STL DPB MEETS A QUETZAL BIRD

I didn't take this picture. Our brilliant guide Koky, who I mentioned yesterday, will find something in the cloud forest, pick it out with his bird spotting scope and use a visitor's phone cam to get an amazing shot. This is heavily edited but it came out well enough.

The bird is a resplendent quetzal. It is rarely seen but it was the beginning of mating season and they were more active. We got to see four or five. It's like finding treasure.            

STL DPB STILL IN THE FOREST - BIRD BRAIN

There is a particular guide who works with the hotel where we stay in Monteverde. His name is Jorge but everyone calls him Koky. We've met him on previous visits and he's absolutely brilliant. Koky has vision that puts Superman to shame. He picks out wildlife where all I see is leaves. Some of that is because he knows all their sounds and can do a human form of echolocation.

Koky spotted this specimen called a motmot bird. He told us that in Costa Rican slang the name generally refers to someone who is, um, a bit dim. It doesn't bother the bird a bit if I get quite close with my camera. What that means for predators I don't know. Nor do I know what the strange paddle-shaped tail is about.        

STL DPB STILL WITH ITS HEAD IN THE CLOUDS

Back home early from CR with family medical issues to deal with so need a few more pix from our brief trip. The bridge system across the ravines of the cloud forest are marvels of engineering. This one looks like it disappears into the foliage but the trail continues.

There are things to note this week, today is Pi Day to some people (3/14) and 314 Day in St. Louis, the number being the principle telephone area code. And Friday is a day of great note in this household, more about which later.              

STL DPB IN THE CANOPY, PART 2

It's 3:45 AM daylight savings time, which just kicked in, in St. Louis. Transferring from international to domestic in American Airlines Miami hub is a horror. Don't do it unless you have a really long connecting time. So we're just getting to bed.

This is one of eight suspension bridges over various gorges on the canopy walk we took. We chatted with this woman who is Swiss and touring Costa Rica by herself. She said she likes to have her own space.    

STL DPB IN THE CANOPY

In biological terms, the canopy refers to the upper layers of a forest, receiving much ot the sunlight and shielding what is below. There are many places in Costa Rica that have series of trails and suspension bridges that allow you to walk through the upper layers of the forest and gaze at what lies beneath.

We went to one yesterday afternoon. There were lots of steep hills without rails that were, um challenging to us old folks. Still, looking out and down from the bridges revealed wonders. I think this is some kind of fern but I'd be happy to be corrected.

The bad news today is that we have a family medical situation that requires us to come home today. The good news is the my Spanish seems to get less awful with every visit.  

STL DPB IN PARADISE - LATE AFTERNOON IN MONTEVERDE

Monteverde, Costa Rica, lies just on the Pacific side of Costa Rica's central mountain range. With the elevation and moist winds from both the ocean and the Caribbean, it's never too hot, never too cold, and there is a permanent mister blowing through the forest. The biodiversity is stunning. For the third time in ten years, we are staying at the Hidden Canopy Treehouses, https://www.hiddencanopy.com/p/user/home.php, perhaps the most wonderful place we have ever laid our heads. Your suite is literally a treehouse built into the canopy and hillside. As sunset approaches, guests gather in the main building for a glass of wine and this.      

STL DPB IN THE AIR - A BAD PICTURE OF COSTA RICA'S GOLD COAST

When we fly from the U.S. to Liberia, Costa Rica, in the northwest of the country, we always ask for seats on the left side. If the weather is clear - which it certainly was not yesterday - I can get some good shots of the two big volcanoes in Lake Nicaragua (which is itself pretty big - look it up). The air got a little better as we came over the northwest of Costa Rica.

We are in Monteverde in the central highlands, an area known as the cloud forest. It never gets hot or cold but has constant moist winds. The animals, birds and flowers are beyond what we can imagine in the U.S.            

Lizards And Leftovers

I need to run through some more images from Costa Rica until there is an opportunity to shoot new material back here. (There is something on  tomorrow.) Going back over the files, I found this. For some reason it got past me on my first review. This was taken during a night walk in the Monteverde cloud forest with a superb local guide. How he finds these little critters in the dark, even with a flashlight, is beyond me.   

STL DPB On The Road - Day To Night In Monteverde

Some people go on vacation to relax. We tend to beat ourselves up to get new experiences. Saturday was a good example. After we watched the hummingbirds at Selvatura Park, we hiked their mountainside trail with eight bridges across the canopy: up and down and through the treetops. In the rain. Not so good for the cameras.

Back to Hidden Canopy Treehouses for drinks, snacks and sunset. Then out for a night walk in the forest with the hotel's superb guide, who goes by Koky. He has Superman's x-ray vision, allowing him to find the tiniest bug in pitch blackness.

The day was exhausting. Now we are in Tamarindo.  I plan to do as close to nothing as possible today.    

STL DPB On The Road - Hummingbirds of Monteverde

We are exhausted after walking up and down mountainside trails much of the day. Our first stop was a place called Selvatura Park, which has zip lines (not for us), an amazing system of trails and suspension bridges through the forest canopy (3 km with a serious uphill climb), and a hummingbird garden. 

Damn, these things are hard to photograph but I kept working the scene. There are probably twenty more of these I could edit. By the way, the spots in the first picture are raindrops. It was soggy.

Down to Tamarindo today to recuperate by the Pacific.               

STL DPB ON THE ROAD - The Mister

Monteverde, Costa Rica, in the central mountains between the Caribbean and the Pacific. The wet winds from the east bring a constant mist that creates a cool weather cloud forest. The rough road up the mountains is a challenging drive but, although it was sunny, I had the wipers on most of the time. The mister runs almost constantly, creating an extraordinarily lush and diverse enviornment.

We are staying at what might be our favorite hotel in the world, the Hidden Canopy Treehouses. We were here on our last visit five years ago. Each room is, literally, a treehouse, up in the forest canopy with no one to look in at you but the birds. The pictures below were taken in the public lounge, where there are complimentary drinks and snacks every late afternoon. The direction of view is the same, with photos taken about an hour apart.

Into the jungle this morning.

   

Baby Snakes

 

You can go for a night walk through the cloud forests of Monteverde with a guide. It's a good idea to have one along. The green serpent above is a juvenile pit viper. They say you can survive its bite if you get the anti-venom serum within four hours. They make it right there in Costa Rica.

Which brings to mind today's theme song.

Tropical Birds

Tropical birds in a wildlife sanctuary near Monteverde. Thanks to the scholarship of Mrs. C, the bird in the first and last photos has been identified as a blue-crowned motmot. The second is the hard-to-find resplendent quetzal and the third is a green toucanet.

By the way, the picture of the toucan was taken by our guide, Jorge. on my iPhone through his birder's spotting telescope. It's an ingenious technique.

I've been bombed at work since I got back, way too many hours. Dozing off as I write this. I'll get back to comments

Happy Hour

Yesterday, we looked at our very unusual room at Hidden Canopy Treehouses in Monteverde. This post is about their unusual happy hour tradition.

There is a lounge and large deck on the west side of the building, looking down the hill toward town. In the distance you can see the Gulf of Nicoya and Nicoya Penninsula. From 5 to 6 PM they have an open bar, anything you want. They serve freshly made appetizers. On the theory that dinner portion sizes in Costa Rica are too large to leave room for dessert, they serve that course after the appetizers and before you go to dinner. All at no additional charge.

At this time of year the sun goes down during the hour. Perfect view.         

Home, With Memories

Greetings from American Airlines flight 1665, en route from Miami to St. Louis. Two hour mechanical delay coming out of Costa Rica. We barely made the connection.  I decided to buy some exorbitantly-priced airplane WiFi time to get this posted.

There won't be any new STL material until the weekend. Lots still to show from our trip, though. These are several views of our tree house hotel room in Monteverde, both very special places. Worth the journey if you can find your way to this part of the world.               

 



 

Hummingbirds

Hummingbirds are plentiful in the cool mountain climate of Monteverde. Many places put out feeders containing sugar water to attract them (can hummingbirds become diabetic?). The local population is used to people and is not shy.

I'm told that depending on the species, the birds flap their wings 12 to 80 times a second. Most of these photos were taken at ISO 3200, 85 mm prime lens at f 1.8 and 1/5000 to 1/8000 sec.

We're down on the Pacific now at Tamarindo where it's nearly cloudless, hot and dry. Images on the way soon.       

Cafe San Luis

We spent yesterday afternoon visiting a small, family owned coffee farm near the hamlet of San Luis (how appropriate). Victor, the proprietor, tends his plants with the greatest care. They teach you the proper way to make and drink coffee, Costa Rican style. Buy his stuff at http://victorsfarm.com/. He'll ship it to you and you won't regret it.

And to make it a very special day, it was the fifth birthday of his daughter, Maria Angel!