DAY 1 - March 14, 2005 Fly to San José, Costa Rica One of the nice things about flying north to south is the lack of time zone crossing. Flying to Costa Rica is one such adventure. As we leave Colorado, we are one hour earlier than San Jose, Costa Rica, our destination. We had been scheduled to fly American but OAT informed us just last month that everyone going to Costa ...
Read Day 1!
DAY 2 - March 15, 2005 San José City Tour/Arrive in Sarapiquis We woke up to an early sun and showered and packed well before our 7 AM deadline. We checked the internet and had a few messages, one from Ted that the new web site and the journal plus pictures looked very good. We had a great buffet breakfast with lots of typical Costa Rica fresh fruit, the staple food of ...
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DAY 3 - March 16, 2005 Explore the Río Sarapiquí: River Rafting & Nighttime Bat Tour This morning the alarm went off at 5:30 for us to meet the group to discover Costa Rica's abundant bird life in the stillness of dawn. As I looked out I saw the rain and decided to not do it. Ten other members did go out but did not see too many birds but were able to see the Poison Dart ...
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DAY 4 - March 17, 2005 La Tirimbina Reserve - To Chachagua Hearing the multitude of birds chirping right outside our room helped us to wake up at 6 AM to be at breakfast at 6:45. Gennie and I chose to eat just fruit this morning as we are having three meals a day. At 7:30 we met our biologist from the La Tirimbina Biological Reserve, in conjunction with the University of ...
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DAY 5 - March 18, 2005 Visit School - Home-Hosted Lunch Waking up to birds singing and chirping is certainly a great morning alarm. But this morning we had two red headed woodpeckers trying to get to their image on the reflection from the large bathroom windows. As I got up and picked up my camera I saw twelve of our fellow travelers looking through their binoculars at the ...
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DAY 6 - March 19, 2005 Organic Farm-Arenal Volcano-Optional Hike Our day began with a bright hot sun - even at 6:15 it is high in the sky. Our luggage had to be out at 7:00 and breakfast was at the same time. At breakfast we were pleased to see our Toucan Friend, (we named him Henry), again this morning along with a flock of wild Chestnut Mandible Toucans, clay colored ...
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DAY 7 - March 20, 2005 Nature Viewing on Río Frío/Explore Caño Negro There was no volcano alert call in the night and it was still very overcast this morning. There was a long line at breakfast today, so it was interesting winding our way through the other groups, one was a youth missionary group for the Mormon Church and they were very hungry! While Gennie stood in ...
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DAY 8 - March 21, 2005 Into the Cordillera de Guanacaste Gennie woke up early this morning, and just happened to look out at the Arenal Volcano which was out of the clouds and actively shooting up steam and other gases. It had been veiled in clouds all night so this was a special treat! We could hear the rumble and see the white plumes escaping in the rising sun. It was ...
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DAY 9 - March 22, 2005 Dry Tropical Forest: Horseback Riding, Thermal Mud Baths & Zipline Canopy Tour Before the sun was up we woke up to see the cowboys of the Buena Vista Lodge bringing the horses up from the pastures. We showered and then hiked up to the intenet building which opened at 6:30. It was a good connection with 4 machines, printers and fax - relatively fast ...
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DAY 10 - March 23, 2005 Long Drive to Punta Arenas & Cruise to Punta Coral Private Reserve Today was our early departure morning; we had to have the luggage out at 5:00 so we woke up at 4:15. The good kitchen staff was ready for us at 5:00 sharp so we had a nice breakfast while Mario loaded the luggage. Because of the Easter holiday, our itinerary changed and we will ...
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DAY 11 - March 24, 2005 Tidal Estuary Cruise on the Río Tarcoles/Search for Scarlet Macaws As we had switched itinerary due to the Semana Santa and the upcoming Good Friday, we were able to sleep in a little later this morning. Breakfast was at 7:30 and our departure for the Rio Tarcoles and crocodiles was at 8:30. There were many birds, lizards, here in the grounds of the ...
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DAY 12 - March 25, 2005 Transfer to San José/Free Afternoon/Farewell Dinner We were up before the alarm as someone had made coffee in their room so I was ready to get up and out. The luggage had to be out at 7:30 but our bus did not leave until 9 AM. We had plenty of time to take pictures and walk around the grounds of the Villa Lapas. I had my computer with me and shared ...
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DAY 13 - March 26, 2005 Transfer to San José Airport/Flight Home It was rise and shine very early with the wake-up call coming at 4 AM. We showered, packed our bags and were out of our room by 4:45. We walked to the lobby and had some OJ, coffee and muffins. We also had a chance to see our friends on their way to Tortuguero for the post-trip extension. At 5 PM Eddie placed ...
Read Day 13!