{"id":129,"date":"2015-04-08T11:00:06","date_gmt":"2015-04-08T11:00:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.uwsp.edu\/adventuretours\/?p=129"},"modified":"2015-04-15T18:48:12","modified_gmt":"2015-04-15T18:48:12","slug":"embracing-the-adventures-in-costa-rica-jan-2015","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.uwsp.edu\/adventuretours\/2015\/04\/08\/embracing-the-adventures-in-costa-rica-jan-2015\/","title":{"rendered":"Embracing Costa Rica 2015"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Costa<\/a>

Cordillera Talamance Mountain Range – photo by Kelly Zopfi<\/p><\/div>\n

Travel in January from the \u201cfrozen tundra\u201d to 700 <\/sup>temperatures, flora, fauna, feathered and leathered creatures? Count me in! Dennis and Trevor kept us updated on details and expectations. Well, winter conditions in 2015 did not vary much from last year- Frigid, rare daily highs above zero. We \u201cacclimated\u201d in Texas (500<\/sup>) between connections and landed in San Jose, Costa Rica at 9 p.m. CST to a beautiful clear evening sky, and temperature in the 70s with low humidity (shorts weather)! Hotel Bougainvillea\u00a0was fantastic with modern amenities, wonderful staff and great food.<\/p>\n

The next morning, as we waited for the whole group to complete breakfast, a few of us \u201cbirded\u201d the hotel grounds. The first \u201cbirding\u201d of Costa Rica was an exciting experience! \u00a0I was reminded even though winter back home has limited species, the Costa Rica adventure was finally here. \u00a0Bougainvillea Hotel was home to Blue Gray Tanagers, Tennessee Warblers, Wrens, and numerous hummingbirds (see link for listing).<\/p>\n

Our adventure for Day 1 was to experience the cloud forest at Poas Volcano National Park and wildlife at Waterfalls Gardens. During travel from city to the largest active volcano, our local tour guide, Lloyd Martinez, educated the group to local history, biology, geology and sociology. An expert guide, we found Lloyd well-educated on every subject tourists may inquire.<\/p>\n

The cloud forest Volcano experience was heavy on cloud\/rain, at 2,700 meters above sea level, we were unable to observe the volcano through the rain and fog. We were however, visitors to another-worldly environment with \u201cJurassic Park\u201d <\/em>sized vegetation; much larger than Midwest house plant versions. The cameras were snapping to the \u201cpoor man\u2019s umbrellas\u201d (Gunnera insignis)<\/em> 6-foot-wide leaf.<\/p>\n

\"Costa<\/a>

Violet Sabrewing – photo by Mark Patton<\/p><\/div>\n

We traversed the trails to view several of the magnificent waterfalls to commence at Waterfalls Gardens,\u00a0a hummingbird haven. Hummingbirds zoomed past our heads to the feeders as we moved closer to the patio for a much-appreciated lunch. For lunch, we enjoyed cumin chicken, sweetened beef, carrots, green beans and rice pudding with raisins \u2026 delicious. Other highlights from the (rescued) wildlife sanctuary included jungle cats, monkeys, snakes, an aviary and butterfly house.<\/p>\n

\"Costa<\/a>

photo by Mark Patton<\/p><\/div>\n

On the road to the Caribbean side (Tortuguero), our driver Carlos spotted 3- and 2-toed sloths \u2026 the caravan emptied, snapped pictures and chattered about sloths in the Cyclopia tree. We learned due to clearing of the rain forest, Cyclopia tree and sloth sightings have become rare. The true adventure was just ahead. After traveling a rather rustic road, we arrived at the next leg of our trip, the tropical rainforest.<\/p>\n

We disembarked the van and loaded onto a boat; our local transportation via the canal system to our next destination \u2026 There was a warning: Left at the Y intersection and we would have ventured in Nicaragua. The canals were patrolled by police officers (visual reassurance of the safety of Costa Rican travel). Along the fabulous route we encountered caiman, basilisks, lizards (Iguana, anoli, and more iguanas); all three native monkey species (capuchin, spider and howler); many birds (egret, cormorant, coot, Northern Jacana, gulls, Royal tern, Macaw, Toucan, parrot, parakeet, Cuckoo, Ani, Kingfishers, Aracari, and various hummingbirds, flycatchers, and Euphonia; enormous Morpho peleides butterflies (a breathe taking, size of a CD, true Avatar<\/em> experience).<\/p>\n

\"Costa<\/a>

Sloth – photo by Mark Patton<\/p><\/div>\n

Our lodging within the Tortuguero National Park\u00a0was rustic, but with electricity and water for the powder room, so humbling and memorable\u2013truly a trip highlight. Immediately prior to dusk and at dawn, we were greeted by the Montezuma Oropendola\u2019s (my favorite C.R. bird- visually and behaviorally interesting) return from daytime foraging. The yellow tail on a huge black low-flying bird followed by the colony squawk and once land, an audible bowing forward courtship behavior with display of red flanks. Darkness at Tortuguero was accompanied by torrential rain at both dusk and dawn.\u00a0 Between rain events, night walk participants encountered Red Eyed Tree frogs, Basilisk, Anoli, Smokey jungle frog, and the Kevlar Golden Orb Spider (Kevlar designed after this web silk).\u00a0 We were fortunate to photograph a sloth with baby, while various iguanas were frequent visitors to our campus. We learned the large crest on the iguana is a male trait and we were quick to spot the difference.<\/p>\n

Day 5, how can the trip get any better? More diversity\u2013off to Selva Verde Lodge\u00a0in the Tirimbina Rainforest Reserve. The accommodations are built on at least 10-foot high poles necessary during the wet season (dry season is Nov-Feb.). Our rooms were on the Sarapiqui River. The babbling brook and frogs emitted a nice white sound for sleeping nearby. The lodge is truly a treasure deep in the rain forest. Exciting tidbit: the owner\/evening bird lecturer was reviewing the premises during our visit.<\/p>\n

\"Costa<\/a>

Selva Verde Lodge – photo by Kelly Zopfi<\/p><\/div>\n

Each morning between 6 and 6:30 a.m., the birds would fly into the feeder station freshly supplied with bananas. The first hungry critter was a lone pizote (Nasua narica<\/em>) raccoon type, but larger. The pizote received one banana in pieces and was then shooed away so the birds could feed \u2026 Many, many species, large and small, arrived for morning bird therapy. As suddenly as the feeding started, morning feeding finished and the tourists could leave for the daily destination.<\/p>\n

\"Cost<\/a>

photo by a participant<\/p><\/div>\n

Part of the group went white water rafting while the rest of us participated in an eco-birding walk. Our local guide (Lloyd) provided us with history, culture, flora, fauna, mammal and aviary information. We reconnected for the Cacao\/chocolate program with a late afternoon walk through the Tirimbina Rain Forest Biological Reserve via another adventure\u2013a very long suspension bridge to a small historical cacao plantation. History and low-tech methods were demonstrated to prepare the hot cacao drink. Absolutely delicious! After supper on location, we attended a bat ecology presentation, study bats were captured during our presentation, data recorded, and four presented to the audience for viewing prior to release. We were able to appreciate the wide variety of sizes and function of these insect and fruit bats to the agronomy industry.<\/p>\n

After another day of breakfast with the birds, we were off to the dry hot Pacific side with a side visit at Mi Cafecito, a 174-member coffee cooperative with utilization of low-tech equipment to process high quality fair trade coffee. Nice tour, great lunch and delicious coffee complete with dining ambiance. Regional scenic changes from the wet tropical forest with numerous Teak trees transitioned into the Spiny Cedars (spikey trunk trees) in the dry tropical forest. We reached Cerro Lodge near the Carara National Park near the town of Tarcoles in time to record sunset over the Pacific. Our lodge, a family-owned and operated business, was clean, well-kept and self-sustainable. Our cabins were tiny functional stucco huts. Some bathrooms had three solid walls and one wire wall was left open. Wildlife surprises were plentiful including the large frog and cute little anoli!<\/p>\n

\"Costa<\/a>

friendly company – photo by Mary Jo Patton<\/p><\/div>\n

The morning activity was paddling the Hawaiian style outrigger canoe, with optional snorkeling. During the paddle we viewed pelican and frigate colonies. As we eased further off shore, a school of fish jumped out of the water, twice\u2013they were flying sardines, a curious experience. In the afternoon, many zip-lined while others hiked into the deep forest at Carara National Park. Fauna was spectacular, the competition for light provided differing species growth patterns within the primary (virgin) forest. Even midday, the lighting for photography was low. The shallow stream we came across became active with birds bathing before sundown, many rarer birds were spotted (little Tinamou and Red-capped Manakin, Red-Headed Barbet) but difficult to document via photography.\u00a0<\/strong>At the lodge, bird species included the beautiful yet loud Scarlet Macaw,\u00a0<\/strong>Motmot and a black and white owl.<\/p>\n

\"Costa<\/a>

Scarlet Macaw – photo by Mark Patton<\/p><\/div>\n

The adventure in Costa Rica was again embraced on a Crocodile Safari on the Tarcoles River system. We were delighted by many crocodile and bird viewing opportunities (White Ibis, Roseate Spoonbill, Whimbrel, Sandipiper, Willer, Mangrove Black Hawk, Yellow Headed Caracara, osprey, Magnificient Frigatebird, etc.). By now, the local favorite birds, the Great Kiskadee and Blue Gray Tanager (spotted throughout our travels), were easily identified species.<\/p>\n

\"Costa<\/a>

Caiman – photo by Mark Patton<\/p><\/div>\n

Throughout our travels, we cleansed our senses with beautiful mountain landscapes, the sounds of nature via wildlife song, Morning rain showers, ocean wave music for sleep, and local people with a passion to share the beauty and heritage of Costa Rica. During this trip, we appreciated 188 different bird species, numerous reptiles, a serpent, mammals and an endless variety of trees. Naturalists, professional and layman, left the Costa Rican experience with a sense of empowerment and urgency to save the rain forest and our ever-vanishing ecosystems. We truly experienced pura vida\u2013good life. This UW-Stevens Point Adventure Tour met all my expectations including the opportunity to meet new friends local, regional and internationally.<\/p>\n

Written by Kelly Zopfi (2015 Costa Rica Adventure participant)<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Costa<\/a>

the Costa Rica 2015 group with Lloyd Martinez – photo by Dennis Yockers<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Travel in January from the \u201cfrozen tundra\u201d to 700 temperatures, flora, fauna, feathered and leathered creatures? Count me in! Dennis and Trevor kept us updated on details and expectations. Well, winter conditions in 2015 did not vary much from last year- Frigid, rare daily highs above zero. We \u201cacclimated\u201d in Texas (500) between connections and…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":31,"featured_media":144,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11,10,3],"tags":[5,12,62,20,17,15,19,21,18,16,23,7,6,4,14,22],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.uwsp.edu\/adventuretours\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/129"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.uwsp.edu\/adventuretours\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.uwsp.edu\/adventuretours\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.uwsp.edu\/adventuretours\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/31"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.uwsp.edu\/adventuretours\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=129"}],"version-history":[{"count":67,"href":"https:\/\/blog.uwsp.edu\/adventuretours\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/129\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":216,"href":"https:\/\/blog.uwsp.edu\/adventuretours\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/129\/revisions\/216"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.uwsp.edu\/adventuretours\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/144"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.uwsp.edu\/adventuretours\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=129"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.uwsp.edu\/adventuretours\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=129"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.uwsp.edu\/adventuretours\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=129"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}