Our last day....

Our Osa vacation is coming to an end, and apart from the times when the cicadas got a bit intense, it's been a great time. Today, the cicadas have either really slacked off or else we're immune to them, because it does seem a lot more peaceful. Nice sunrise this morning too.

Sunrise from the deck.

There was some cloud cover this morning, so Eileen and I thought we'd do the low tide beach trail again while the girls wanted to go back the other way to the tidal flats at the far beach. Eileen and I got about halfway down our beach when the cloud cover broke and the heat got really intense. We turned around and headed after the girls. The tide was about midway low, so not all of the pools were exposed but we did have fun with the ones that there were. The two highlights were a couple of very different balloon fish, one a bright yellow orange and the other a nice blue spotted guy. We'll have to look him up when we get home.

Puffer or balloon fish

Eileen checking out the tidal pools

Dylaina sneaking up on pelicans

Diving pelican

This afternoon we went back to the waterfall again and played in the big pool for quite awhile. The cold, fresh water is quite a change from the warm ocean.

In the pool

Waterfall goddess

The rest of the afternoon was on the deck, Betty hit a hammock for awhile, then it was down the road to Martinas for pizza, beer, and ice cream. As usual, they didn't disappoint. Nothing exciting on the way there or back. Rum and cards on the deck, Eileens turn to win...thoughts of packing pushed off until the morning. Talk of the next winter vacation, talk of an east coaster with the girls....this one was certainly fun. Let there be more.

 

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Collectivo day

A leisurely early morning, although there were a few pretty good howler calls going out around 5:30, which basically has been our coffee time here. Sounds like home with about a forty or fifty degree temperature change. Wasn't long after sunrise that we had a flock of parrots visit us. They're not as loud as the macaws, but they seem to hang out in different trees and squawk back and forth.

Red-lored parrot

I headed out the door to check on emails, etc and had a big blue morph fly by. He actually settled down on a big palm leaf so I ran up and grabbed the camera. Took picture after picture until I was just a couple of feet away. Of course when they sit still they are camoflaged...

Blue morph, in a rare sitting pose

Eileen came down the steps, told her to come over and get this guy to fly, I was all ready for the wing opening departure, she said are you ready, I was, and zoom, he was gone. I have learned so much about my camera on this holiday, but I have to remember to use my brains once in a while....

We all gathered at the collectivo pickup, a bit early just in case....guess that not happening too often. However, it wasn't too long after the scheduled pick up time that a guy came by with just a couple of passengers in his old land rover. He offered the four of us a ride for 3000 colons each ($6) so we hopped in. The collective would have been 2500, and who knows when that getting here. No shocks but we got there in good time. We even passed a grader, packer, and water truck who were working on the road. Doubt they'll ever make it down this far, the road kind of gets narrower and rougher as you progress south. Got to town, did the souvenior thing, and headed to the beach bar for lunch and some beach time. Ooops, it's low tide. You're gonna get a sunburn getting out to the water right now...

Dylaina and Eileen on the beach

The water in front of them must also have been pretty shallow because Eileen said it felt about hot tub temperature. By the time we finished lunch, all that sand was covered with water and there were a couple of people out in it. Lunch was so-so. The waiter wasn't great with English and screwed up a couple of orders badly, but we're on holiday in a foreign country....The beer was cold. Macaws were everyhere, as well as this guy.

Golden hooded tanager

While we were on the beach our plane came in. Nice colors but still not as good as that airline that we used for Tobago.

Nature Air

The Osa collectivo is not quite like the vans that cruise the Mayan riviera. It's a little more rustic here...

Dis-embarking

An Osa collectivo

Lazy afternoon, B & D went for a dip, Eileen had a little nap, I took a few more parrot pictures and starting peeling some top skin off my shoulders... BBQ chicken tonight, a few games of crib which Dylaina and I did not score well at (mis-alignment again already..)

Going back to the waterfall with William tomorrow afternoon, and then some pizza at Martinas. A good last day is expected. You could not ask for better holiday weather than we're having, now that we're acclimatized to somewhere in the 30's with a gentle breeze.

 

 

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The elusive morph

OK, so I'm having trouble coming up with a theme for the blog, we're in full holiday mode. D's highlight of the day was the tidal pools, Eileen's was a stream soak, for me, I got a blue morph photo but it I'm not giving up on getting a better one. These things are just gorgeous but they will not sit still and with that wing span they can motor.

A morph photo, almost in focus.

Interesting looking moth

If they would slow down I could get pictures like this.

We thought the surf might be up good again this morning so we took the road south. The waves were not nearly as high as yesterday so there wasn't much action on the first beach. The next beach (Backwash Bay) had better waves and quite a few surfers out.

Surfer on Backwash Bay

We watched these guys for awhile and then went to the big Matapalo beach. A few surfers there, not great waves, but this is where the really neat tidal pools are. The flats have a bit more elevation and variability here, so you get some nice pools that are full of interesting critters, lobster, eels, trunkfish, etc....

Little fishy in the tidal pool

Came back to the house, had lunch, then we headed up the main road for a soak in the stream. This is the same one that we did the waterfall hike on. Actually a quick walk there, then we played in the water for awhile. Lowered that body temperature right down. Did I mention that it is frigging hot here.

OMG that's cold

Soaking in the stream

The girls went out on the kayaks this afternoon. All looked calm at our beach but they said the waves were huge at the next beach. It's amazing how calm looking it can be in one place and just a few hundred metres away, they're surfing.

B&D on the kayaks

Betty cooked up some delicious ribs on the bbq tonight. Did the dishes, hit the deck, and then something hit Betty, sort of squishy, not a cicada. Our best guess.....there was an innocent little gecko sitting on the ceiling fan when we turned it on.....we found the poor guy recovering on the floor. He'll be fine and so will Betty. Fortunately, he didn't land right on her head, one of the two may not have survived.

We think he is the innocent culprit

We played some games, Dylaina won so all the planets are aligned again.....

Need one bird picture..

Black Hawk

Tomorrow I think we're all going to all collectivo it to PJ, pick up some souvenirs, have another lunch at Delfinos, a bit of beach time, and whatever......don't think we need to buy much food...

 

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Another lazy day in the rainforest

After a BLT breakfast, we decided to split up, Betty wanted shade so they took to the road while Eileen and I took the low tide beach trail to the north.

Ocean view of the house

Although we are well up and about 200 metres from the beach, there is a gap in the trees that gives us an ocean view. This is a shot looking towards the house that was taken from well out on the flats at low tide.The shutters were down on the right hand side of the deck.

The low tide trail on the beach

At one point, we heard a commotion behind us, turned and saw three big dogs coming at us at full speed, two shepards and a lab. They were very friendly and just seemed to want to find someone to run with them along the beach.

Two of the dogs on our walk

We had to cross a couple of streams and every time we came to one, the dogs jumped in for a drink and a cool down. They had a great run.

We saw a few new birds, one of which we think is a Red Crowned Wodpecker.

Red Crowned Woodpecker?

And I got a couple of the best macaw shots that I've taken.

Macaw in flight

 

I like the detail in the wings and tail

Back on our beach there were little crabs all over the place. They can really move when they want to. I got some nice video of one where he appears to be stuffing himself with little sand balls.

Crab in the sand

I don't know if those markings are false eyes to confuse predators or if those are the actual eyes, but they are colorful, curious looking creatures. There was a nice gentle breeze today which made it nice for walking. The waves were up pretty good, so the surfers were finally happy too. Betty and Dylaina sat and watched them for awhile while they were out on their morning walk. This afternoon we all went down to the beach and played in the waves too. We took boogie boards but the main break was really close to shore, so nobody tried them out. The tide was really high at mid-afternoon. The beach looks so different with the drastic level of tide movement here.

Delicious meal of bbq mahi mahi tonight. Another round of cards which didn't go quite as well as the last couple of nights.....Nothing scheduled for tomorrow, we must be on vacation. Gotta talk to William about doing a night hike. Need some pics of those dart frogs.

 

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Tico Chicken

As I start to write this, the four of us are sitting out on the deck, chatting, blogging, and sipping wine while one of the staff ladies is out in the kitchen preparing dinner for us. A motorcycle just pulled into the driveway, we thought it was William but it turned out to be the fish guy. He had one piece left in his cooler, a one kg fillet of Mahi Mahi for $12. There's dinner for tomorrow night. A couple of extra dollars and a kiss on the cheek from Dylaina, and he promised to come back on Monday with Tuna...

It was a pretty laid back kind of day. Betty and Dylaina had a quick breakfast and headed out with the kayaks. They paddled north a bit, came back against the current, and then did a bit of fishing. Betty got a bit broadside to the waves once, rolled her kayak, and lost her rod.....no more fishing for Betty. Actually Kirk offered her some tackle if she wants to go out again.

Returning from kayaking, low tide

I went for a walk along the main road, hoping for some good blue morpho photos. Saw lots of them but they are elusive. The best shot ended up being another spider.

Another spider

Eileen decided to hang out for the rest of the morning and the rest of us did the usual walk down the main beach road. We had one of our typical lunches, lots of fresh salsa, guacamole, a little leftover steak. I must say that we have been eating pretty good here, both for taste and for goodness.

Our beach at high tide

Could photoshop this to look like a good tan

Some beach time this afternoon, a bit of monkey viewing, and then our dinner....Wonderful. Chicken and potatoes with a nice sauce, a big plate of rice with carrot and peppers (i think) beans that were pressure cooked then fried again in butter and onion, more fresh salsa......all prepared in just over an hour while we played on the deck. Amazing! I'd still be making the salsa if I only had an hour.

Tomorrow?? Don't know what we're doing. I've kicked the girls butts so bad in cards the last two nights that nobody is talking to me any more....Guess I'll find out in the morning.

Haven't posted a monkey picture for days....

So serious

 

 

Doing the stretch

Happy birthday Melissa!

 

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Horseback riding

We started our day off as usual, a bit of reading on the deck listening to the jungle waking up, a good breakfast, followed by a long hike. This morning we did our usual walk along the beach road, but took it a bit further and went up to a series of small waterfalls that we hadn't seen yet. We got to a point where you had to pull yourself up the stream on a rope, and then the girls decided it was time to turn around.

King Louis falls

The three girls

Right after lunch, William picked Eileen up and off they went for some horseback riding. I thought this place was relatively close but they ended up going most of the way to Carate, which is way around the point of the peninsula on the Pacific side. She describes the road to our place as the transcanada highway compared to the road to Carate.

New author - Eileen here - so after a crazy half hour drive to where I was going to ride, we arrived to find three horses tied up but not saddled. Apparently there were other people joining us - so after an hour wait - in my nice hot black jeans - drip drip - they arrived and we were finally off.

Riding down the streambed

It was a very pretty ride through a stream bed for awhile and then we headed into the jungle - major snake territory - a little unnerving as there were vines hanging down everywhere and you never are quite sure which is a vine and which might be a snake.

 

 

Beach riding

We finally came out onto a beautiful beach - best one I have seen here - and rode down it for quite a ways. The sand is black here so it is very hot - and it was very soft and hard work for the horses walking through it. We arrived at a rocky point and tied the horses up in the shade for a bit and did some exploring of the tides pools. As we head back to the horses - our guide decided to climb up a coconut tree and get us a few coconuts so we could have some coconut water. As he reaches the top he says there is a boa constrictor there. Jeepers creepers - did I mention I hate snakes.

 

Boa Constrictor

We now have a guide at the top of a tree with a boa constrictor and I have not a really good idea how to get back to where we started. He managed just fine and brought the snake down so we could see it. The rest of the ride was fine - saw some monkeys and some tiger tracks - sheesh. It was quite an adventure but lived to see another day lol.

 

 

 

Friday night at Martinas

The evening saw us walking down the road to Martinas again. A lot of people there tonight, this is the local Friday night hangout. Dylaina picked up a dress for $15, but otherwise it was just dinner and beer. Again, the fish was terrific, Eileen and I shared one order of tuna and one of snapper.

 

 

 

 

Walking home, we thought we'd come across a cute little crayfish on the road until Eileen nudged him with her toe and he lifted his tail up.

Scorpion on the road home

Fortunately, the scorpion kept his tail up in the air and scurried a few feet away.

No big plans for today, although Betty and Dylaina are out for an early kayak, probably with the fishing rod. Leda is coming this afternoon to cook dinner for us, Tico style chicken.

 

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Changing Tides tours

What a gorgeous day, hot and calm, almost flat water on the Golfo Dulce, which translates into Sweet Water. There are so many rivers and streams feeding into this gulf, that it has an upper layer of fresh water. You can see where the fresh water hasn't mixed with the salt water when you're out on the boat, it doesn't wave up as much, not as if we had waves today. I could say that "I got my burn today" and this time it would be the old fashioned red version. Stomach, knees, and forearms especially. Not zones I would normally worry too much about. Anyway, back to the boat. We had only gotten about 200 metres from the dock when we came across a bottlenose dolphin, the only one of that species that we saw. We cruised around and watched him for a bit, then headed out across the gulf. The other type of dolphin, i'll call them spotted dolphins for now because I don't remember their full name, feed on smaller fish and are generally found out in open water. We found a couple of them fairly quickly but soon came across the main pod, which numbered somewhere around 300. It was amazing to watch them cruising around the boat, coming alonside, almost touching your hand when you trailed it in the water at the bow, showing off with jumps, etc. My close up, still pictures did not turn out great, but I did get some awesome video of them.

Spotted dolphins around the boat

As you can see from this picture, there are dolphins everywhere. They love this gulf, an abundance of food, no natural predators, and apparently they have sex 60 times a day. What an existence.....

The boat had these two chairs mounted up on the bow that you could sit in (seat belts provided, not that you need them today) that were really fun to sit in and get a really terrific view from. As you can see from the next two pictures, we had a blast.

Dylainas Titanic pose

Eileen banking to the left

Group picture

The eastern shore of the gulf is a rift zone, so the onshore bank goes straight up, and off shore it goes straight down for 600 feet. Columbus era explorers used to pull right up here to load up with fresh water because they could basically tie up on shore. We did a short snorkelling stop, but the visibility was poor. It was nice to get in the water and get wet, but I can't say that this water cools you down much.

 

Pelican that we passed by

Because we played with the dolphins for so long, they aborted the trip up to the far end of the gulf where we were going to do a mangrove river cruise, and instead went for a closer to home mangrove tour. It was short, but there was still plenty to see, Rosette spoonbills, kingfishers, white ibis, snowy egrets, etc. I never expected to see spoonbills on this trip, so that was a bonus.

Rosette Spoonbill

We got dropped off for a late lunch right at the restaurant that we were planning to eat at, I think there is a little agreement there, but since we were going there anyway, it all worked out good. Good food and a great setting right on the beach.

Cayman

After lunch we went up the road a few hundred metres to see the caymans. We didn't see very many but apparently there are a huge number of them in there.

 

 

Scarlet Macaws

After the caymans we walked back into town and came across a couple of macaws sitting right over the street. There were a pile of them around but these ones were highly visible. After the macaws, there was a bakery stop, the produce shop (great selection and prices), and then a supermarket restocking. We came across our driver just as we hit the bakery, so we were able to unload along the way. He just followed us around and filled up the back of the vehicle. Actually, he made a pit stop for us and threw another block of ice up on the roof for the trip home. Worked out prefect. Tomorrow, Eileen is going for a horseback ride up into the highlands somewhere, and we're all heading to Martinas for the Friday night market event.

 

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