Costa Rica - Manuel Antonio

Early the next morning, we left for Manuel Antonio National Park, near the town of Quepos. Because it is so close to the capital San Jose, it’s busy and crowded. But we wanted to visit since my friend Allan was a guide and was available to take us around. I met Allan 6 years ago on my Earthwatch Fellowship, when we both spent a week at a biological field station working with leatherback sea turtles. I often see Allan’s social media posts highlighting the amazing animals that he sees, so I was eager to have him show us the park. 

...nature is so metal...!

I was excited to see what Manuel Antonio had to offer in terms of wildlife, and I wasn't disappointed. From the parking lot, we saw a troop of white-faced capuchin monkeys, who Allan told us were highly intelligent monkeys - sometimes scarily so. He sent us a video taken the week before of a capuchin who had stolen a baby spider monkey, and had started eating it while the baby was still alive. Ew.

Black spiny-tailed iguana

Jesus Christ lizard, aka basilisk

We saw a variety of fascinating creatures, including a gladiator frog, black spiny-tailed iguanas, a Jesus-Christ lizard. There were also some brightly colored land crabs, particularly near the mangrove forests.

Land crab

Manuel Antonio is interesting because it is so crowded and touristy. Many people head straight through the park to the beach for the beautiful soft white sands, but we wanted to see as much fauna as we could. There are boardwalks and paved paths that allow easy access through the rainforest, which mean huge crowds. 

Brown-throated three toed sloth baby

Two-toed sloth

Because of the throng, I was surprised by how many sloths we saw, especially since we only saw glimpse of one in the Amazon – here in Manuel Antonio, we saw 6 different sloths, and most were easy to spot! We saw two different species - a two-toed sloth (distinguishable by their tan coat and two toes on their front legs) which was harder to see since they are mostly nocturnal and this one was sleeping, and several three-toed sloths (with a grey coat and three front toes) which are diurnal. 

Because the park lies on the coast, part of the park includes a red mangrove forest along the transitional zone along the coastline. These plants are uniquely adapted to thriving in salt water, and red mangroves have a really cool way to tolerate such high salinity. 

So clever!

They sacrifice one leaf on each branch to send the salt, so looking across through the mangroves, you can easily see a single yellow leaf among each bunch. 

Thanks, Allan!

We stayed past closing, then had a quick bite before our night tour with Jeremy – an entirely different experience from the daytime tour. It too was crowded so I wondered whether we'd even spot anything, but we did find scorpions, whip spiders, a sleeping red-eyed tree frog, a sleeping keel-billed toucan, and several anoles and tarantulas. 

Tarantula

 

Scorpion

Whip spider

Tarantulas and 

scorpions and 

whip spiders, oh my!

Plus, we saw several snakes. I was proud of myself when I spotted a yellow broadheaded tree snake on a bush by the side of the path. We saw a second, much larger broadheaded tree snake in the branches overhead. 

So pretty!

One of the more exciting sightings of the night was a large fer-de-lance, curled at the base of a tree. The fer-de-lance is a common and widespread venomous pit viper species known for its aggressive behavior and potent venom. It is highly toxic and can cause severe pain, swelling, and tissue damage in humans, and in some cases, it can be fatal. 

Since it is so hard to spot, the fer-de-lance is
one of the more dangerous snakes in Costa Rica

Like all pit vipers, its heat-sensing pits and keen eyesight make the fer-de-lance an efficient ambush predator that feeds on small mammals, birds, and other snakes. It is primarily nocturnal and hunts by waiting in a concealed position and striking its prey when it comes within range. In the wild, the fer-de-lance is an important predator and a valuable part of the forest ecosystem, but in areas where human populations are high, it can pose a significant threat to human health and safety.

APRIL 4

The next day began with an early morning meet-up with Allan, who knew how excited I was to get a clear view of a potoo. He knew of a better spot in the local community, outside the National Park, where we'd be able to see one up close.

It's just a plain ol' tree stump... nothing else to see here!

So we drove through the local town to a spot right by the road, where we had an incredible view of a bird with its baby. Potoos are nocturnal birds that spend the day camouflaged – they sit on dead tree stumps and stand perfectly still, blending right in as though they are extensions of the trunk. They are also funny looking birds, with huge eyes and a wide, gaping mouth. They lay a single egg on the end of a tree stump, then roost and hatch the egg while trying to blend in. 

I think it does a pretty good job!

Afterward, we had breakfast with Allan before setting off for Sierpe, our jumping off point for the Osa Peninsula – the main reason why we chose Costa Rica for our trip.

Costa Rica - Monteverde

Having seen several different types of rainforests, Anil and I decided to head to Costa Rica for this year’s Spring Break so that we could see more. I’ve been here a couple times, but my trips to CR rainforests have been quick visits and I wanted the chance to spend quality time here. We decided to focus on Corcovado (on the recommendation from several people), but I also wanted to see Allan, a guide at Manuel Antonio who did the Earthwatch Sea Turtle fellowship with me several years ago. And our timing also allowed for a few extra days in the cloudforest, so that’s where we started our trip. 

We met first in Mexico City and flew together into San Jose. After picking up our rental car, we immediately headed out of the city. On first impression, San Jose is a big city (complete with the accompanying traffic) but it feels like the suburbs (with small, narrow streets and very few stoplights). It took over an hour just to get out of the city, and we were often stuck behind slow-moving trucks and school busses that belched out noxious clouds of black smoke. 

We were headed further north, where Anil had booked us at a sustainable ecolodge up in the San Luis Valley. We had 3 days here, at a great jumping off point to Monteverde and the surrounding mountains. 

Monteverde is a unique ecosystem known as a cloudforest – a tropical forest with covered in mist and cloud, giving it a constant high level of moisture. This level of moisture also means that cloudforests have a ton of epiphytes. Cloudforests are unique because their high levels of biodiversity and endemism. Monteverde has over 2,500 plant species, including 420 types of orchids! 

The rough roads to Monteverde

Getting to the Rancho de Lelo ecolodge was an adventure itself – directions were difficult to follow and the roads are unpaved and VERY rough. After a slight detour, we finally made it at 6PM (so grateful to have found it during daylight, as we would never have found it in the dark!) 

The best tilapia we've ever had - YUM!

The lodge is a small family-run affair, and they were so nice and accommodating. We had dinner of the most delicious fresh fried tilapia, then since neither of us slept much on the plane, we went to bed early. 

SATURDAY, APRIL 1 

The next morning we had breakfast at the lodge (a delicious gallo pinto and fried eggs), then drove up another bumpy road to Santa Elena. Since we hadn’t made any reservations, we stopped at a coffee plantation but couldn’t get a tour, so we went into town for a quick coffee (and to the grocery store for random snacks and water), then drove up to the Sky Tour for lunch before our bridge tour. 

Around Monteverde, there are several of these sky bridges that allow visitors to walk up above the tree canopies. The tour we took had 6 different bridges, with views of the treetops and a great birds-eye view of the cloudforest. And a much closer look at the epiphytes and other flora and fauna that live in and above the canopy. Because the clouds were rolling in, we couldn’t actually see that far, but it was still cool getting a different perspective of the rainforest. 

Lesser Violetear, in an Inga tree

On one bridge, we were up close to a flowering Inga tree that attracted several different species of hummingbirds, so we spend some time taking photos and enjoying the view. An interesting fact about the Inga - new leaves are actually brown, to resemble a dead tree, to fool predators.

How cool is this golden jewel scarab?! SO COOL!

That evening, we took a night tour with Joseph, the son-in-law of Rancho de Lelo’s owner. There were lots of other groups in the fairly small area, yet we saw so many interesting animals – which our guide explained are attracted to the reserve because the owners plant fruit trees nearby which attracting the wildlife. 

I spy with my little eye...
a walking stick! Do you? 

We saw a rather large anole, an orange kneed tarantula, several sleeping hummingbirds and a hummingbird nest (complete with baby hummingbirds), a toucan, and two of the coolest insects – a gold jewel scarab beetle and a walking stick that was perfectly camouflaged to look like lichen. 

Side-striped Palm Pit Viper

We also spotted two different snakes – a Side-striped Palm Pitviper and an Eyelash Palm Pitviper. They are called pit vipers because of their heat-sensing pits, which are located between their nostrils and eyes. These pits allow the snakes to detect the body heat of their prey, making them highly effective hunters. The venom of pit vipers is also highly potent and can cause serious injury or death in humans. 

SUNDAY, APRIL 2

Woke early and headed up to another private reserve, Curi Cancha, to get a tour with Joseph. This reserve, near Monteverde, has a combination of primary and secondary forest along with pastureland, so according to Joseph, it is easier to spot wildlife. And there was also a high likelihood that we’d see the elusive resplendent quetzal, which was high on my wishlist, so I was happy to go. 

Coppery-headed Emerald

Right at the start of the hike, we stopped to watch hummingbirds that were feeding off the purple flowers that had been planted at the reserve entrance. Costa Rica has over 50 species of colibris, or hummingbirds, and the Monteverde area is home to around 14 of them. It was fun to watch them buzz around, but so hard to photograph since they dart around so quickly and rarely stop to perch. 

Central American Agouti

Soon into our hike, we peered into the hollow of a fallen tree and saw a sleeping orange-kneed tarantula. We also spotted two agoutis foraging on the hillside that conveniently came down across our path so that we could get a better look. But the majority of wildlife were birds, and we were able to spot several different varieties. 

Keel-billed Toucan

We saw two toucans in the distance (which we got a good look at through the spotting scope), as well as crested guan (turkey-like birds) and golden-browed chlorophonia (both of which shared an avocado tree). 

Blue-crowned motmot, with its
pendulum-like tail feather

We also saw a blue-crowned motmot (with his twin bell-shaped tail feathers), a slate-throated redstart (with a crown of red on top of his head), several violet sabrewings (the largest colibri in Costa Rica), purple-throated mountaingem (another vibrant hummingbird) and a yellow throated Euphonia in a hanging nest. 

Most importantly (and most excitedly!!), we got to see both the male and female Resplendent Quetzal. This distinctive bird has cultural significance to many indigenous cultures, where it is revered as a symbol of beauty, freedom, and power. 

Female Resplendent Quetzal

Male Resplendent Quetzal

The quetzal is a vibrant, spectacular looking bird that truly lives up to its name - resplendent. It has iridescent bright green feathers on its back and head (which also sports a mohawk-like crest), with a rich red breast, and white highlights. The males grow long wispy tail feathers that can reach up to three feet in length which they use to attract females. The male that we spotted was partially hidden behind some trees, but his twin tail feathers were easy to see (since they were almost three feet long and fluttering in the wind!) The female, which lacked the red highlights and long tailfeathers, was much easier to spot. It was a good time to see them since it was nesting season, and their favorite food is the wild avocado so they were in the same tree as the guan and the chlorophonia. Such a thrill to see them! 

Since we had a few hours before we were going to be picked up for dinner, we decided to go into Santa Elena and hang out for a while. We went back to the same coffeehouse as the day before, then got a lunch of traditional Costa Rican food. As always, it was delicious (and I slightly regretted it since I was so full, and we had a big dinner ahead!) 

Our table, in our private glass box

The day before, Anil had seen a sign for the San Luis treetop dining experience, and since the ecolodge was closed for dinner that night, we decided to try it out. It turns out, this was truly a unique fine dining experience. We were up on the hillside in our own little glass cabin, with a great view of the town below us and the Pacific Ocean in the distance. We got reservations for 5PM, which meant we also got a lovely view of the sunset! And dinner was a “tour of Costa Rica” – a fun culinary experience!

A lovely sunset overlooking Santa Elena

O Canada!

In what is becoming a Winter Break Tradition, cousin Ev and Mark joined me and Anil for another snowy holiday adventure. We'd planned the trip five months earlier in the summer, during one of the most severe heat waves that Cambridge had ever seen. Anil reaaaaally wanted to go somewhere cold, so after debating a few locations, we decided on the Canadian Rockies.

The plan was to go to Lake Louise for a few days before joining E/M, but weather and incompetence by the airlines meant Anil and I left 4 days later than expected. Instead, E/M picked us up from the airport in Calgary and we immediately drove two hours north to Rocky Mountain House. Before heading out the next morning, we had to try out the infamous Tim Hortons - the Canadian staple known for its donuts. The eponymous Tim was a famous hockey player who played in the NHL for 24 years. It is apparently a Canadian tradition that everyone knows about, but I'd never been there. And I am VERY particular about my donuts, so I was eager to try it. We got a box of "Timbits" - essentially an assortment of overly-sweet donut holes. While it was an exciting prospect, Ev said it best - it's basically like eating Winchell's. I was definitely under-impressed... sigh. 

We headed west past the tiny former coal mining town of Nordegg, on the way to Lake Abraham. Our goal was to see the methane ice bubbles frozen into the lake, before heading up to Jasper via the famous Icefields Parkway, one of the most scenic drives in the world. 

Along the edge of Lake Abraham

Lake Abraham was created when a dam was built by the power company. Decaying vegetation on the bottom of the lake releases methane gas in stacked bubbles, which become trapped as the lake freezes in the winter.

Knowing we were going hiking on ice and snow, we had purchased ice cleats - definitely worth it!! Other tourists around us were sliding around and having difficulty climbing back out of the lake, whose edges were slightly sloped since the dam was releasing water and the water level was lower than when it first froze. We spent some time playing around on the frozen lake - which for me was a little nerve-wracking since there were areas that definitely looked like the water wasn't solid! But seeing the bubbles and playing around the lake was so much fun - absolutely mind blowing!

We then continued to Hwy 93  - but discovered it was closed because of avalanche warnings! This meant instead of a leisurely 2 hour drive to Jasper, we had a detour back through Rocky Mountain House, adding an extra 6 hours. Exhausting! Thanks for driving, Mark!

Luckily there was nothing on the agenda for the next day, so we could sleep in and relax. After breakfast, we took advantage of the resort's free skate rentals and went ice skating on Pyramid Lake. It's a common winter activity for Canadians, but it was weird for us Californians! The ice was clearly VERY thick, but it was still so unnerving to skate where we knew there was water under the ice. And it was kind of hard to skate on the areas where the surface was rough and there were cracks and fissures in the ice - particularly for someone like me, who hadn't ice skated in years.

In the afternoon, we went snowshoeing from the resort to Pyramid Island in the middle of Pyramid Lake. We trudged through the snow that accumulated on the frozen lake surface, so it was a pretty easy and flat 2.5 km round trip. As the sun started setting, a thick fog descended on the north side of the lake, and it was an eerie sight watching the fog thicken and creep towards us as we hiked back to the resort!

After dinner, we went to the Fairmont Hotel to the Jasper Planetarium tour. There was a surprisingly interesting show (only because it was a very small canvas dome, and we sat on reclining lawn chairs), and small telescopes that gave a great closeup view of the moon.

The next day we took an underwhelming wildlife tour in Jasper National Park - although we did see some elk and bighorn sheep, and we spotted a northern flicker. 

The trip started late and dropped us off late, which meant we had little time for lunch and a late start for our Maligne Canyon ice walk. The canyon is named after the Maligne River, or "Evil River" - named so because a French or Belgian priest who was an early explorer to the area lost all his gear trying to cross. The river carves into the limestone creating the deep slot canyon.

Maligne Canyon is 50 meters deep, with several waterfalls that freeze in the winter. During our excursion, we walked most of the way along the top of the gorge, crossing several bridges with a vantage of the river below. 

We then worked our way down onto the riverbed and walked a ways up to see the frozen waterfalls. The trip was AWESOME - absolutely gorgeous scenery and a fun hike,  with sliding, crawling, and wading. I'd be so curious to see what the canyon looks like during other times of the year!

An added bonus to the trip was that there were two moose that decided to hang out by the side of the road, to lick the salt. It was a mom and her calf, who was clearly more skittish, but they both were there for several hours and let us ogle them for quite a while!

It was New Year's Eve, so that night we had a lovely dinner at the Pyramid Lake restaurant.

The next morning we had a late start out for our drive down the Icefields Parkway to Banff. 

A lovely hike to Sunwapta Falls

I was particularly excited for this drive since it had been closed due to avalanches when we first arrived, but it is such an iconic part of the Canadian Rockies. Along the way there are several small hikes and frozen waterfalls, and we put our ice cleats to good use since we had them!

One of my favorite stops was actually just a quick hop out of the car - the base of Athabasca Glacier. It was so much colder there than just a few miles away - evidence of that katabatic wind! Too bad we didn't have time to hike closer... 

It was SO cold at the base of Athabasca Glacier!

Overall, the Icefields Parkway is a gorgeous drive - not difficult at all, and so much beautiful scenery and plenty of places to stop. I would definitely do it again during the summer months, with the Columbia Icefield is open and you can take tours to Athabasca Glacier. And even with multiple stops along the way, we made it to our next cabin with plenty of time to relax before dinner.

Our home for the next four days was at Baker Creek - a cozy cabin about 15 minutes south of Lake Louise. With a small kitchen and a wood-burning stove, it was a great place to use as base camp since we all were doing different things.

The next day, while E/M went skiing and Anil hung out at the cabin, I drove to Yoho National Park and snowshoed around the Emerald Lake Loop. It was a gorgeous walk, but there was one slightly scary section with huge 'avalanche warning' signs that made me really nervous! Luckily, I made it out alive!

The view of Banff from Sulfur Mountain

That night, we took the Banff Gondola up to the top of Sulfur Mountain. There was an evening light exhibit, and we had the best dinner at the restaurant at the top.

During our drive through the Icefields Parkway, we'd seen several iceclimbers and decided the next day that we needed to try it ourselves! Our guide was a Nepalese Sherpa who'd summited Mt. Everest 7 times(!) - so our little intro to ice climbing adventure was going to be a piece of cake for him. 

We set off for a 30 minute hike to a frozen waterfall - and it is really nerve-wracking since most of these waterfalls still have flowing water behind them! Ice climbing is actually easier than rock climbing, but definitely more intimidating. We have ice cleats on our boots, with sharp spikes sticking out from the front of our toes. Like in rock climbing, you put all your weight on your legs and use your arms to balance yourself - and since you are holding two ice picks that you whack into the ice, unlike rock climbing you always have an easy hand-hold. But since I don't rock climb, I wasn't used to relying on my legs  - plus I had a hard time getting my feet to stay in the ice, so I didn't trust putting all my weight on my legs. My arms got tired reaaallly fast (that's what happens when you have the arm strength of a wet spaghetti noodle... sigh...) but nonetheless I had a great time!

The ice castle on Lake Louise

One of the most famous spots in the Canadian Rockies is Lake Louise - a gorgeous turquoise glacial lake nestled between snowy mountains. In the winter, it freezes over and an ice skating rink is cleared on the ice. Anil and I were supposed to have stayed at the Fairmont resort during the 4 days we missed because of the weather (and stupid United Airlines), but at least we got a little taste of what we missed. 

E&M had snowshoes so they went off on their own, while I went to rent some skis. I cross-country skied across to the back of the lake (but didn't go any further since there were avalanche warnings and I was by myself). Since the track was right on the lake, it was really flat and easy - but it did get so cold that my eyelashes froze!

Anil stayed in the lobby to do some work, and when we all met up afterwards, we decided to have afternoon tea at the Fairmont. I always feel so sophisticated and posh when having afternoon tea - but as always, it was delicious!

Mmmmm, tea!

On our last day in Lake Louise, I wanted to experience other National Parks so I spent the day at Kootenay to see Marble Canyon. It is another short but cool hike to see a snowy slot canyon from above, with several bridges crossing it so you can see down into the canyon. Very cool! And just down the road were the Paint Pots, which were unfortunately covered in snow. But it was still a nice, peaceful hike through the snowy forest.

Driving back from the Paint Pots, I notice a 'continental divide' sign so of course I had to snap a picture! So now I can say I've straddled the divide in two different countries! And here, the Divide is also the dividing line between two National Parks - Banff and Kootenay!

National Parks in Canada are quite different from the ones in the US (at least the ones we visited - Jasper, Banff, Yoho, and Kootenay). For one, it doesn't seem like people go to the parks for the sake of the park - they go for activities like skiing or hiking. The vast majority of visitor centers are closed during the winter, so we couldn't even go in to see why the areas that were designated as parks were chosen to be protected. We never saw any rangers, and it was hard to tell when we were even within park boundaries. And in the smaller parks, like Yoho and Kootenay, there were very few people (I think I saw maybe a half dozen on my hikes).

Deep fried dough with cinnamon
sugar? Why yes, please!

On our way back to Calgary, we stopped in Banff and tried Beavertails: delicious deep fried pastries that were SOOO good - I  could see why they are so well known in the area! 

After checking into the hotel, we had a final dinner of Tibetan hot pot before heading to the Calgary Flames hockey game. Even though we had nosebleed seats, it was fun watching them beat the New York Islanders! A fun and very Canadian way to end our trip - Thanks, Canada!