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Costa Rica 2005 171 images in Album2005 trip to Costa Rica, including Arenal and the Nicoya Peninsula Owned by: oliver
  • "Puente En Mal Estado" was a sign we would learn to expect. It means, "Bridge in Poor Condition."
  • It's always fun to go over a rickety one-lane bridge with holes in it sometimes covered with metal plates with a truck on there with you. Don't mind the bouncing; it's normal.
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  • At the end of our horseback ride and a hike quite a ways downhill was the serene and visually satisfying cataract, our enjoyment of which was only slightly diminished by the knowledge that we would soon have to hike back up into the heat.
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  • Downtown Santa Elena, close to the Monteverde Cloud Forest. In the foreground you can see the preferred method of transport, the dirtbike. Note the large shock absorbers and knobby tires.
  • Downtown Santa Elena, with one of the few paved roads in the general vicinity of Monteverde. The next paved road is a good hour or two of ravined, rocky roads away.
  • Our intrepid Suzuki Jimny, before it got dirty. The 1500km we put on this car (it only had 1000km on it when we got it) in 9 days must have taken a good year out of its useful life. We're sorry, Dollar rent-a-car.
  • Stick insect in the Monteverde Cloud Forest.
  • The Resplendent Quetzal, national bird of Guatemala that also lends its name to that country's currency, surveys its nest as tourists lie waiting to catch a glimpse.
  • The male Quetzal nesting inside a man-made box in the Monteverde Cloud Forest sticks his head out to see what's going on. The bird's plumage is so large that when he turns around his tail feathers protrude from the opening.
  • The male Resplendent Quetzal surveys his nest from a nearby tree.
  • Strangler figs grow up and around the outsides of trees in the cloud forest. When the tree inside dies, the figs sometimes live on, creating a hollow structure inside.
  • The trees of the cloud forest are covered with epiphytes, which receive their nourishment from moisture in the air. The moisture condensed by the epiphytes also feeds the trees.
  • This plant uses a bright orange color to attract birds to its seeds. Once the seeds are gone, it sucks the color back in from the flower, turning the used flower white, to later reuse on another flower.
  • Our excellent guide, Rafael, explained that the tasty fruit of these plants, in order to ensure that birds' digestive juices don't harm the seeds inside, have a laxative effect. We decided not to try them.
  • The male millipede, sexed by looking at the 7th segment, rides on the female's back after mating. When it feels threatened, it is capable of ejecting cyanide in a spray of several inches.
  • The cloud forest was full of impressive strangler fig structures.
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  • A wasp in the cloud forest.
  • A glasswing butterfly perches on a leaf in the cloud forest.
  • We saw orchids growing all over the cloud forest.
  • This orchid smells like blood.
  • The locals used to use these leaves as a weight-loss drug. Tea made from the crushed leaves speeds up the metabolism.
  • Each section of this plant (it's called a rattler plant, or something like that, because of the rattle-snake rattler shaped-flowers) produces only one or two flowers at a time to promote cross-pollination.
  • The "hot lips" plant.
  • A suspension bridge high above the forest floor gave us a nice view of the cloud forest canopy. We could see clouds rushing through at great speed in the distance, over the continental divide.
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  • The "hot lips" plant.
  • Have you ever seen a beetle as colorful as this?
  • The inside of this flower warms up at night to attract insects, which sleep in its bed of pollen then mix the pollen with that of another plant the next night.
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  • The iridescent head of this hummingbird changes color depending on the angle from which it is viewed.
  • The iridescent head of this hummingbird changes color depending on the angle from which it is viewed.
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  • All sorts of creatures can be found in the cloud forest at night, including this little frog.
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  • This katydid looks almost exactly like a leaf.
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  • This spider is doing a pretty good job at camouflaging itself.
  • Don't you want to pet this fuzzy caterpillar? Probably not a good idea.
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  • This bird was trying to get some sleep. I think we woke him up.
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  • Just like a little dog with no legs, tail, or discernable head...or bone structure. Sooo cute!
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  • This thing was much harder to see without the light of the flash. These bugs really do blend in well.
  • A wee frog in the cloud forest.
  • Stick insect at night. Those white things might be parasites.
  • That's a praying mantis in the middle of the frame.
  • Katydid on the bathroom wall.
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  • One of the brilliant poison dart frogs. These things are surprisingly tiny: only about an inch long.
  • A singing poison dart frog. The amount of noise these little guys can make is truly impressive.
  • I think this is one of the glass heart frogs. Supposedly at night you can see their hearts beating through their skin.
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  • No, this isn't return of the body snatchers. It's a frog sleeping stuck to his terrarium window.
  • This tiny frog looks like he's made of silver and gold.
  • Frog underbody. Cross section.
  • OH MY GOD!!! THERE'S A TARANTULA ON YOU! This girl seemed totally unfazed by the hideous bugs she was picking up. She calmly explained that the hair on the spider's legs secrete histamine, so that's why she scooped the spider up instead of grabbing it from above.
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  • The mighty hercules beetle awaits a challenger for master of the partial-log prop.
  • The deadly assassin bug sucks your blood for about 6 hours while you sleep, then poops before it leaves. Don't scratch, or you might get Chagas (a charming disease that lays dormant for 10-20 years then makes your heart swell until you have a heart attack) from its feces. Supposedly Costa Rica is clean and the bugs don't carry Chagas. Looks like we'll find out in 10-20 years, because Beata found one in our car. Yeek.
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  • The praying mantis defends its territory against the giant fighting finger.
  • There is a bug in this picture.
  • Which end is which? Apparently the head of this bug is under the wings, in what looks like the middle.
  • The beautiful morpho butterfly has a spot like an owl's eye on the outside of its wings to attract predators to the wrong side. Apparently the butterfly can still fly with something like 80% of its wing structure.
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  • It's next to impossible to get a shot of a morpho butterfly with its wings open. Time magazine resorted to using a dead one for their cover shot on conservation.
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  • You can see through the glasswing butterfly.
  • An elusive glimpse of the morpho butterfly.
  • Heading down from Monteverde in the rain, we could look down into the misty valleys of Costa Rica.
  • Playa Pan de Azúcar, aka Sugar Beach, our resorty home for a couple of days
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  • You wouldn't see this crab unless it moved.
  • These crabs were extremely adept at scampering back into their holes just before I could take a picture.
  • These crabs would see you coming a ways away and scamper over to their holes, ready to duck underground if you came any closer.
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  • Playa Pan de Azúcar
  • Playa Pan de Azúcar
  • Playa Pan de Azúcar
  • Playa Pan de Azúcar
  • A crab and his work on Playa Pan de Azúcar
  • The crabs made interesting patterns out of little rolled up balls of sand.
  • Crab in a tidal pool on Playa Pan de Azúcar
  • The crabs scampered around amid the incoming waves.
  • Nice view from Playa Pan de Azúcar
  • Nice view from Playa Pan de Azúcar
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  • I am willing to look silly for my art.
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  • The crabs were trying to hide from my lens, but I got them in the end!.
  • Nice camouflage.
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  • Playa Pan de Azúcar
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  • Looks like a coati to me, but supposedly it's not. He was hanging around Sugar Beach Hotel looking for food.
  • Ladrón!
  • Iguana sunning himself at the Hotel Sugar Beach.
  • The restaurant at Hotel Sugar Beach has an excellent view.
  • Hotel Sugar Beach.
  • There were iguanas everywhere at Hotel Sugar Beach.
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  • Playa Avellanas just before sunset.
  • Playa Avellanas.
  • Sunset from Lola's on Playa Avellanas.
  • The lovely Beata on Playa Avellanas.
  • Playa Avellanas
  • Enjoying Playa Avellanas
  • The beautiful and intoxicating Playa Junquillal (pronounced hoon-key-yall or as Beata puts it, juncanal)
  • Playa Junquillal
  • Sunset on Playa Junquillal
  • Sunset on Playa Junquillal
  • Sunset on Playa Junquillal
  • Sunset on Playa Junquillal
  • "Beata + Oliver = [heart]; Playa Junquillal
  • We saw this bird outside our window at Hotel Iguanazul
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  • We woke up to a monkey just outside our window at the Hotel Brovilla
  • Nice view from the swimming pool at the Hotel Brovilla
  • Dining room of the Hotel Brovilla near Ostional
  • Top-notch clientele at the Hotel Brovilla near Ostional
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  • Our charming and helpful attendant, Patricia, at the Hotel Brovilla near Ostional
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  • The popular beach at Sámara, which seems to be a popular destination among Costa Ricans
  • Shake Joe's has a great view of the beach in Sámara, and great fruit drinks to boot
  • Mmmmmm...mango
  • The lovely Beata in our trusty off-road chariot
  • Alleged candidate for "the most picturesque beach in Costa Rica," Playa Carillo
  • Playa Carillo had a nice row of palms separating it from the road
  • Playa Carillo at sunset, and heading home
  • Playa Carillo at sunset
  • We found these wagon wheels made in Lawrence, Mass. in our hotel in San José
  • Our hotel in San José had a nice outdoor terrace in which to enjoy our breakfast