Adventures in Costa Rica

Pat and I have been busy visiting different areas of Costa Rica around the Playas del Coco area.  Here are a few of them:

Video of kite boarding at Copal beach Costa Rica. It begins with a someone on the beach assisting with a kite launch.  This gets the kite up in the air for the kite boarder, the kite boarder will steady the kite in the air until ready and then dive the kite to give them forward momentum.  Watch close towards the end of the video you can see a kite boarder jump.  Some of the more serious boarders have devices on their boards that measure the height they are jumping, location etc.; this information is loaded to a place on the internet where kite boarders can compare and compete for the highest jump.  Some can jump as high  as 50 foot.

 

Above is an Iguana that crawled over to visit us during our day at Playa Conchal.  The journey to Playa Conchal was quite a challenge, I was glad to be travelling in a 4 X 4.  We had to cross two rivers but fortunately the season is getting drier and the water only came up about 18 inches; can’t imagine what it would be like during the rainy season!  We also saw a car that had to turn around part way up a hill as it could not make the climb.

After relaxing day swimming and a picnic on the beach we went to Playa Potrero.

Sun setting on the mountains at Playa Potrero

Sunset drinks at Playa Potrero

Wind power generator on our journey to Arenal volcano.  Last year Costa Rica ran carbon neutral for 61 days!

Good spot for a picnic on our way to Arenal volcano along side Lake Arenal.

Group of Coati’s along side the road just before the dam on lake Arenal.

On the dam a few minutes away from Los Lagos where we will stay for two nights with Arenal volcano in the background.  The volcano has been dormant since 2010 but there are still evidence of the lava that flowed down the side of the volcano.

Large orange Iguana warming up in the sun.  This is on the grounds of Hotel Los Lagos.

We were fortunate to get this view of Arenal volcano the morning after our arrival.

Large crocodile on display and yes behind a fence!!

Leaf cutter ants taking home their prize!  A well done display where the ants needed to travel a high path to get the leaves.

Blue jean frog or Strawberry poison-dart frog.

Blue Morpho butterfly.

Blue Morpho up close.

Basalisk lizard or Jesus Christ lizard because of their ability to run across water.

Another beautifully clear shot of Arenal volcano!

Arenal volcano from the observatory which is about a 2 km drive from Los Lagos Hotel.

Montezuma bird sitting atop a dead tree in the distance.

Some of the flowers on the grounds of Los Lagos:

These blooms are on lilypads that were beside the walkway of a nearly two acre pond of Tilapia.

Another blue jean frog!

A short visit to Toad Hall on our way back to Playas del Coco!  I think Pat is hungry!

Local wasp nest at the picnic area near the water.