of the rain and thunder. Oh well....We can already hear the howler monkeys.
This is lovely. My best friend from childhood was from Costa Rica; she grew up in FL with me then returned to Costa Rica for her high school & college years, ultimately to become and MD and is now living in Chicago. She spoke of Costa Rica with nothing but admiration for it's beauty and culture. These pictures remind me of her many stories about her first home. Thanks for sharing and I'm so excited for you and your journey.
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