Costa Rica Pics

I recently traveled through Costa Rica for 12 days with my son and a couple of friends. We rented a car and put a LOT of miles... kilometers... on those Costa Rican roads. A few things to remember if you ever travel to CR:

1. No road signs. Not even in their capitol, San Jose. Either get a GPS or stop a lot to ask for directions. Most of the people were VERY friendly!

2. If you like playing video games, you'd love driving in Costa Rica. Between the pot holes, pedestrians, school zones, ninja speed bumps, bicyclists, and no shoulders which force broken down trucks to stop in the middle of the road... all of your video game skills will come in handy. Fortunately the speed limit rarely exceeds 50 MPH in most of the country.

3. If you're hungry, look for a 'Soda' on the side of the road and order a Cazado. A very hearty meal for about $4. Mmmm... fried plantains.

Here are a few pictures of the wildlife we encountered along the way:

http://www.superiorserpents.com/PubPics/CostaRica1.jpg
A cool looking centipede about 6 inches long.

http://www.superiorserpents.com/PubPics/CostaRica2.jpg
A friendly raccoon that followed us along a jungle trail for quite a ways.

http://www.superiorserpents.com/PubPics/CostaRica3.jpg
A Capuchin monkey. We also saw spider monkeys and howler monkeys, but I was unable to get decent pictures of those.

http://www.superiorserpents.com/PubPics/CostaRica4.jpg
Boat trip in the Tortuguero national park along the Caribbean coast.

http://www.superiorserpents.com/PubPics/CostaRica6.jpg
Red eyed tree frog. They came out just after dark to find a mate.

http://www.superiorserpents.com/PubPics/CostaRica7.jpg
An iguana tree. There were dozens of these very large iguanas sunning themselves on top of trees.

http://www.superiorserpents.com/PubPics/CostaRica8.jpg
One of the many Caimans we encountered.

http://www.superiorserpents.com/PubPics/CostaRica9.jpg
We found this cute Coati right outside of Arenal on the side of the road. He was very inquisitive and came right up to us when we got out of the car. About 50 yards up the road there was a pack of about 8 of them foraging along the road.

http://www.superiorserpents.com/PubPics/CostaRica10.jpg
This gorgeous hummingbird was one of dozens... hundreds? of hummingbirds that were attracted to feeders in a cloud forest at Monte Verde.

http://www.superiorserpents.com/PubPics/CostaRica11.jpg
One of the many gorgeous beaches along the Pacific coast. The northern pacific coast is like Waikiki with many resorts and white sand beaches. This one was about halfway down the coast and the area wasn't as developed.

http://www.superiorserpents.com/PubPics/CostaRica12.jpg
Another beach shot with more rocks and tide pools. My Spanish is limited so I had a tough time asking for directions to tide pools. I spoke to a friendly Tica girl working at a hotel near there to ask for directions and described what we were looking for as "small water near the ocean" and she pointed at the hotel swimming pool. :P

http://www.superiorserpents.com/PubPics/CostaRica13.jpg
A very large American Crocodile viewed from above a bridge. These guys can get huge, but are much friendlier than their old world cousins.

http://www.superiorserpents.com/PubPics/CostaRica14.jpg
My son on the crocodile bridge. We wanted to get closer to them, but between the barbed wire and local police hanging around we decided against it. :(

http://www.superiorserpents.com/PubPics/CostaRica15.jpg
The only species of snake we came across... an Eyelash Viper (Bothriechis schlegelii). We came across this one during a jungle hike. It was very non-aggressive and slowly slithered away when I gently moved it.

http://www.superiorserpents.com/PubPics/CostaRica16.jpg
We found this one about 40 feet away. Gorgeous snake and one that I really wanted to see during our time down there.

Overall it was a great trip in spite of the heat and humidity/rain. It wasn't as buggy as I expected and we had a great time white water rafting, going down 30 or so zip lines, and exploring a cave with a lot of wildlife (they didn't allow pictures taken in the cave). We met a lot of very friendly people, especially in the smaller towns, but knowing a little Spanish definitely helps.

Thanks for looking. :)

Wow,

That looks like an incredible adventure. :)


dr del

That looks like a fun trip. I think that Central America would be a nice place to visit. I would to see Belize one day.

Great pictures! Thanks for sharing! It looks like you and your son had a great time. I really like the pictures of the eyelash viper and the hummingbird!

amazing pictures especially of the eyelash viper and the racoon so cute haha


looks like you had a awesome time! :gj:

Looks like a blast!

Wow! Looks like there are numerous breathtaking views there! And I had no idea raccoons could be found in Costa Rica :giggle:

Thanks for sharing such amazing pics :gj:

Looks like a great trip thanks for sharing :gj:

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by dsirkle

That looks like a fun trip. I think that Central America would be a nice place to visit. I would to see Belize one day.

---

Belize is also on my 'list'. I think it's a little more expensive than CR, but supposedly just as safe. CR was pretty safe and apparently has very few violent crimes, but it is a very poor country and still has a lot of theft. They recommend that you remove everything from your car if you ever have to leave it for a while.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by ajsnoopy

Wow! Looks like there are numerous breathtaking views there! And I had no idea raccoons could be found in Costa Rica

---

Me neither. Of course he wasn't nearly as furry as his North American cousins. :sunny:

Very pretty!!

My brother just got back from there as well..

I'd love to visit one of these days.

Lucky you...this would be my dream trip...i love to explore

Cool stuff! Thanks for sharing, looked like a really awesome trip! I love that pic of the croc from the bridge, very neat.

Great pictures, looks like you had a lot of fun!

Thanks for sharing your amazing trip! Very nice photography by the way. I can't wait until my little ones get old enough to do a trip like this, very inspiring.

Gorgeous! Added to my bucket list. :)

Argh... I forgot a couple pics:

How can I show pics of Costa Rica without one of these guys?
http://www.superiorserpents.com/PubPics/CostaRica17.jpg

And some of the fun stuff we got to do... the longest canopy bridge in Costa Rica.
http://www.superiorserpents.com/PubPics/CostaRica18.jpg

Thanks again for all of the kind words. :)

Awesome pictures!

Very cool pictures! I can't wait until I can make a trip to Central America sometime. Thanks for sharing!

One of the places BG may be visiting soon. BG only has one problem though. The Costa Rican government has not been able to give BG assurance that he'll be safe from the millions of Costa Rican fans.:D

WOW! Glad you had such a great time..... Absolutely LOVE the pictures

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Big Gunns

One of the places BG may be visiting soon. BG only has one problem though. The Costa Rican government has not been able to give BG assurance that he'll be safe from the millions of Costa Rican fans.:D

---

With a few colones, they'll give you assurance for anything you ask for. ;)

thanks for those pics! looks like a dream trip to me *-*... jungles... lotsa reptiles and amphibians... curious friendly furry creatures...

very good quality of pics :gj:

Such a beautiful Viper.

I have a friend who just got back from there as well! Wouldn't it be funny if you were in the same group? :P

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Mindibun

I have a friend who just got back from there as well! Wouldn't it be funny if you were in the same group? :P

---

Heh, that would be funny. Speaking of which, my boss and his boss both went to Costa Rica on separate vacations only a couple weeks before me. It was just a weird coincidence that all three of us were going around the same time. I think it's a popular destination, especially this time of year... and Christmas.

Stellar pictures you took! I'm glad the trip turned out great fo you guys. I'll make it down there some time in the future.

great pictures! costa is for sure on my list!!

BTW the first picture is of a millipede, not a centipede.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Lucas339

great pictures! costa is for sure on my list!!

BTW the first picture is of a millipede, not a centipede.

---

You're right! Thanks for the clarification. I always thought millipedes were cylindrical and had many more tiny legs.