A toucanet

This morning after breakfast, Phoebe and I went to look for the toucanet and we were rewarded with a showing. After snapping a few photos, I have a couple that look decent. Here is one,

What do you call a small toucan?

10 12.039 N, 84 29.068 W, Villa Blanc

Sunday evening, Phoebe, Rich and I went on a nocturnal forest hike with our guide, Hernando, and a guest from Florida. We had flashlights to help spot critters and the path. Lightening bugs twinkled like stars between the forest floor and the tree canopy. I was glad the guide was in front especially after he mentioned snakes and spiders including tarantulas. My flashlight was scanning the trail and I was hoping not to see any of these things. We did see many crickets, moths and I spotted one tiny, brown tree frog, the size of a quarter. There was a Jesus plant that has red splotches on the leaves that look like blood. As we concluded our walk and went by the recycling center, there were hundreds of moths of many varieties darting in the lights.

Monday morning after breakfast we stood on the balcony off the dining room and scanned for more birds. Phoebe spotted a pair of green birds with the yellowish green bill like the toucan we had seen on Sunday morning. It was a smaller variety of the same species. It is called a toucanet. Learn something new every day.

In the late morning, Phoebe and I had a massage. There was only one masseuse on duty so we could not do it at the same time. It was an Arenal Volcanic Lava Rock Therapy. Arenal is the volcano that we visited when we flew to Costa Rica in 2007 with our friends, Dan and Madeline. Now Arenal is in a dormant phase. Anyway, the therapy is specially heated volcanic stones are carefully placed on key muscle areas, providing deep therapeutic bliss. This lava rock treatment is supposed to melt away sore muscles, providing pure relaxation that reaches deep into your muscles. The massage along with the hot rocks was great. Both Phoebe and I enjoyed it. It was a fun pampering.

Villa Blanc also has a wedding chapel on site. The property was originally owned by a president of Costa Rica and he built the chapel to celebrate the renewal of his vows with his wife of 60 years. The ceiling is covered with ceramic tiles celebrating the various Virgin Mary's. the site is beautiful and over looks the forest. There was a wedding there on Sunday so we did not get a chance to see it before.

Dinner last night was a more intimate affair, near the fireplace with a fire. There were only 6 guests here at the hotel last night, including the 4 of us.

This morning after breakfast we were able to get a few more photos of the toucanet which I will post later. We are packed and getting ready to continue our road trip which will take us through Sarchi, Grecia and on to the Poas Lodge by the entrance to the Poas Volcanic National Park.

Stay tuned

Sent from SV Windarra iPad

Fruit Loops?

This morning we were up early to meet Roy, our guide, for the 6:15 am bird watching tour. Roy is in charge of the research station they have here at the reserve. He has been bird watching for the last five years and has seen 500 of the over 800 species of birds native to Costa Rica. In addition to binoculars, a camera with a mega lens, Roy had a spotter's scope. At first we just walked around the gardens in front of the main complex and we were stopping every few feet to look at a different bird. It was amazing the different colors from dark blue to vibrant red. Roy would whistle a call and we would all listen for the response.



Roy and Reg looking up at one of the birds

Starting in the late 1970's a lot of the cloud forest area was cleared to provide grazing area for cattle. As a result, it has also changed the bird life in the area and there are more raptors in the area, including the laughing falcon and the toucan. Now I have been wanting to see a toucan for a while, especially in the wild. I did not know much about it or that it was a raptor that ate the young of other birds. It was just a character from the Fruit Loops cereal commercial with a brightly colored large beak. Well, today was my lucky day and we saw as many as 5 toucans flocking together in trees. Below are pictures of the laughing falcon and the toucan, taken with the aid of Roy's spotting scope.

Laughing Falcon

Toucan

After our bird watching we had breakfast, complete with made to order omelets, fresh fruits, rolls, etc. We were hungry after our morning hike. Of course, after breakfast it was time to return to our casita for a nap. Now I am sitting on the back deck of the casita, composing this blog entry and watching the hummingbirds visit the flowers. There is a large purple colored hummingbird that I have been trying to get a picture of but he always darts away as soon as I bring up my camera.

Here are a few pictures of Villa Blanca. You may also check out their website, www.villablanca-costarica.com

The main lodge with the front desk, gift shop, theater, game room, lounge area, bar and restaurant 

The casita where Rich and I are staying. 

Stay tuned for more of our adventures at Villa Blanca.

Sent from SV Windarra iPad

Villa Blanca Cloud Forest Reserve and Hotel

10 12.039 N, 84 29.068 W

Reg and Phoebe of SV Three Sheet plus Rich and I are on a road trip. We rented a car and headed for the Villa Blanca Cloud Forest Reserve and hotel near San Ramon. It is pat of the private Los Angeles Cloud Forest Reserve, over 2000 acres of privately held rain forest.

Rich was driving and I was navigating with Google Maps on the iPad. Unfortunately, Google Maps got it wrong so we missed our turn in Los Angeles (thank goodness it was the LA in Costa Rica). Luckily we turned around and while Rich got directions from the owner is a small tienda, I called the hotel to find out which way to go as well.

When we arrived at the hotel, they were waiting with fresh, warm, wet hand towels to wipe our hands and faces and a cocktail made with a Costa Rican liquor made from sugar cane. It was a good sign that we were staying at a special place. Each couple is staying is a separate casita, overlooking the gardens and the property.

We joined happy hour and the. Sat in the small theater to watch a movie on the flora and fauna of Costa Rica. The dinner was excellent.

Since we are up at 3500 feet above sea level it is nice and cool. It will be the first time we are wearing long pants and sleeping in a bed with blankets since we went to the Copper Canyon this past November.

Tomorrow we will be up early for a guided bird watching tour. With any luck I will get a picture or two.

Cheers

Sent from SV Windarra iPad

Up the river, stuck in the mud

9 58.948 N, 84 47.603 W Puntarenas

This morning we were up early so we could arrive at Puntarenas before the flood. We followed the waypoints from the S/V Sarana cruising guide until we met up with Timo, the pilot, who led us the rest of the way to the Costa Rica Yacht Club. The waypoints were spot on by the way.

Following the pilot boat

We are tied to a floating dock that is moored fore and aft in line with the flow of the river. When we arrived Chiky was waiting at the dock to grab our lines. We had to manuever a little due to the current. The depth was 3.6 meters when we arrived. Now our depth meter shows 1.2 meters as we rest on our keel with a list to port. We will see how that works sleeping tonight as I am on the downhill side.

We hail the panga on channel 06 and they pick us up and deliver us across the river at the yacht club. Reg and Phoebe of SV Three Sheets are tied fore and aft to mooring buoys on the other side. We went in together, had breakfast at the restaurant on site and got checked in.

As they have free wifi we coordinated some of our inland trip. The plan is to depart on Saturday morning for the Los Angeles Cloud Reserve, visiting San Ramon on the way. We are booked for three nights which will give us time to check out the flora and fauna. Next we drive through Grecia and Sarchi and on to a bed and breakfast near the Poas Volcanic National Park. The next day we will check out the volcano. We are not sure where we will go next.

Watch this space for details.

Isla San Lucas

9 56.877 N 84 54.647 W, Isla San Lucas

Last night we had thunder, lightening and rain. It was the first rain we have experienced since Mexico. In fact, we think the last time we had rain on the boat was October, 2012. It was nice to have some of the dust and salt washed off the boat.

Today, Reg, Phoebe, Rich and I went onto the island to check it the prison.  According to the cruising guide,

"This island was once the site of a forbidding prison. Costa Rican dictator Tomas Guardia built this Central American version of Alcatraz in 1870. People were imprisoned here from 1873 to 1991. At the time, being sent to this prison was considered equivalent to a death sentence. The atrocities which occurred here were made famous by Jose Leon Sanchez in the book "La Isla de los hombres Solos" ("The Island of Lonely Men"). It was also made into a mediocre film, Island of Lost Souls. "

 

Administration building and church

Rich in one of the group cells

 



Phoebe and Reg as inmates

The administration building has been restored but most of the other buildings have not, like the hospital, church and the cell blocks. Some of the buildings are occupied by bats which are a little startling when they fly at you. There is a caretaker on the island who collects the tickets from the visitors from Puntarenas. He almost did not let us stay since we did not have any tickets but we explained that we were from the sailboats anchored in the bay and that we would pay for our tickets when we arrived in Puntarenas.

 

We walked around the island a bit and saw howler monkeys and red squirrels. Birds were a bit allusive. The howler monkeys put up with Phoebe and I taking pictures but when they started to pee from the trees we decided to move on. 

Tomorrow we head for Puntarenas and the Costa Rica Yacht Club. 

Sent from SV Windarra iPad

Bahia Ballena, Isla Tortugas, Curu, Isla San Lucas

Bahia Ballena 4/28

Rich and Reg on the path along the beach

 

Sunday we went into Tambor, the village at Bahia Ballena. We walked to a small boutique hotel with a swimming pool, a bar and a restaurant looking out onto the bay for some cold drinks and lunch. Everything was made of beautiful woodwork. The doors were finely carved. There were wooden lawn chairs next to the beach for watching the sunset. We saw red squirrels climbing through the trees. It was a quiet restful place. It was even more quiet as it is the end of the dry season and fewer tourists. Soon the rains will start but we hope, not too soon.

Tables by the pool

 

Carved doors

On the other side of the bay, was a small enclave of building on stilts. As we walked towards it we saw howler monkeys sleeping in the trees. We even saw a small one hanging by its tail, eating leaves. We have heard them howling since we arrived in Costa Rica at all of the anchorages but this is the first time that we have seen them. 

 

Howler monkeys, a small one hanging by its tail

We saw the Bahia Ballena Yacht Club, a restaurant over the shoreline, but it was all locked up and it looked like it had been closed for a while.

Isla Tortugas 4/29

After Bahia Ballena we went to Isla Tortugas. As weleft the harbor, two men in a panga flagged us down and wanted us to tow them north. They wanted to go as far as Puntarenas but we were only going to Isla Tortugas so that was ok too. Their tow line broke twice but we got that sorted out. They had a small puppy on board as well. Later we saw them sailing north with a black plastic bag as a sail. We hope they made it.

Nantucket sleigh ride

 

Isla Tortugas, has a few restaurants on the beach, only open during the day, but a popular place for tour boats to bring tourists to go snorkeling or hang out at the beach. Reg, Phoebe and I got our snorkel gear and decided to check it out. The water was warm, 30 degrees Celsius and I did see a few wrasse but that was it.  Maybe the light was wrong or too much wind and waves but I thought the snorkeling was poor compared to what we have seen in the South Pacific.

That evening was dinner for the four of us on Windarra. Rich fixed chicken on the BBQ. Yummy.

Curu 4/30

This morning we had the anchor up at 7:00 am and we went over to Curu, a small bay opposite the island. It is the home of the Curu Wildlife Refuge, http://www.curuwildliferefuge.com/. It is a private reserve that is family owned and operated. Luis, the son of the original owner, was our tour guide. He is a wealth of information, explaining how the reserve was initially set up, what he experienced as a child living on the property and now as the operator. In addition to the reserve itself, folks may stay in one of the cabins on site and enjoy the beach, the bush and an artificial reef that was created in the bay. They also provide PADI diving.

Capuchin monkey eating a mango

Luis walked us through the forest, where we saw trees of teak, mahogany, .a form of cashew, mango, banana, and much, much more. We saw the guanacasta tree, native to Costa Rica, whose name in the indigenous peoples language means ear which is the shape of the seed pod. We saw howler monkeys, Capuchin monkeys and spider monkeys. Luis explained there are certain limes that grow on the property that the Capuchin monkeys we open and spread the juice on their fur to clean it. They care for spider monkeys that may no longer live in the wild, often because their teeth have been removed so they do not bite but of course, now they may not survive on their own. We were lucky and saw a pair of red macaws, as well as Jesus lizards (they can race across the surface of a stream), leaf cuttings ants and woodpeckers. It was a great experience and we would suggest it to others.

Hanging out

Isla San Lucas 4/30
9 56.877 N 84 54.647 W

After our tour we motored north to Isla San Lucas. It was once the site of a prison, for Costa Rican prisoners. The facility is closed now but tomorrow we will check it out.

Tonight we are anchored in calm, flat water and we are looking forward to a great night's sleep.

Good night.

Sent from SV Windarra iPad