I saw a Tapir! and other sightings

 Hi there, I think this dog is from a little town called Sierpe, but I am not sure. Dogs were a cute common sight. They all followed us, begging for attention and food. I am sure he saw something interesting there. Sightings are unplanned and unexpected and that is why many photos don't turn out that great. So I apologize. The important thing is that I got proof that I saw these animals up close! Even if you can't see them so well in the photo...

This is the common potoo, sleeping. Do you see it? It is right between the two lower branches that create a corner.It sits at the end of branches and blends in to escape predators. It  is very difficult to spot a potoo, since it sits there motionless. So we were really lucky to see it. At night, this bird can open its mouth very wide, while also sitting motionlessly, to catch prey like insects.

                                             Humming Bird! There are tons in Costa Rica.

Yes a group of students from out study abroad program saw a Baird's Tapir and we were very lucky. They are the few of the mammals like camels an rhinos that survived the Pleistocene and did become extinct (most likely due to humans over hunting them). This is the largest land mammal in Central America (Wikipedia).This species is considered endangered and right where we saw it, in Corcovado, there is a tapir conservation project going on. While we were hiking up, the professor told us all to look around, and there, right behinds us, the adult tapir was nibbling on some greens and standing right on the path. It was amazing. Some of us kept on saying, "Oh my god!"

Lead by our professor, we followed this mammal intently as it was browsing for fruits. It was an intense couple of minutes stepping silently, with cameras ready. In the end, the professor confessed, "I like to make things fun." It was an actually a white-nosed coati, very common in Central America. 

Didn't get the face...

Scarlet Macaw, Toucan, and a quetzal related bird seen on the hike through Corcovado primary forest.

 Scarlet Macaws are endangered because their nests are robbed by humans for sale as pets. However they are a common sight in Corcovado. Their screams are obnoxiously unmistakable. Think chicken but 3 times more annoying.

Bye friends, a blog about sunsets and bird watching coming up!

Hola from Santa Rosa

Santa Rosa is a national park overflowing with creatures during the dry season. Many fruits ripen right now, and also the vegetation in the trees is sparse because the majority of trees drop their leaves during the dry season. This makes it easy to see mammals like white tailed deer, agouti, coati, white faced monkeys. Birds are really noticeable too. Exactly at 7 in the morning, white throated magpie jay (2 times bigger than a crow and brightly blue colored body with a black crest on its head) starts conversing with its fellows. During the sunny daytime, lizards hang out on the tree and casually walk around even through the campsite. There are huge iguanas! Just the size of the animals is impressive and it is hard to believe they live here, in this forest that can remind of the temperate forest in the U.S.

The trip to the bathroom can be oddly interesting as there is always a possibility to encounter spiders and frogs, and even scorpions at night. So far I have only seen the cute tiny yellow frogs with black beady eyes, and not the large dark brown ones.

At the end of the day, the most rewarding thing besides the sleep are the stars. They shine like jewels through the branches and take my breathe away. Good night. Pictures to come when I get to Monteverde! (in 3 days)

San Jose: Photos from day 2, 2-9-2012

 Going to the Costa Rican National Museum.

 Inside the butterfly garden in the Costa Rican National Museum

 Me in front of the theater.

San Jose panoramic view from the balcony of Costa Rican National Museum. Click for larger view!

***Might not blog until 2 weeks later. Heading off to Monteverde tomorrow.

Packing, Flight, First Night in San Jose

Packing was the most stressful day of my journey so far. The plan was to fit my frame pack and everything else into one bag, which turned out to be impossible. So with countless packing and unpacking, trying to spread out the weight, I managed to stuff two suitcases full.

To my surprise, I met many fellow "studyabroaders" who were in the same study abroad program in the Phoenix airport. It turns out flight from Phoenix was a prefered (cheap?) connecting flight with San Jose.
On the airplane, I sat by an interesting character. He was a retired game and fish worker from Alaska who traveled multiple times to Central America. Now he was escaping the cold. He told me and another student many travel and biology stories. Our landing, delayed by 40 minutes, was quite bumpy and strange.

The weather was gorgeous, the jacket - unnecessary. We stuffed into an orange cab and arrived to hotel Balmoral with many comments about the roads without lanes and little shops. "Pedestrians do not have the right of way", our program assistant warned us before tomorrow's street adventures.

Pictures in next post...