March 22, a Day in the Jungle

We woke to a lovely day......nice and early. The noises in the night were quite amazing. At dusk, the insect noises were ear-piercingly loud and shrill.

Then, off to a lovely al fresco breakfast with our fellow French mates in our area of the reserve. All the cabins (6) are full, but the inhabitants are all on morning hikes, so we have not met them yet. It is incredibly peaceful and beautiful here - a true garden of paradise. We went to see the baby potoo this morning and he was as still as he was last night. He looks like part of the stump and quite reptilian, rather than avian. Evidently, his mother drops by to feed him, but we have not seen her.

We had planned a waterfall hike in the morning coolness, but found out that is is quite strenuous and over 4 kilometers each way. Plus, it is closed on Sundays. We could still go because the reserve here can get us in, but we opted out. There is no point in pushing Mark's knee like that.

Instead, we took one of the reserve trails and walked through the rain forest to the beach. We saw truly amazing trees and vines and flowers. At times, it was fragrant. The tallest trees are ceibos and guanacastes. We also were fascinated by a calabash tree with large fruit used by the pre-Columbians as drinking gourds. The beach is wide, sandy, huge and ferocious...way too dangerous for swimming. We saw a beautiful whimbrel, snowy egret and some brown Pelicans. We also think we saw a black eagle, but are not positive and Mark's photo may be too far away.Afterwards, we showered as we were drenched in sweat with the humidity. I think it was a 4 shower day!

We drove to Uvita, about 10 miles south. It was not much to see, rather strung out along the road. But the beach area in between, Playa Hermosa, (yes, another one), was beautiful and we stopped for a while. We met an interesting man who told us he was one of the original Italians who settled in San Vito in the mountains. About 140 families immigrated here in the early 1950s. He was only 2 at the time, but grew up speaking Italian and Spanish and holds both passports.

Then, we went back to Pescado Loco for a late lunch and had the delicious fish tacos. Again.

A sloth-like afternoon for us, after a scare at losing our room key which also has the key to the room safe where we keep the passports. After searching the car and our backpacks more than once, we walked to the office to get help, and, lo! the security guard had found them in the parking lot next to our car after we had pulled out. Whew!

The wildlife is amazing. Hummingbirds, iguanas, lizards, tanagers, flycatchers, wrens....and lots we cannot identify.

We hung out at the restaurant tonight having a pineapple drink (addicted to), doing Internet and sharing a meal when an agouti wandered by, a strange looking animal....some sort of large rodent. Look one up.