Reasons we love Costa Rica, illustrated with animal bums

It’s all been about wildlife sightings and what accommodation we like, and food of course. We realise we haven’t shared some of the other things that make Costa Rica so amazing. So here’s 10 other things we like about the place.

And a bunch of pictures of animal bums, because that’s what happens when you’re taking photos of wildlife. They have nothing to do with the 10 things but we like them, and this way we only have to do 1 post not 2, especially not without pictures.

Starting with a sloth bum, because the only thing cuter is a sloth face and there’s 2 of those as well!

1. The people are wonderful - friendly, kind, generally interested in you and most we met had a great sense of humour.

  

 Blue jeans frog bum

2. It has about 0.06% of the world’s population, 0.03% of the world’s land mass, and nearly 5% of the world’s biodiversity.

 

 A baby howler monkey bum

3. It has a wild chicken called a Chachalaca.

 

 3 Chachalaca bums for the price of 1 

4.  It has successfully and peacefully managed without a military for nearly 70 years, and uses the money saved to provide services to its citizens such as free education and health services. They proudly tell you of their 96% literacy rate as a result of such policies.

  

 A baby anteater bum

5.  Hunting is illegal. People are encouraged to conserve and utilise the natural resources in other ways to stimulate the economy, like through ecotourism 

 

Alan’s (agouti)  bum 

6. In agricultural areas, the farmers plant ‘living fences’ - trees all along their fence lines to create a corridor for tree dwelling wildlife to move safely between forests.

 

 A delightful toucan bum

7. Everywhere we went the toilets were clean, even in petrol stations and similar establishments where you often find toilets of questionable cleanliness at home.

 

A raccoon bum 

8. They are changing their pineapple production to organic methods after realising the multinationals with massive pineapple plantations have destroyed thousands of hectares of land with chemicals, and the knock on impact it has on the ecosystem. And they have the most delicious pineapples we’ve ever eaten. And they make vegan leather out of pineapple waste.

 

 A deer bum

9. More than 27% of it’s total land is protected.

Squirrel monkey bum. Particularly love the response to it from the monkey on the bottom 😂 

10. We hardly ever saw rubbish or litter anywhere.

Pirate Cove Resort doggo bum

11. (I know I said there were 10, but who’s counting?) we like that they have bullfights where the bull is allowed to injure or kill the person but not the other way around.

And then there’s this guy, whose bum you’d be able to see if he wasn’t showing off how much of a boy monkey he is

El Trillo Del la Danta (the Tapir’s Trail)

On our last day in Drake Bay we did one of our favourite walks of the whole trip. The Tapir’s Trail is on a private reserve rather than in a government owned national park. The Costa Rican people are rewarded for protecting and preserving the forest on their land, which they do by providing eco tourism opportunities, ensuring this preservation benefits everyone.

 Stunning view on the way to the Tapir Trail  

This walk is one of only two we did in primary forest (the other was in Gandoca Manzanillo, where we actually walked a trail between primary and secondary forest). Most of the walks are in secondary forest, which is less dense and therefore offers more opportunities for wildlife sightings. 

But being in this forest is awe inspiring. You can hear the constant chattering, trilling, crashing, singing and sometimes bellowing of wildlife, even when you can’t see it. You have that feeling that just because you can’t see them, doesn’t mean they’re not watching you.

 It took a while to move into the forest because we were treated to scarlet macaws, toucans, hummingbirds, woodpeckers and a few other lovely birds right at the homestead of the property owners.

 

Scarlet macaw

   

 Gustavo showed us this heart shaped hole in a tree. You could only see the heart if you
looked from the right angle    

  

 Another scarlet macaw

  

Kingfisher down at the river 

Once we were in the forest, the old growth trees are stunning.  You can see all sorts of different plants climbing up or growing on them. They are spectacular, huge, very impressive. We followed some tapir footprints, which is as close as we’re getting to seeing a tapir on this trip. We also saw some ocelot footprints - but while there were constant wistful utterings on all of our walks, aiming to produce a big cat through sheer will, we never really expected to, so we’re happy enough just to see evidence that they are there. To top it off, Gustavo showed us some recent footage from the cameras they have set up in the forest - of both a tapir and an ocelot. So we sort of saw them!

Margaret asked if they have poison dart frogs and Gustavo said yes, the particular kind Margaret was very keen to see. So when we got to a little rest stop with a forest view to die for, and Gustavo said we had to go 200 vertical metres down a steep embankment to try to see one of these frogs, it was a no brainer. We headed off and were not really having any luck, when Margaret stopped and said ‘what’s that?’. She and a tayra had locked eyes for a moment, each as startled as the other. Then it scarpered before we could get a picture but left a sense of excitement behind. Certainly I didn’t even know tayras exist, so that was a totally new experience for me (they are related to weasels).

  

 Margaret on the way back up from the frog and the tayra

 

 Gustavo on the way down to the frog  

 

 At the bottom, the river

 

 Unfortunately I didn’t take my wide angle lens so can’t get any full trees in view 

  

Monkey ladder 

We headed back and half way back up the cliff Gustavo told us to wait while he checked one last spot, but didn’t want to make us go down to it and back up for nothing. We enjoyed the forest with all of our senses while we waited a while for Gustavo to come back - with a picture of said frog on my mobile phone! So of course we had to see for ourselves, and found him in a fallen hollow log, telling us what for and just whose territory we were breaching. 

 The prize poison dart frog 

   

Extremely satisfied with our adventure, we climbed back up the embankment, returned through the forest and enjoyed a substantial feed followed by a siesta in a hammock, before Gustavo dropped us back to Pirate Cove. On to our afternoon ritual of shower, then a Long Island iced tea over reviewing of the day’s photos and a spot of bird watching from the deck.

 Lunch 

 Siesta

 

Osa Peninsula

We were promised wonders here and we weren’t disappointed. In fact, in terms of the accommodation at Pirate Cove we were expecting much more basic than we had. We’d braced ourselves for no aircon and were pleasantly surprised to have some AND a ceiling fan. We got good home cooked meals every day and we couldn’t fault their cocktail making skills. 

The outlook was spectacular, both from our room and the common areas. The staff were lovely, and when it came to skippering a boat and getting us off and on the shore for each of our adventures, they pulled off some pretty fancy manoeuvres. From our arrival to our departure all the comings and goings included boat rides, and beach launches and landings. One particular launch from Corcovado NP was pretty hair raising, but managed by Chilo and Ever with great skill.

The vista from our balcony

Sunset on the beach at Pirate Cove

This post covers most of our time in Drake Bay, except our last adventure which warrants its own post. On our first night we went on a night walk with Tracie the Bug Lady and her offsider(maybe partner?) Gianfranco. The atmosphere was set by the approach - catch a taxi to a particular point, then get out and walk through a bit of a course in the dark with slightly unclear directions, over some interesting terrain and with some of our torches failing. It was fitting. Tracie was a real character. Both were very knowledgeable and found some amazing things for us to see, so in the last hour when it absolutely poured with rain and we were soaked to the bone, we were still very happy to stop every time they found a new treat to show us.

       

 Red eyed green tree frog - our first with its eyes open!

       

Name TBA

      

Common Mussarana 

On our first day while Margaret did a reccy on the Sirena Station trail in Corcovado NP, I went diving at Caño Island. The diving was great - although we might have seen even more if we’d gone a little slower. But I can’t complain - there were turtles, octopuses, lobsters, scads of fish, a seahorse, tons of eels including gardens of them on the seabed. We had a lovely surface interval on Caño Island itself, which is beautiful.

         

Tropical spotted dolphins checking us out on the way to Corcovado NP

        

This way to Sirena Station 

        

There is an old airstrip leading to Sirena Station - this plane missed it by a bit 

Meanwhile Margaret saw a ton of stuff in Corcovado NP, which is to be expected of an environment that contains 2.5% of the world’s biodiversity. Her find to swoon over was the scarlet macaw, but she was also graced with her first spider monkeys in the wild and a concentration of Kevins (Coati mundis), among a load of other birds and critters.

              

Margaret with a small portion of one of the many amazing trees in Corcovado NP 

        

A concentration of Kevins

        

  Tapir tracks on the beach    

 Anteater and baby 

We both went back to Corcovado the next day with our fervent hope to see a tapir, although with expectations tempered. Still, they say if you’re going to see one, here is the place. And our guide Hairo went to great lengths to find one for us - alas to no avail. But we did see our first ant eater, with a (big) baby no less, on top of plenty of other things so we certainly didn’t come back disappointed.   

                 

Zebra grasshopper - before shot (nymph)

      

The after shot of the grass hopper - this is what it looks like as an adult

      

A beautiful Roadside Hawk  

      

Preening Spoonbill

      

 Toucan

And this was the day we had the hair raising boat boarding for the trip home, which I didn’t get photos of  because the focus was on getting on the boat with selves and gear intact. Some photos below of boarding for the trip back to Sierpe at the end of our 
stay, which was much more tame.

 

 The dive boat picking up some divers and snorkellers for an on water transfer to another dive boat 

 

Catching the water taxi back to Sierpe 

 

Some furry things

We’ve been popping some pics here and there on FB but got slack on the blog. So here’s a collection of furry friends from our many walks and temporary homes in all the places we’ve been so far. Drake Bay and Corcovado are expected to warrant some independent posting and we’ve arrived with a sopping beach landing to a little piece of paradise. Forced to sip Long Island iced teas while we gaze at the ocean through a jungle, because the wifi is only available at the bar 😁🍹.

 

Capuchin Monkey, Manuel Antonio NP. Margaret says they always look sad to be a capuchin monkey and it’s true.
But they are the terrorists of monkeys here, aggressive and clever, out to take advantage of you if they can

Playful raccoons, Cahuita NP

  

 One extra special howler monkey with his girlfriend. He’s mutated through inbreeding and apparently one of only 3 orange monkeys in the world. Caño Negro Wildlife Refuge 

    

 Bats asleep for the day, Manuel Antonio NP 

 

 The only spider monkey we’ve seen so far, orphaned and being raised for release at the Jaguar Centre, Punta Cocles.
We are hoping to see some in the wild here in Drake Bay or in Corcovado NP.

  

 Stunning Bear Cub, family member of Jenn and Gary at Hidden Canopy in Monteverde 

  

 Fishing raccoon, Cahuita NP 

  

Another sad Capuchin monkey, Cahuita NP 

  

 Alan (all agoutis are Alan) with adorable babies, Manuel Antonio NP 

  

 Squirrel, Cahuita NP 

  

 Most adorable sloth, Jaguar Centre Punta Cocles 

  

 Wrestling squirrel monkeys, Manuel Antonio NP 

  

 Collared  Peccary, Jaguar Centre, Punta Cocles 

  

 Kevin (all coati mundis are Kevin), Curi  Cancha Reserve, Monteverde 

 

 Ear of a Margay , one of the 5 big cats native to the country. That’s the best sighting we’ve had, although we hear there’s
the possibility of seeing some cats in Corcovado. Jaguar Centre, Punta Cocles 

 

 Delightful squirrel monkeys, Manuel Antonio NP 

 

 Deer, Manuel Antonio NP