Cerro Lodge

I had a few days before joining my paragliding/nature group so I looked on the internet and ended up at Cerro (hill) Lodge. I didn't know much about it but it looked good to me - small, nature oriented, a decent looking restaurant.

I ended up with a cabin of my own (with three beds!). It has air conditioning but I barely use it. It's hot enough, but it seems wasteful to me. I can sleep even when it's warm. And it does cool off a bit at night.

There is a nice little pool. You can often tell how well a place is looked after by looking at the pool. It doesn't take long to get grungy if it's not constantly maintained. This one looked good.

There wasn't any bougainvillea, but lots of hibiscus.

I got there mid-afternoon so I didn't have time for much the first day. I was happy to see geckos on the ceiling of the restaurant.

The restaurant had a good view of the sunset.

Supper the first night was highlighted by insects that I assume were attracted to the light. They kept landing on the table beside me where they definitely weren't appreciated. The best one was a praying mantis that landed on the person beside me's back. I wasn't sure about the protocol for photographing insects on a stranger's back. I tried to tell him there was something on his back but it then ran up his back and neck and up to the top of his head and then flew away. Here are two that I did manage to photograph. (with my iPhone)

My cabin had an outdoor bathroom, which I think is cool, but some of the reviews complained about.

Just before going to bed, I went out to the bathroom. And found a yellow tree frog on the toilet seat. Very cool. I had to go and get my light and macro lens to photograph it.

Once I was finished with the photography I gently move it off the toilet seat. At which point I realized there was something else watching me. Can you spot it?

It was a Giant Toad, about the size of half a grapefruit. There was a dripping pipe beside this that kept the dirt damp and it has returned to this exact location each night. I imagine some guests might not appreciate it. Of course, they might not notice it either.

What most people seem to come here for are the Scarlet Macaws. They have feeders for them on the restaurant patio and they come every day. They seem quite adjusted to people in close proximity.

After feeding, sometimes they fly down to the pool to have a drink.

The Black Vultures also stopped by to drink from the pool, but they didn't get fed :-)

There were a variety of other birds around as well.

When the birds aren't around, I'm just as happy to photograph some of the many butterflies (when they sit still long enough).

While butterflies are pretty, I was happy with whatever insects I could find (other than mosquitoes!)

This large (3 inches) Katydid crawled around on the ceiling of the restaurant for most of one day. I like the yellow eyes. I'm sure most people didn't notice it. Luckily it didn't fall in anyone's soup :-)

This scorpion would have been more exciting if it wasn't dead, but it was still neat to see.

On the more charismatic side, there are also Variegated Squirrels around.

That's a sampling from my first day and a half. Lots more to come if I can keep up with editing and identifying.

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Hotel Aeropuerto

Since I arrived late, I booked a night at a hotel near the airport. I wasn't expecting too much, but it was supposed to have some gardens. The gardens were fairly wild, but that was ok. I managed to find a few things to photograph :-) There were, of course, tropical flowers.

And where there are flowers there are often butterflies. As usual, they were a challenge to photograph. There were more kinds but they didn't sit still for me.

There was even some butterfly themed decoration.

There were a few damselflies (I didn't see any dragonflies)

There were lots of spider webs around, but I didn't see too many spiders. These Spinybacked Orbweavers hung from a single strand, which meant they were constantly spinning and swinging so I didn't get very good photos.

I'm always impressed by the odd fruits and seeds. I have no idea what they are.

There were birds around but none that I was able to photograph. I was lucky to catch this Variegated Tree Squirrel

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Window Seat

It was a long day from Vancouver to Costa Rica. I was up at 4:30 (am) to catch the 5:05 shuttle to the airport. I got down to the lobby in what I thought was plenty of time at 4:55 and the shuttle was leaving. I'm not sure what happened to 5:05 but it gave me momentary stress. Of course, the airport was quiet at that time and I got checked in and through security easily and quickly. (Other than having to unload & reload my backpack of all my gadgets - laptop, ipad, phone, ereader, camera, telephoto lens) I was even early enough there wasn't a lineup at Starbucks :-) Once I had my coffee and relaxed I still had lots of time to kill so I figured I might as well move a little before sitting all day. I ended up getting 5000 steps exploring.

Of course, I'd booked a Window seat so I could watch the world go by. I had my camera but I ended up using my phone since it was easier to handle in the tight space.

One of the best views - sunrise on the coast mountains, was right at the beginning of the flight.

It was pretty cloudy most of the way, so the view was mostly like this:

There were a few spots where the mountains poked through the clouds.

Arriving in Toronto there was a little more to see.

The flight from Toronto wasn't as good for photos - my window wasn't clear and the sun went down.

My iPhone struggled to focus on this distant plane going by.

Thankfully my luggage (with my paraglider!) made it. It was the usual chaos coming out of the airport but I managed to find my hotel pickup without too much trouble. It was a quick ride to the hotel (near the airport) and I was glad to get into my room and finally be done for the day. I passed 10,000 steps arriving in Costa Rica.

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Richmond

Back to the present and I'm heading for Costa Rica for paragliding and nature photography. I had to spend the night in an airport hotel to catch an early morning flight so I took a walk around. It's not a very scenic area, but there was a path by the river. I figure I better post these before I start taking a zillion photos in Costa Rica.

This rabbit was my first encounter. It didn't seem too afraid of me. It looks more like an escaped pet rabbit than a native one.

There was a bald eagle by the river but without my big lens I didn't get very good shots of it.

Otherwise there was just the river bank and remnants of vegetation.

Of course, there were also reflections.