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Irena and Audra at the bottom of a pretty tough hike at Rara Avis.
A seed pod called Monkey Brush, apparently because monkeys use it to brush their fur.
Coatimundis are kind of like raccoons - they're considered pests and will eat anything. Every evening one of the staff would take the ripe-leftovers-bucket and go feed them.
One of the few frogs we saw at Rara Avis. Most were brown and black and hard to see. Only when they jumped or moved could even the guide find them. This one looks a lot like a dead leaf from most angles, and was about the size of a quarter.
Sniff, sniff, sniff, sniff. This tapir was a frequent visitor to the area around Rara Avis. Our first day there we saw him relaxing in the jungle, only a few feet from a trail. Our last morning there, Audra saw him around 5:30am, having breakfast on a tree in back of the dining hall. By the time she went up to get her mom, and camera, the tapir was moving away.
Audra and Irena leave Rara Avis on the 4th day, opting to walk instead of the hellish trip on the tractor (note: take walking shoes with for when the ground gets hard and rubber boots no longerfeel good).
A farmhouse on the walk back down from Rara Avis.
Feb. 18th: Back at Andrea Cristina Birds ravaging a banana set out at the Andrea Cristina B&B in Puerto Viejo de Sarapiqui, on the first week of the trip. A pair of scarlet-rumped tanagers, which soon proved to be pretty common.
A pair of blue-grey tanagers moves in for a share of the banana.
Feb. 19th-21st, Monteverde/Santa Elena: Santa Elena cloud forest reserve. We hired a guide suggested to us at our hotel (Pension Santa Elena - cheap, full of backpackers and varying quality rooms. Really friendly staff. Home of www.monteverdeinfo.com), and took the 6:30am transport up to the reserve. Many of the guides we had in Costa Rica had studied ecology or biology in university and could answer any question we could think of. We found ourselves walking with another guided group and within 20 min. had found a very quiet pair of quetzals. This male flew to a branch about 15 feet above us and just perched there in full splendor.
Does it need to be labeled? Jungle flower.
There are those boots again. Garamond vegan (all manmade materials) - light, green and waterproof.
Just because we can't leave a photo unnamed. Flower.
Orchid? Green with purple spots.
Huge rolls of hill on the walk from Santa Elena reserve to the Sky Walk.
On the way to the Sky Walk.
Sky WalkOne of the paths between suspension bridges at the Sky Walk.
A really big, furry tarantula that Audra almost stepped on, on the trail between bridges at the Sky Walk. The Sky Trek (harnesses and ziplines) was also an option, but mom and Audra figured they would rather see the canopy slowly. Irena's favortie part of the trip. After spending 6 days in dense jungle, we finally got to see the canopy from the top, on suspension bridges. We walked down to this place from Santa Elena Reserve, and saw our second quetzal pair for the day (and trip) as well as howler monkey playing up in the trees and a turkey-like bird called a guan.
The male quetzal on the Sky Walk. These birds have a way of making large numbers of tourists suddenly shut up and just look at them. They have about a 2 ft. long tail and are roughly the size of a chicken.
The black guan that must not have seen Audra and Irena in their muted green clothing. They like to think that money spent on dull green shaded clothing was worth it for the jungle turkey.
A plant/flower called "girlfriend's lips"

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