06/12: A Day in the Rain Forest
Category: General
Posted by: The Agnew Family
A boat ride around Tortuguero National Park was the this mornings group activity. We were on an open boat that could seat about 15 people plus our guide and driver. The ride started on the river then went into some natural canals and finally a man made canal. In the 1960's and 1970's this area was logged and the canal was built to facilitate the removal of the trees. In the 1980's, Costa Rica realized what the logging was doing to the environment so they stopped the logging and created the National Park. Locals working in the logging industry were told not to worry about their livelihood as tourism would come into the area and provide them with lasting opportunities and it has.
On the boat ride we saw a number of caymans, a Northern Jacama, a Bare Throated Tiger-Heron, Little Blue Herons, Great Blue Herons, Yellow-Crowned Night Heron, King Vulture, a Pooto, several types of turtles, several types of Iguanas and a few more things that I don't know the names of. A lot of the different plant life was also pointed out to us, like trees with roots that spread for better water consumption, plants that are parasitic and plants are are symbiotic, etc.
One of the river turtles
One of several different types of Iguanas we saw.
Northern Jacama and Bare-throated Tiger-Heron
When we returned to the resort Ed and I decided to go out in the kayaks that the resort loans out. There is a small natural canal that runs along side of the resort that is recommended for kayaking as it does not have boat traffic on it. It's a small, shallow and short canal but we enjoyed the hour we spend on the water. We saw a few turtles, some kingfishers and a spider.
This afternoons group activity was a walk around the resort with the guide looking at the wildlife in the park. A troupe of Capuchin monkeys found us and entertained us with their antics for quite awhile. It was a interesting watching them swinging from the branches, chasing each other, eating and just monkeying around.
Ed's favourite monkey photo from today was this little guy sitting in nearby tree staring at Ed.
Several birds were also spotted ---- purple-throated fruit crow, Montezuma Oropendola, Olive-backed Euphonia, a Tucan and high in the sky a Macaw
I know I posted a Tucan photo yesterday, but this guy co-operated and Ed got a really good photo that didn't need to be cropped. On the other hand the Olive-backed Euphonia required a fair bit of cropping.
Our guide is quite knowledgeable regarding plants, birds and animals in the Caribbean low lands, so I learned a lot about this area of Costa Rica.
On the boat ride we saw a number of caymans, a Northern Jacama, a Bare Throated Tiger-Heron, Little Blue Herons, Great Blue Herons, Yellow-Crowned Night Heron, King Vulture, a Pooto, several types of turtles, several types of Iguanas and a few more things that I don't know the names of. A lot of the different plant life was also pointed out to us, like trees with roots that spread for better water consumption, plants that are parasitic and plants are are symbiotic, etc.
One of the river turtles
One of several different types of Iguanas we saw.
Northern Jacama and Bare-throated Tiger-Heron
When we returned to the resort Ed and I decided to go out in the kayaks that the resort loans out. There is a small natural canal that runs along side of the resort that is recommended for kayaking as it does not have boat traffic on it. It's a small, shallow and short canal but we enjoyed the hour we spend on the water. We saw a few turtles, some kingfishers and a spider.
This afternoons group activity was a walk around the resort with the guide looking at the wildlife in the park. A troupe of Capuchin monkeys found us and entertained us with their antics for quite awhile. It was a interesting watching them swinging from the branches, chasing each other, eating and just monkeying around.
Ed's favourite monkey photo from today was this little guy sitting in nearby tree staring at Ed.
Several birds were also spotted ---- purple-throated fruit crow, Montezuma Oropendola, Olive-backed Euphonia, a Tucan and high in the sky a Macaw
I know I posted a Tucan photo yesterday, but this guy co-operated and Ed got a really good photo that didn't need to be cropped. On the other hand the Olive-backed Euphonia required a fair bit of cropping.
Our guide is quite knowledgeable regarding plants, birds and animals in the Caribbean low lands, so I learned a lot about this area of Costa Rica.