Tag Archives: primate

post

San Jose to La Ensenada Lodge

Posted on by

Feb 22, 2009 – Sunday – Tour bus from San Jose to La Ensenada Lodge, Gulf of Nicoya, Costa Rica

2009 Southern Skies Fiesta & Tamarindo Coast

Our bus driver Walter at Restaurante Caballo Blanco in Costa Rica in 2009
Our bus driver Walter at Restaurante Caballo Blanco

After a sumptuous breakfast at the Courtyard Marriott Hotel, we board the bus and leave for our journey to the Gulf of Nicoya on the Pacific coast of Costa Rica. Unlike last year, the upgrading to this section of the Pan American Highway appears to be finished, so we make good time to our lunch stop at Restaurante Caballo Blanco (the White Horse restaurant). As we experienced last year, the meal at this restaurant introduces everyone to the wholesome food Costa Ricans typically prepare for their guests at every meal. Lots of fresh fruit juice, a choice of chicken, beef or fish, vegetables, rice and beans, and a nice dessert to finish. The only downside to this part of the trip is when we find out that our new bus is hermetically sealed, so the engine is kept running the whole time we are in the restaurant in order to keep the cabin from overheating. Some of our group find this to be environmentally irresponsible.

Our guide Jorge tells us a bit about Costa Rica and its people, and what to expect for the next few days as we drive toward La Ensenada Lodge. La Ensenada is as I remember it from last year – a working ranch and farm, raising both cattle, a variety of crops, as well as producing salt from ocean water. It is about 40 degrees Celsius in the hot afternoon as we arrive, and the owners and staff are on hand to greet us and to give us some cold drinks to sip as we are assigned to our cabins. We are also greeted with howler monkeys and iguanas, the other local residents!

Howler Monkey eating cashew fruit
Howler Monkey eating cashew fruit

I have a quick dip in the pool and a shower, and then it is time for dinner. The meal routine for the next few days is: breakfast at 8am, lunch at noon, and dinner at 5pm. We are eating dinner earlier than what is normal for Costa Ricans so we have time to setup equipment and get out on the observing field before it gets too dark. As anyone knows who had travelled to the tropics, the sun sets promptly around 6pm, and it gets dark rapidly when there’s no light pollution around.

Clouds cover about half the sky this first night, however a fellow Canadian from Calgary brought down one of the biggest telescopes ever used at this event, so I try out his new 15” Obsession Ultra Compact Dobsonian. The views of M42 Orion Nebula are nothing short of astounding – the blue colour was visible in the reflection nebulae, and the view is very bright with lots of detail. For those who either stay up or wake up around 3am, the clouds mostly disappear by then, giving some of us observing opportunities in the early morning.

post

Sarapiqui River Rafting

Posted on by

Feb 12, 2008 – Tuesday – Sueño Azul Hotel to the Tabacón Grand Spa and Thermal Resort near Arenal Volcano, Costa Rica

2008 Costa Rica Southern Skies Fiesta, Volcanos & Rainforest

As I sit on the deck this morning before breakfast, I see a Kingfisher dive for his breakfast, and the Snowy Egret is wading in the pond, along with many other birds in the trees. It has rained off and on more or less continuously since we arrived at the Sueño Azul Hotel. Despite being quite a long way from the Caribbean coast, this area is only about 60 metres about sea level, so it is very wet and tropical here.

After check-out, we drive the short distance to the Hacienda Pozo Azul Butterfly Garden in La Virgen, so I get a second chance to see the butterflies and manage to take some good photos. We then continue to a drop off point for our river rafting on the Sarapiqui River. I think everyone was a bit concerned about the river rafting, however this is a Class 1 trip, which means no white water, no helmets or strap-ins needed – just a gentle float down a calm river.

Red and black Postman butterfly

It rains hard for the first few minutes as we load onto the inflatable rafts, but we have perfect weather for the whole 2-hour trip down the river. There are three or four sections where the water runs a bit faster, but nothing I would call rapids. I think everyone has fun. I certainly enjoyed myself, since we have very cute boat men. We see lots of wildlife up close, including a Jesus Christ lizard, Howler monkeys, a snake swimming across the river, tiny bats roosting in the trees on the shoreline, and countless birds. There is juice and fruit waiting for us at the end of the trip.

Jesus Christ lizard being held by our boatman

Our bus driver Walter then drives us to La Fortuna, where we have a wonderful lunch at the Don Rufino restaurant mid-afternoon. When we arrive at the Tabacón Grand Spa and Thermal Resort, they have drinks waiting for us, give us express check-in, and deliver our luggage from the bus to our rooms. Speaking of the rooms, they are deluxe – the best grade hotel we’ve stayed at for the whole trip.

The skies are cloudy and there are frequent rain showers at this location. I don’t see how we are going to hike in these conditions tomorrow, but according to Diego and Steven they plan to take us onto an Arenal Volcano lava flow tomorrow morning starting at 8am. We will then visit the volcano observatory and have lunch before returning to the Tabacón in early afternoon.

Tomorrow is when we can go to the Spa, or just soak in the hot pools. For this evening, Steven is suggesting we try to photograph the glowing boulders rolling down the mountain using time exposures with our cameras. That might work if we can find a perspective from our hotel location where we can clearly see the volcano’s flank.

Our dinner at the hotel this evening is later than usual at 7:30pm, in order to give us time to digest our sumptuous lunch. We have the Chinese-themed buffet at the Spa restaurant this evening. The food is very good, but it is quite noisy due to the whole spa complex beside the restaurant being very busy since it doesn’t close until 10pm.