Costa Rica Inland Trip!! Part 1

After learning you could pay Tim ( the owner from Land and Sea) an extra $10 an hour he will come on the boat twice a day and check on the boys for us, we decieded we would go on a 7 day inland trip with Sam and Nancy from SV Winfall.  It was hard to leave the boys for that long, but we had a great time.  First Nancy arranged a car rental to be at Land and Sea at 3pm on Tuesday June 21, to head 5 hours back up to Quepos (if you remember we stopped there by boat but did not anchor there).  I guess Sam has a lead foot, cause on our way we got stopped by the police with a radar gun ( that at first looked like a real gun).  He claimed we were going 13 km over the speed limit and wanted to give Sam a $500  US dollar ticket, he also wanted to give us a $700 US dollar ticket for Jerry and I in the back seat with no seatbelt, no one told us the rules.  Well with Sam's great fanagalling skills he paid the cop 3000 colones, around $60 to let us off the hook, but before he did, the cop showed Sam some tickets that he had written that day and yes they were that high and for all sorts of different offences, so drive like you are on your driving test when you are in Costa Rica.
We made it to Quepos just in time to find a cheap ($8 per person) dorm style hotel and get some dinner.

The room had a ceiling fan, which only went on low speed and with all the dogs and car alarms going off all night it was a loud warm night.

This was how you turned on the hot water...be careful.  It did not work, they were some cold showers.

Dinner at Dos Locos, they must have had Jerry in mind with the name...I think you need new glasses.  And we got dinner and a show, right outside there was a couple of drunk men who were trying to fight eachother.  And when I say trying, they were using their shoes, wow.

 The next morning we had breakfast at Blue Fin, which had an outstanding display of fishing tackle, and a great cup of joe.

Wouldn't it be nice to have that in your tackle box!

"El Avion" a fairchild C-123 transport plane turned into a bar,
 dates from 1954 and was used by the CIA to run arms to the
contras in  Nicaragua and, according to the posted spiel, when shot
down by the Sandinistas was responsible for "breaking open the
 'contra affair' that exposed the story and the Reagan administration's
illegal and secret scheme."

From Quepos we drove up to Manuel Antonio National Park, which is a 682-hectare national park that has it all from all different types of wildlife to stunning beaches.  It cost $10 per person to enter the park, but well worth it.  They have howler monkeys, capuchin monkeys, iguanas, toucans and scarlet macaws and about 350 squirrel monkeys live in the park.

Hustle and bustle of the town of Manuel Antonio

Even though Sloths move very slowley they are surprisingly hard to get pictures of!

This is his backside, about all he ever wanted to show us!

Squillel monkeys are so fast, so again sorry for not a very good picture of them

capuchin monkey were all over the beach, and yes again they move fast!

Now Iguanas, I can get a good picture of!

the view on the drive up the mountain

Monteverde means "Green Mountain", an appropriate name for one of the most idyllic pastoral settings in Costa Rica.  Cows munch contentedly, and horse-drawn wagons loaded with milk cans still make the rounds in this world-famous community atop a secluded 1,400-meter-high plateau in the Cordillera de Tilaran.  We first when up to Selvatura where we got to explore the canopy along the treetop walkways with three kilometers of suspened bridges.  And with it pouring down rain made it even more interesting, but we all did buy our first souviner, our $8 ponchos.

The bridges were fun...

A view looking down at a stream from one of the suspended bridges!

This was a hotel and restaurant, the lunch was expensive but very good.

We then went to Jardin de las Mariposas (butterfly gardens) which featured a nature center and greenhouses representing the lowland forest and mid-elevation forest habitats.  Together, they are filled with native plants species and hundreds of tropical butterfies representing more than 40 species.  Costa Rica has nearly 1,000 identified species (approximentely 10% of the world in total) of butterflies, you can barely stand still for more than a minute without seeing a dozen of them.

We all got to release a butterfly!

in their developing stage!

We rented a cabina for two nights while we were up in Monteverde, the family has owned the property for many many years.  They have about 6 different cabinas ranging in prices.  The property had sugarcane, plantanes, and they were even starting their own coffee production. 

"Paca" (called tepezcuintle by the locals) are hunted for their meat, but these two are safe, they are like pets.

extracting the juice from the sugarcane...we all got to try it, it deffinetly was sweet.  They then go on to heat it up and cool it in forms for molasses and syrup. 

Their production is right next to their house.