We crossed at Penas Blancas and had arranged to meet up with some old friends and fellow travellers from Switzerland, Simon, Doris and Herbert.
A rustic camp site just outside La Cruz was the perfect location. We had only been parked for a few minutes when we were exposed to the joys of the famous Costa Rican wildlife. It's hard to see from these photos but this female had a day old baby clinging to its chest.
There are two different types of sloth, the two toed and the three toed. these can then be categorised into six subspecies depending on size and colouration etc.
This is a two toed sloth. Based simply on its geographical location it is probably more accurately called the Hoffmans Two Toed Sloth. It is estimated that there are fewer than 1500 Sloths left in the wild. However, the Hoffman's two Toed sloth isn't considered the rarest and isn't classed as endangered, unlike its smaller cousin the Pigmy Sloth.
Sloths spend most of their lives upside down in trees and rarely come down to ground level.
It was wonderful to meet up with old friends and a big thank you to Simon who helped me eventually fix the Air Conditioning on the truck, which had been sorely missed.
Costa Rica, quite rightly, is a very popular tourist destination for Americans, Canadians and Europeans. It is their biggest industry. Unfortunately, this has encouraged high prices and everything has a cost attached to it.
The Leona Waterfall hike ( must be guided ) was no exception, but my thinking is that in 10 years' time I will still remember the hike but not the cost.
Two weeks after we visited the beautiful Rincon Lodge near the summit of Volcano Rincon de la Vieja it decided to burst into action and gently reminded the world that it was only sleeping.
After a quick overnight stop at the Lake Arenal Brewery, we headed for the Cloud Forest of Monteverde. The drive up was steep and narrow but the splendor that awaited us was well worth it.
The whole rainforest canopy can be discovered from trails and walkways above the trees during a moderate 2 km walk.
The green healthyness of the trees, birdsong and insects were over whelming. This was a special place.
Common Dink Frog |
Two Jumping Leaf frogs |
Jumping Leaf Frog |
Jumping Leaf Frog |
Jumping Leaf Frog |
Eyelash Viper |
Eyelash Viper |
Jumping Leaf Frog |
One of the most poisonous and aggressive snakes here is the Fer de Lance. We were lucky enough to find one that was about 2.5 meters long.
Fer de Lance Snake. |
We are heading slowly back to Mexico to fly home for some family time. Sadly this means almost back tracking on the downward journey, which isn't something that we ordinarily like to do, but there simply isn't that many routes in Central America.