Manuel Antonio National Park, March 19

Today, we got up early and drove to Manuel Antonio State Reserve. And, it was good we did because, when we left in mid-morning, it was mobbed. We hired a guide, Wilbur and we are also very glad that we did that, as he found things that we never would have seen in a million years, plus was knowledgable about the plants and other animals. We paid for a group tour (which could have been up to 20 people). But, as we were there before the park even opened, we ended up paying for a group, but having a private tour as it was just the two of us.

We walked (a very easy walk) for about an hour or two and then, he left us at the beach. Again, there were few people there when we arrived and we had a lovely swim.

No denying that it is hot and humid here, but there was some cloud cover today, which made it better. Mark has had an allergic reaction to sunblock and has a rather vivid red rash on his cheeks and forehead, so we are being very careful in the sun.

For those not interested in the birds, ignore the following! Again, it is paginated to the bird book we are using.

The first birds we saw on a wire, Wilbur called "inca dolls" but we cannot find them in the book.

-Band-tailed pigeon     87 (could have been short billed?)

-Cherrie's Tanager    287  (We also saw this by the pool yesterday)

-Ruff-sided hawk - I could not find this in the book and may have misunderstood him

-A flock of Crimson-fronted parakeets. (Later, we heard Orange-fronted parakeets, but did

    not see them.  p 95

-Tropical Kingbird p 213 (gorgeous!)

-Lesser Nighthawk, p113. This was so blended in resting motionless on a branch and is such a

    small hawk, although, we understand that, in flight, the wings are long. This is one of the birds

    Mark and I would NEVER have noticed. A great bird.

-Chestnut-sided Warbler, p259. Beautiful.

-Riverside Wren (lovely song)

-Great Crested Flycatcher p 209. The guides were all very excited by this sighting as this bird   

     has not been seen here much of late.

-White necked Puffbird, p 151. Another great bird! We were excited to see this one.What a beak...

-Hummingbirds: Violet headed, and one he called stripe throated, but I cannot find that one in

    the book.

-Black-hooded Antshrike p 177 - endemic to this area

Other things we saw:

A golden orb spider in its web,

Two, very motionless blobs of hair - otherwise known as the 2-Toed Slothb

Two gorgeous, large blue Morpho butterflies

White faced Capuchin monkeys

Heard Howler Monkeys in the early morning at the apartment, plus making a racket in the park.

Wilbur heard other birds, but I will not list them as we did not see them. We really, really, really wanted to see a toucan and the closest we came was a glimpse of wings that was a Fiery-billed Arcari. Boy, did we wish we could have seen it to really see it, but it was not to be.  Yet.

We were tired and hot when we were finished, so came back to 11Up, where we are living, washed our clothes, took cold showers and a rest, plus looked up the birds that we saw.


For lunch, we went just up the street to Falafel, which was the name of one of our favorite restaurants in Cairo. Mark had schwarma and I had a hummus plate; both were fantastic. We chatted for a long time with two British couples who were very interesting; they met at a hotel in Gatwick 42 years ago, both having just been married that day and en route to their respective honeymoons. They have remained close friends and travel together frequently - to China, Thailand, Australia and three weeks here.

After lunch, we ventured into Quepos to get some aloe and just look around. There was not much to see as it is a rather busy, rather poor town and, unfortunately, has polluted its beach.

Then, a dip in the pool and later, to dinner at Agua Azul which is rght by our hotel. It was very busy and we both had interesting dinners. Mark had tuna with a ginger aoili dressing and I had a "plantain tower" - which was rather like a salsa in layers. It was delicious.