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Posted (edited)

Now came one of the most interesting trips : a night tour. I believe 80% of creatures in rain forest is nocturnal and here gain Andy's expertise came very handy. Most of the guides go to a small private reserve and again I saw them helping each other. It started to rain quite heavily, so I had to pack off my big camera and was dependent on my Sony RX100 and phones. This helped me as I had to concentrate on what was around me. Andy gave us some night vision goggles and we could see the "humming bats" in the night !

I was well and truly blown away by the leaf moths which mimicked the leaves. Unbelievable. Saw the leaf cutter ants for the first time and many small creatures, including a tarantula. It was practically raining snakes that night. Andy is a superb photographer with i-phone and he forced my wife and kids to have a selfie with a snake. Despite getting a good soaking I thoroughly enjoyed it. Yes, we did not see big mammals but we saw plenty of little ones. Then it was time to bid good bye to Andy and back to cabin and sleeping under thunderstorms.

 

A perfect coil

 

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That is an insect

 

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Unbelievable mimicry. These are all moths, not dead leaves

 

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That is a stick I guess

 

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No that is a Stick Insect. Close up

 

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Tarantula

 

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It's raining snakes

 

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The Selfie people are slightly worried about everyone in the frame, specially the one behind them. My wife had turned pale :huh: :huh:

 

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A banded one

 

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Green leaf moth

 

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Edited by Chakra
Posted

The mating bugs sure are colorful. I saw the walking stick! Even before the cropped photo. Lots of snakes about. Happy zipping. Chatty guide or not, I'll pass. But good for you all that you went.

Posted

Okay, @@Chakra, that was one very cool video of the bell bird. Thank you.

 

I'm not a huge snake fan, but those that you saw were certainly striking (in coloration, I mean :) ). Snakes were quite scarce when we were there in the dry season.

Posted (edited)

The next morning I had booked a coffee tour to a small co-op called Monteverde coffee farm.

It was a small and intimate tour in a small farm. The guide spoke good English and his name was Sergio Aguera, namesake of a very famous Argentine footballer !! And he was from Nicaragua. He not only discussed coffee but also the geo-political situation in central America and it was interesting to hear that local population were not keen to do low paid jobs and a large number of Nicaraguans were in CR to do those jobs, coffee beans picking was one of those.

We had good opportunity to learn about coffee and because it was a farm with flowering plants, there were butterflies galore. Crops always attract butterflies and here is the first time I came across the miracle of translucent butterfly : "Glasswings".
The Spanish name is better : "Espejitos : The little Mirrors". This truly confounds science.

 

I saw the multi-coloured beans which give the Gallo Pinto its typical appearance of a Painted Rooster.

Of course it ended up with coffee tasting and buying. The Dark Roast was and always will be my favourite.

I proudly said I was from India as India had a long tradition of producing excellent coffee from the Nilgiri mountains , which Sergio immediately recognised.
The girls could not feel such pride as Britain's only claim to fame of farm produce is growing Jersey Potato ( not even from proper England, but from Jersey Island).

 

$ 7 was a small price to pay to take home a slice of the rich Costa Rican heritage of Coffee making.

The only problem is that my dear wife asked them if they had any instant coffee. I wanted the earth to open up when standing next to her and the look on the face of the guide was enough to put her off from asking any more embarrassing question.
Something like going to Napoli and ask for an American Pizza Pie !

Nescafe hasn't reached the land of Pura Vida ! Thank God for small mercies.

Overall a short but satisfying trip.

 

Sloping hills ideal for coffee planting

 

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The beans

 

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Coffee plants : Trimmed regularly not to grow tall so that the pickers can reach easily

 

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Many varieties of roasting

 

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A traditional Coffee Grinder. Gosh, you need muscles like Arnie !!

 

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The Final product and a traditional coffee filter

 

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Gallo Pinto : the mix of black and red beans

 

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Edited by Chakra
Posted (edited)

Then it was time to drive to Bijagua. Originally I had planned to take some back roads as recommended by Lonely Planet going north towards Tilaran and then go towards the village of Tejonas , skirting the Arenal lake and then going through village of Tierras Morennas to join Highway 6 again. Apparently this was a very scenic road with views of the Volcano but as Xelas had mentioned before these roads have been left in their pristine states for many years !

But my host Christian strongly advised me against that saying that he had driven that road recently and it was not in the best shape. And the chance of seeing the volcano without cloud cover was always slim. I'd always listen to a local rather than to Lonely Planet, so I went down south and then took the tarred roads!

Overtook several buses and cars and was pleased to see that I had saved nearly 7 minutes from my original estimated arrival time as predicted by Uncle Google. And then just 5 minutes away from Bijagua I got stuck. !!

Bijagua is a small town near the border, perfectly situated for exploring the Tenorio area. But being under the shadow of the Tenorio volcano it does rain here a lot. The weather changes quickly and within a few km.

Just five minutes away from my destination I saw a few cars ahead of me and to my horror realised there was a landslide and the road was completely blocked by tree and mud. With my limited Spanish I established no one knew when it was going to be cleared. The maps showed another back road going towards Bijagua and I decided to brave it with great trepidation after engaging the 4WD. It had rained incessantly and the potholes were really large with big stones scattered, needing me to go into the grass verge occasionally, which was soft.

After a while I saw a guy coming from other side and even with my limited understanding I realised , " no pasa". There was no point to turn and I went on a little bit to find there was a bridge which was getting repaired.

So turned around , joined the queue to wait for 3 more hours and was delighted to see heavy machinery working hard.

 

 

Road block

 

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Cause of the Road block. Big Landslide

 

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I wished I had a motorbike.

 

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The most unlikely Hero

 

 

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I was very impressed at the speed they cleared up all the debris. Reached Finca Verde in total darkness, after taking a few wrong turns, 5 hours after the estimated time of arrival to be greeted by my first sight of the Green Frog and an enormous very friendly crested Guam who wanted to share the dinner with me. The girls assumed it was a gilrl and Christened her Judy. For next five days Judy followed us everywhere !!

 

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Finca Verde was not my first choice but I was so happy after the stay. It was full of wildlife, tamed creatures and wonderful flowers and an animal rescue centre.

 

I was having a great sleep on first night but exactly at 5 am these idiots started shouting follwed by a humongous racket from cicadas combined with howler monkeys which sounded like Texas Chain Saw massacre going on !

 

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The Original gallo Pinto : The painted Rooster

 

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So time to go and enjoy the freshly brewed coffee and checking wi-fi while Judy gave me company and Coco desperately pleaded me to play with him.

 

 

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Coco chasing Butterflies

 

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Edited by Chakra
Posted

On the Sixth Day of Creation Lord finished painting the whole sky and sighed a big relief, " Job done. No more work tomorrow."
But being a meticulous man ( or perhaps a woman , who knows with certainty that He is not a She ?), God decided to clean his paint brushes first before retiring for Sabbath. .
Everyone knows that if you leave paintbrushes unwashed for a while, the paint dry up and ruin the hairs.
So God took all his paint brushes and dipped them in the river He had previously named as Rio Quebrada Agria or Sour River as the ph was only 3.1 , as acidic and sour as a lemon.
To His amazement the colour of the river actually changed to an amazing milky Blue hue which even He had never seen and never managed to reproduce in his entire creation.
God named it Rio Celeste : The Blue River .
There goes the popular story.
But what actually causes the river to change colour ?
The actual colour change takes place right on the spot where two rivers : Rio Quebrada Agria ( Sour River) and Rio Buena Vista ( river of Good Views) meet.

Both of them have crystal clear water but as soon as they meet they form this unique Blue River.
That particular point is known and Tenidero or "Dyeing Point". This happens only here in the whole world.
But if you scoop up the water it looks just like any other river, not blue.

Is it due to the copper and other minerals in the river ? Or perhaps thermal bacteria from the Volcanic springs like the incredibly beautiful Rainbow River of Colombia ( That is next in my target list ) ?

After many years of research in this inaccessible place eventually in 2013 scientists cracked the secret of Rio Celeste.
It is an optical illusion and the blue colour is due to the refraction of sunlight as seen by human eyes.
But what causes this refraction ? The answer is aluminium, oxygen and Silica. The Sour River and Buena Vista river have these in plenty in the riverbed.
The researchers realized that when the acidic and neutral waters of the two rivers meet, their aluminosilicate particles clump together, resulting in enough particle concentration and size to scatter light and voilà – the Río Celeste in all its turquoise glory!

So, to see this amazing sight you need to fulfil several conditions :
1. Reach Bijagua without getting stuck in a land slide ( which almost ruined my plans) !!
2. Drive the most horrendous 9 km road to the interior.
3. Must have a reasonably sunny day for enough sunlight to hit the riverbed and get refracted.
4. There must not be any significant rain for previous couple of days on the Tenorio mountain slopes. If it had rained the gorgeous colour will be more like mud as the Aluminosilliacte particles won't get chance to clump !
5. Hike for 2 hours in mud and tackle 500 odd steps !
6. There should not be any recent Volcanic activity : otherwise the trails will be closed.

I am ever so thankful that it didn't rain the day before when we decided to visit. Photographs do not do justice to the amazing colours.
Sadly swimming in this river is no more allowed as several tourists have died from burn. This amazingly inviting water actually comes from a volcano and pretty hot in places. You can see the "Borbollones" : hot gas Bubbles coming out in many places.
Unfortunately Tenorio Volcano had decided to do a bit of stretch a couple of days before my visit and that had caused the trail to collapse in a place and I could not actually reach the Tenideros or the Dyeing Point where two rivers meet and only had a glimpse from far off.
Everyone knows about my love of waterfalls and 300 steps were not going to deter me from experiencing this surreal beauty from a close quarter.

So there goes the story of Rio Celeste.

I actually kind of liked the God's painting brush story a lot more than Aluminosillicate !!

 

The two tired but happy hikers standing next to Rio Celeste

 

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Posted

Fantastic trip report. I lol'd at the Texas Chainsaw Massacre comment :D

Posted (edited)

A mug of hot Tico coffee early in the morning on the porch of a cabin immersed in the deep greens of rain forrest ... I am sure you will come back again, one day :) . Despite landslides, horrible rocky roads and OMG bridges.

Edited by xelas
Posted

A mug of hot Tico coffee early in the morning on the porch of a cabin immersed in the deep greens of rain forrests.

And don't forget the Wi-fi ??

Posted

Fantastic trip report. I lol'd at the Texas Chainsaw Massacre comment :D

Thanks,there are plenty of excellent reports on traditional safaris and big creatures. I want to put the little ones in the map. Well, Texas chainsaw is perhaps a bit exaggerated but it was like the Bard Cacophonix singing from Asterix comic books.

Posted

The old refraction of sunlight trick! I like the paintbrush theory too.

 

Judy is very photogenic.

 

Scary landslide. You were so close, yet so far.

 

Even your coffee bean shots are attractive.

 

More excellent butterflies, with or without canine.

 

Your hero shot is a hoot.

Posted (edited)

Here are some shots on the way to Rio Celeste. A little bit muddy !!

 

In search of Rio Celeste tthrough Volcan Tenorio NP

 

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Indomitable spirit

 

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First Glimpse through foliage

 

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The colour difference is striking

 

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A few stairs to tackle to see the most amazing waterfall

 

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In slo-mo !

 

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The bubbling sour river : signs of volcanic activity

 

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Hiking under the shadows of the canopy

 

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Leaf cutter ants on the trail

 

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Adios Rio Celeste

 

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Returned to Finca Verde to see Marvin had captured a young Boa from roadside and was going to put it in the rescue shelter. Young but still very strong, rippling with muscle !

 

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Our small but welcoming room with Judy waiting patiently there to welcome us

 

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Edited by Chakra
Posted

Next day I was off to Cano Negro. This is supposed to be a birder's paradise with plenty of wading creatures. I was aware I was in the wrong time as it was full rainy season and a number of birds had flown away. Most of the guided trips do not go thr actual wetland and starts and ends at the border town of Los chiles , floating along the Rio Frio.

I wanted to see the wetland proper and just not Rio Frio from Los Chiles. I came to know that it was possible to drive on my own to the actual village of Cano Negro and hire a boat there. Paraiso Tropical was a company who came recommended. I contacted Joel Sandoval from Paraiso Tropical and he turned out to be an excellent guide. The 25 km gravel road from tarred road to cano Negro village was terrible and I had to engage 4WD a few times. I reached around 11 am, not the best time to start. As soon as we got into the boat it started raining. Joel reassured us that the rain will be gone in 15 minutes but sadly it was La Nina year and it rained practically non-stop for 2 hours.

Irony is that as soon as we got out of the boat it stopped raining.

Understandably the birds did not come out in flocks in such heavy rain but I still managed to tick a number of boxes. I'm absolutely sure this place would be fantastic in dry season. It was also quite affordable for $60 for 4 of us for 2 hours plus. Floating along while listening to teh thunder was a wonderful experince. I had a feeling how it would be like in Amazon !

We were treated to a superb casado cooked by Rosi, again very affordable, which helped to warm up our wet bones.

Returned to do some eploration inside Finca Verde which was littered with little gems. Folowed by excellet dishes of enchiladas served by Marvin and his boys , while watching a local football game in the TV and just cheered for the local team !!

 

Spectacled Cayman

 

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Up, close and personal

 

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An angry looking Jacana. Probably angry because of too much rain !!

 

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Jesus Christ basilisk

 

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ID please ?

 

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Baby Anhingas in the nest

 

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Delicious Chicken Casado

 

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offshorebirder
Posted

@@Chakra - the "ID please?" bird in post #38 looks to be a Groove-billed Ani. They are highly desired by North American birders, having become very rare north of the Mexican border in recent years.

 

Thanks very much for this highly detailed trip report - very good info on inexpensive options in Costa Rica.

Posted

@@Chakra - the "ID please?" bird in post #38 looks to be a Groove-billed Ani. They are highly desired by North American birders, having become very rare north of the Mexican border in recent years.

 

Thanks very much for this highly detailed trip report - very good info on inexpensive options in Costa Rica.

Thanks @@offshorebirder. I had no clue it was such a prized sighting :D Ignorance is bliss ! Much appreciated.

Posted

The visit to real Cano Negro is beautiful even in heavy rain!

Posted

 

 

The visit to real Cano Negro is beautiful even in heavy rain!

 

Time to have a break from the rain !!

 

The flat grasslands of Guancaste

 

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Clouds come to life bringing colours and rains

 

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Posted (edited)

Spectacled caiman is a good find too. Outstanding shots of it too. I would have guessed your mystery bird was an Ani of some sort. #42 = gorgeous scenery.

Edited by Atravelynn
Posted

Yes, concur with groove-billed ani.

 

That Rio Celeste looks fantastic. On my list! One of my favorite Costa Rican photographers, Greg Basco (an American who lives there) has a great photo of a tapir crossing those turquoise waters, with the dark forest on either side. You can find it and many more of his photos in a book released late last year: National Parks of Costa Rica. I came across a copy at a bookstore in the San Jose airport as we were leaving, and highly recommend it.

Posted (edited)

Spectacled caiman is a good find too. Outstanding shots of it too. I would have guessed your mystery bird was an Ani of some sort. #42 = gorgeous scenery.

Thanks. The scenery was a big change after 3 days of rain !!

 

 

On my list! One of my favorite Costa Rican photographers, Greg Basco (an American who lives there) has a great photo of a tapir crossing those turquoise waters, with the dark forest on either side. You can find it and many more of his photos in a book released late last year: National Parks of Costa Rica. I came across a copy at a bookstore in the San Jose airport as we were leaving, and highly recommend it.

@@Alexander33 I'll certainly look out for that book next time. I had read that Tapirs were sometimes visible in Rio Celeste region, but with so many hikers around and in the middle of the day I had no chance.

Edited by Chakra
Posted (edited)

A good scratch was part and parcel of my life, being born and brought up in the hot and humid Gangetic plains of India, long before the days of Air Conditioning, which was way beyond my parents' means any way.
During my college days, after travelling like an upside bat being squashed by sweaty armpits from all angles in bus number 240, the first thing I would do in my hostel room, was to have a nice long scratch, especially on certain parts of my body which had to suffer silently away from public eye.

I have moved to the cool temperate climate of Europe but old habits die hard.
My wife was too posh to travel in a bus, had a car/driver and lived in the Air Conditioned ivory tower. So sweating and scratching were never a big problrm for her.

My daughters are born and brought up in the drizzly cold island of England and think sweat is something which rich and fat people suffer in gyms for their sins.
So sadly my family do not appreciate a Good Scratch.
In fact I'm continuously admonished, " Dad, You are so uncouth ! Disgusting habits ! Take your hands off now !!"
Whenever I go to help in the kitchen I'm forced to wash my hands, even if I was sitting watching TV just prior to that ! Apparently my hands just unconsciously wander towards hairy regions for a scratch.
So, after spending a hot humid night without A/C in a small cabin in Finca Verde Lodge at Bijagua,reminiscent of my days in India, I was woken by the howler monkeys and realised the mosquitoes have bitten me in various unmentionable places.
I was in desperate need of a scratch, so came out of the useless mosquito net to go outside the cabin, to have a nice long scratch.
And who do I see just in front of me having a good scratch hanging from the branches?

One of the most iconic animals of south America. A three toed sloth.

I could not believe my luck. People hike miles to see one and here is one right in front of me. Three toed sloths are difficult to spot as they live high up and often go higher and deeper inside the canopy when it rains. But one good thing about spotting a sloth is that, once you spot them they are unlikely to move away too soon.
I believe the "Usain Bolt of the Sloths" currently holds the world record of running 100 metres in 100 minutes!

So I had plenty of time to go inside, get my camera, call my family, try several camera settings and have a debate about the gender of our visitor. Should we call it Tina or Tony ?

After the debacle of naming a big male Guam bird as "Judy" I was cautious. Sadly we could not see the relevant bits so never established the gender.

But the way it was enjoying scratching its hairy armpit and bottom, I'm absolutely sure it was a "HE" and called him Tony.

You must see the expression on Tony's face and tell me if it is not the bliss of having a lovely scratch. Like any sensible man he scratched both armpits slowly, sensuously, seductively and then used his long nails to have a deep scratch inside his anus ! At this stage his face had a mystical smile like Mona Lisa or Guru Ramdev Baba.
And then he fell asleep just like any contented man !

Sloths are moving ecosystems on their own ! They have a host of moth, beetles and cockroaches following them living inside their fur, they have algae and fungi growing on their fur which they sometime eat and moths lay eggs on the lovely soft stool they pass and the larvae feed on that stool till they find another sloth! What a wonderful creature !!

Sad part is that my daughters went gaga over Tony. " Oh, So cute, adorable, lovely eyes, look at the smile !!!" Not once did they mention about his disgusting habit of scratching his bum. I wish I was a sloth!
Later we also saw a baby sloth who had clearly picked up the good habit of scratching from his parents.
Another Big Box ticked and I was so happy to see the iconic creature emulating my habit. Thank you Finca Verde !!

 

 

 

Oh, All this scratching is a tiring job !!

 

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Nothing like a good scratch

 

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Look at the Happy Face

 

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Now it is Right side's turn

 

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The Mona Lisa Smile

 

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Excuse me, where are your fingers going ?

 

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Edited by Chakra
Posted

Knowing how many creatures lives in the fur jungle of each sloth, daily scratching is a must.

Posted (edited)

@Chakra Just adore the sloth, but I have to say....the bell bird....I did not know anything about them and to watch that video...It elicited a clear and loud...."holy sh.." from me. Now I completely understand the broken limb thing about people trying to find them. That was just amazing.....I adore nature.....she is just so CRAZY!! :) Looking forward to more!!!

Edited by lmonmm
Posted

Fantastic photos of the sloth! The only ones I've seen have all been high up in the trees. "He" looks like he's at relative eye-level, no?

Posted

@Chakra Just adore the sloth, but I have to say....the bell bird....I did not know anything about them and to watch that video...It elicited a clear and loud...."holy sh.." from me. Now I completely understand the broken limb thing about people trying to find them. That was just amazing.....I adore nature.....she is just so CRAZY!! :) Looking forward to more!!!

Thanks @Imonmm

I knew nothing about three wattled Bell Bird before starting my planning on Costa Rica. I knew about Quatzels and they were indeed splendid to behold, but as I've said before I found the Bell Bird more fascinating. Their call was so loud that I could hear it from almost a kilometre away. And the most frustrating thing was despite hearing it so loud and clear it was nigh impossible to spot it. That added to the lure.

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