Costa Rica Pictures

[Glacier]

We rented a little cabina in Tamarindo.

It was great! Had a kitchen, a little pool and provided surf boards & bikes! Just a short walk to the beach! Plus the owner lived on site and had a lovely dog and cat! The cat's name translated to Mooch! He certainly knew a sucker when he saw one. He basically moved in with us after I came back from the Automeracdo with Whiskas treats!

The sunsets were amazing!

We went kayaking in the tidal estuary, where we saw a huge crocodile, more monkeys and mangroves.

Spent a day out on a catameran, snorkelling and cruising! We went deep sea fishing one day too and caught some skipjack tuna. The boat captain came over that night and cooked our catch for us. That day was the highlight for Stuart!

We saw some of the traditional crafts of the country, like decorated ox-carts and beautiful pottery. I have a tiny version of this cart sitting on my dining room table now!

We had a rental for the whole trip so we toured around quite a bit. Driving in CR is an adventure! Not big on road maintenance and signage is non-existant, even our GPS was pretty much useless! I got really good at asking for directions in Spanish!

one more post coming

[Glacier]

The country is beautiful with all kinds of terrain, from open plains to mountains! This was taken in the Central Valley region, from a little roadside restuarant...that had the best fresh pineapple juice ever!

Then we spent a few days in Alajuela, just outside the capital city. We stayed in a little hotel owned by an ex-pat Canadian, Hotel La Rosa de America.

We toured a coffee plantation and stuffed as much of that stuff as we could into our suitcases! It certainly makes you appreciate that morning cup once you see how much work it takes to produce it!

One of our last stops was Zoo Ave. It's primarily a bird sanctuary, but they have all kinds of other animals as well. All the animals are rescues, either former pets, injured wildlife or orphaned young wild animals. They do not capture wild animals for their zoo. The macaws are free ranging and could go where they please, but why leave easy food! Zoo Ave has a very successful bird breeding program that is trying increase the numbers for some endangered species.

It was a great trip. The critters all behaved. Things went nuts not long after we got back, but our sitter never even called our vet! We're looking forward to our next trip! We'd like to explore the Caribbean side next time!

[phesina]

Beautiful photos.. Thank you!

The animals are fascinating!

[sana]

Fantastic and Amazingly superbly taken photos, I must say! What great shots of all the sceneries and what pretty animal photos too!

[Bengalz]

What a fabulous vacation! Sounds like you had a really great adventure in such a beautiful place. I love the Jaguar - gorgeous photo!!

[Bonny]

Beautiful pictures it looks like Paradise. Thanks for sharing.

[kaycountrygal]

OH MY!! Such beautiful photos! Thank you so much for posting these pics. They are outstanding; what beautiful scenic photos and the animals are great too. I enjoyed every single photo you posted.... Kay in NC