Joshua has started a blog documenting his birding adventures! You can check it out at:
joshuasbirdblog.blogspot.com
Enjoy!
Wednesday, December 31, 2014
The Resplendent Quetzal
Soon after arriving in Costa Rica we noticed that everywhere we looked we saw beautiful painted pictures of a bird called a quetzal and as the boys grew in their love for birds, we began a quest to spot this very allusive creature. We have hiked and traveled and searched.... (those of you have visited us have searched with us...) Finally, yesterday - the 30th of December, we visited a town around an hour and a half from our home and we saw the quetzal. Not just one, but over 10 of these amazing birds, male and female. They did not disappoint - they are even more beautiful than we had hoped! Below are some of the pictures Joshua captured of the quetzal.
Dad pointing out a quetzal to Maddie
Maddie gets a close look...
The female
The male
Joshua... our bird photographer
Tuesday, December 30, 2014
#60 Childrens Musuem of Costa Rica
On December 28th we paid a long overdue visit to #60 on our scavenger hunt... the Children's Museum of Costa Rica. This building used to be the capital city's jail and was transformed into a wonderful place filled with fun and laughter!
How many different ways did the kids dress up?
Pirates
Clowns
A monk
Traditional indigenous mask
astronaut
cowgirl
Egyptian mummies
Dinosaurs
We also loved the Costa Rica specific displays like this one about three of the main volcanoes... We have been to each of these!
An awesome chess game...
And shopping at Walmart!
#29 Tope Nacional
#29 on our scavenger hunt says Rodeo... but we opted for a different, but equally cowboy-ish adventure. On the 26th (Boxing Day) we went with our neighbors to the Tope Nacional. A beautiful parade of Costa Rica's finest horsemanship... It was a beautiful day!
Amelia and Mason wore these traditional hats...
One cowboy stopped to give Amelia a ride...
A Family trip to the Playa Grande and # 50 snorkeling, #13 seeing leatherback turtles lay eggs, and #48 canoeing
Right before Christmas we spent a few days as a family at Playa Grande on the northern side of the Nicoya Peninsula. It is tropical dry forest, which is a completely different type of ecosystem than any we have visited here in Costa Rica so far. We had an amazing time.
Joshua snapped this picture out the window on our drive to Playa Grande. The landscape is dry and the flora is completely different from the rainforest.
Las Baulas National Marine Park. No one is allowed on the beach after 6:00 at night
except on a tour with a biologist. Our hotel is the only one on this beach and it could not have any white lights on all evening... only indirect, red lights or candles were used. It was very pretty... and dim!
One of the things we really wanted to do while in Costa Rica (plus it's #13 on our Scavenger hunt) was to see the leatherback turtles nest. They are very endangered and less than 30 made nests last year in this location, so we knew it was a slim chance... but we still woke at midnight (the turtles come in the middle of the night at high-tide) and made our way to the ranger station and thankfully around 1:30 a.m. we were able to see one of these huge turtles nest that night! It was an incredible experience. To help with the survival of the turtle, biologists often remove the eggs from where they are buried and place them in a hatchery. The hatchery pictured below was located next to our hotel and we were able to speak with biologists about their conservation efforts.
The leatherback turtle lays around 70 eggs at once.
Ethan, Mom and Dad all returned a second night to see another turtle. They waited from midnight until 2:30 but no turtles were spotted so they returned for some sleep!
Here we at a beach called Bahia de Piratas. (Pirates Bay) We found unbelievable tide pools here and the animal life we discovered was awesome.
We also enjoyed snorkeling in the completely clear water. Dad and Maddie saw a group of lime green fish (some more than a foot and a half long) swim right around them while eating smaller fish.
Of course a game of soccer was enjoyed on the beach as well!
Christmas Eve morning we left at 6:30am to canoe in the estuary. It was a beautiful morning and we canoed for about three hours.
Maddie and Mom were in a canoe together and were immediately caught in a strong current pulling toward the ocean. They were so focused on trying to work their way upriver against the current that they didn't notice the 10 foot crocodile next to their canoe... but Dad and Ethan saw it... !
We took this picture outside the ranger station for Las Baulas National Marine Park after canoeing.
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