Lovebirds and Water Birds

The Rosy-faced Lovebird (Peach-faced) was first reported in the East Valley near the Apache Junction and Mesa city border in 1987 and today there is a growing Lovebird population living right here in Leisure World. The AZFO website explains how these South African birds came to thrive in Arizona and more specifically, in the greater Phoenix area.

Blue Heron

Mallard Duck

Neotropic Cormorant

These two seem to be having a discussion.

Raindrops

It seldom rains in the Sonoran Desert but when it does it's a refreshing event. In a few days we'll see noticeable changes to the desert plants and maybe later, if we're lucky, we'll see a few flowers.

Meanwhile, in our yard, everything has lost it's dusty dryness.

The grapefruits got a rinse.

Even our Compass Barrel Cactus is blushing. When it gets wet, it turns rosy-red.

This guy can't wait for the sun to return.

Great Egrets

You wouldn't know it today but in the early 1900's Egret feathers were in such demand by the hat makers of Europe and the United States that plume hunters nearly took the Great Egret population into extinction. During a recent 2-hour water bird count in Leisure World, two Arizona Field Ornithologists counted 169 Great Egrets, amongst other water birds. Here is the complete list of their survey.

American Coot 40

Ring-necked Duck 46

Northern Shoveler 46

Neotropic Cormorant 31

Great Blue Heron 15

Great Egret 169

Pied-billed Grebe 3

American Wigeon 446

Double Crested Cormorant 2

Black Crowned Night Heron 20

Green Heron 2

Canada Goose 2

Redhead 2

Ruddy Duck 10

Snowy Egret 2

Killdeer 4

Black-necked Stilt 7

Canvasback 2

The abundance of fish is one of the reasons these Great Egrets live here in Leisure World.

This one scooped a small fish from the water while I watched and is now heading towards the shore to enjoy it's lunch.

Costa Rica

Special thanks go to Rachelle and Cathy for doing the initial research and the ground work that made this trip possible for Yvonne and I. We were anxious to meet up with everybody for Christmas and the concept of ringing in the New Year at a tropical location was exciting for both of us.

Rachelle, Cathy, Stan and Doris left from Edmonton and landed in San Jose ahead of us. They checked into the Barcelo and toured the city and visited the surrounding attractions for a couple days before we arrived. Finally,  everybody converged at the Barcelo Palacio and we all met Karol, our local Caravan Tour Director and Marvin, our Tour Bus Driver and 39 other travellers from the US and Canada.

With the help of a telephoto lens almost anyone can get up close and personal with the plants, animals and people of this amazing country. Costa Rica truly is a photographer's dream.

To enlarge any of the pictures simply click on one.

Pura Vida = Pure Life

CostaRica has an abundance of colourful flowers. Some in gardens but most just growing wild. This one I recognized as a "Bird of Paradise" but most flowers I could not identify. That won't stop me from posting their pictures.

Yvonne and I met up with everybody for supper at an outside table at the Barcelo Palacio.

San Jose. 

New buildings overshadow old ones. The soccer stadium in the background was apparently a Trade Agreement Gift from China.

A traditional Costa Rican dish of beans and rice, fried plantain, fish and vegetables and don't forget the coffee. Locally grown Costa Rican coffee is the best there is. We brought back plenty.

Christmas decorations in the Barcelo Palacio lobby.

It wasn't long before we settled into the lounge.

Not for sale, too bad.

We hiked to the summit of the Poas Volcano through a torrential downpour only to see that we couldn't see anything but fog.

We drove to a different hotel every two days. Our bus became our home between homes.

Hmmmm, What on earth is Stan asking Karol for?

Most of our meals were served buffet style. You could take as much or as little as you want. This was Yvonne's plate after a trip to the desert table at Magic Mountain in La Fortuna. She wouldn't share!

Coffee beans. When they're red, they're ready to pick and roast.

Cocoa bean pods.

Note the satelite dishes. There are at least three in this picture. Costa Rica has a population of around 4 Million. Approximately 1 Million are illegal immigrants from Nicaragua and I'll bet there are a few of them living in these houses. They provide cheap labour for the Coffee, Banana, Pineapple and Sugar Cane Plantations. They are also blamed for 100% of the crimes committed in Costa Rica.

Plastic bags are slipped over the hanging bananas while they ripen. "It keeps the insects away" states Karol. We were warned not to walk into the banana plantations because there are poisonous snakes and spiders.

At harvest time, the banana bunches are hung from a moving cable and conveyed to waiting trucks. This is a modern plantation. In some plantations they are carried manually for up to two miles.

This Great Egret was flying alongside our bus.

On Day #3 our group boarded a large outboard boat for a one hour river ride to the Laguna Lodge in the Tortuguero Rain Forest. Because of space limitations on the boat we left our luggage in the bus and only took a small carry on bag for our 2-day stay in Tortuguero.

These folks were leaving. They seem happy!

Laguna Lodge, our jungle home for two days and nights.

This snail was the size of a hot dog.

Large butterfly landed on Yvonne's hair. It's a Blue Morph Butterfly.

Laguna Lodge cottages are rustic but clean and comfy with open-air toilets and showers. No TVs, phones or WiFi.

A rare moment when it was not raining.

Stan and Cathy had swans in their room.

There were no phones at Laguna Lodge therefore there were no wake-up calls.  They did however offer a wake-up knock. We were knocked up at 5:45AM.

Here's a scary bar bill for 6 drinks. 

 20,160.00 Colones ($40 US)

Thanks Cathy!

Awwww

Can you see the Iguanas?

Extremely rare Golden Howler Monkey cuddling her youngster.

Charlotte 

C'mon guys, lets go check out the Caribbean 

The Laguna Lodge is situated in a narrow slice of land between the Caribbean Sea and a fresh water lagoon. We were warned to stay out of the water because of the Caimans and Barracudas.

We found this little guy, late one night, with our flashlight.

Tortuguero is a nesting site for the Leatherback Turtles (April) and Green Sea Turtles (July-Oct). During our visit we did not see any turtle activity but we did see the huge depressions in the sand where the baby turtles likely hatched and made their epic run for the water.

Red eyed tree frog.

Waterfront cottage on the river.

This Boa Constrictor snake was spotted only a few feet from our dock.

The other half of our tour group.

Why do we have to wear lifejackets and these guys don't?

Sloth hanging upside down.

Ringed Kingfisher

A man and his bird. The bird is a Bare Throated Tiger Heron.

A male Iguana. The males develop an orange hue during the mating season. Look out girls.

This is a female Emerald Basilisk Lizard, also known as the "Jesus Christ Lizard" because it can walk on water.

These two local boys were enjoying their Christmas Break.

White Face Monkeys

Fungi

Termite nest.

Howler Monkeys became a common sight.

Termite artwork inside a tree trunk.

OK now, line up two by two....

We initially thought this was a Cormorant, like those at Lac La Nonne. It's actually an Anhinga. Like the Cormorant, they spread their wings to dry them.

A Little Blue Heron

Marvin and his Mercedes Benz "mini van" waiting for us.

Howler Monkey

Had this monkey lost his grip and fallen, he would have landed in our boat.

A Northern Jacana

Caiman youngster.

This is a fully grown Caiman. Caiman belong to the alligator family. They'll eat anything including other caimans.

Another Emerald Basilisk Lizard. This one is a male.

Border Sign and Marker between the countries of Costa Rica and Nicaragua. We snuck across a hundred feet or so just to say we had visited Nicaragua.

Nicaraguan boat speeding back home.

Our tour included four different river and lagoon excursions.

BBQ'd chicken

Not sure what was going on here.

We rotated seats in the bus every day. The front seats were best for pictures through the windshield.

The traffic flow can be slow at times on the rural roads.

There was beauty even in the rain.

It rains often in Costa Rica but dammit, we like it. The further west we drove, the brighter it got. By the time we arrived at the west coast, it was 85 degrees and sunny. 

This picture could have been taken somewhere in Alberta except right now there's 2 feet of snow in Alberta.

Yvonne relaxing on our patio at Magic Mountain Hotel.

Wine tasting on the run. I'll have some Chilean to go please.

These girls are on a mission.

Welcome to Filadelfia?

LaundryMat. Just slip it through the bars.

Karol called this "The Iguana Tree" and yes, they are sunning themselves on the power lines. They're all around 2-3 feet long.

The pool bar at the Arenal Volcanic Hot Springs near La Fortuna.

No comment.

Low tide on the lava beach near the JW Mariott Hotel. Big waves occasionally flood the area leaving small colourful fish, crabs and other strange things in the basins.

The Pacific Ocean.

What is it?

This tree full of monkeys could be seen and heard from our hotel room balcony at the Mariott.

One of the pools at the JW Mariott Resort and Spa.

Yvonne gets some hammock time.

Laundry day on the Dezaeyers balcony. We reluctantly left the Mariott after a 2 day stay and headed back towards San Jose. It was a long travel day with only 2 stops, one for a happy-happy stop and another for a side trip on yet another river boat to see Crocodiles and other wildlife up close.

Tourism is the #1 industry in Costa Rica and most locals seem to appreciate our presence by waving and smiling.

Shivani and her coconut drinks.

Keep your hands and arms in the boat. 

These adult crocodiles were sunning themselves near a bridge.

Nostrils and eyeballs are all you can see. In rough water you can't see these crocodiles but they're out there.

The big ones are easier to spot.

This one didn't like how close we were getting.

Never try this. Never in a million years!

This guy was in the middle of the river, feeding a crocodile some raw chicken.

Scarlet Macaus

Two brothers playing Christmas tunes on the Marimba. Costa Rica's National Musical Instrument.
Gerard and May enjoying the music.

Our last night was spent at the Aurola Holiday Inn in downtown San Jose.

Lobby artwork at the Aurola.

Our Caravan Tour Group Photo with our pleasant and lovely Tour Director, Karol Rodreguez, centered in the first row. The photo was taken at the Aurola Holiday Inn before the Farewell Dinner.

Missing in the photo are Dave and Dianne from Vancouver BC. They decided to separate from the tour at the Mariott with plans to take a charter tour into Nicaragua.

Rachelle, Doris, Stan and Cathy were up and gone by 4:00AM. Yvonne and I spent a couple hours walking around the hotel neighbourhood after a leisurely breakfast and left on a shuttle to the airport at 11:00AM.  Marvin was our shuttle driver. We departed for Houston on time but were delayed on our connecting flight to Phoenix. We finally arrived home, in Mesa, at 2:00AM, 12 hours after leaving San Jose.

Every flight that we took on this trip was filled to the max with people and luggage. Despite that, United Airlines remains my US carrier of choice. We were bumped to First Class on one flight and moved to over-wing Exit seats, with extra leg room,  on another. It pays to be nice at the check-in counter. The food was good and the service was cheerfull despite the overcrowded conditions that come with Holiday Travel.

This was our first Caravan Tour but it will certainly not be our last. Karol and Marvin were excellent hosts and tour guides. Karol is very proud of her country and it shows and Marvin was always smiling and did his best to keep us on schedule. We complained about the rain in Tortuguero but in the final analysis we all agreed that the time we spent around the Laguna Lodge was the highlight of the trip.