The lobby at Lost Iguana before we left. It's raining lightly.
Exiting La Fortuna, we saw this turkey-sized bird, Great Curassow.
Arenal and La Fortuna are in sight of the Pacific Ocean, but are on the Caribbean side of the continental divide, which is the wet side because the trade winds blow in from the east bringing warm, wet air from the Caribbean, which cools, condenses and forms precipitate as it is pushed up the mountains.
It was raining and foggy when we left La Fortuna. As we drove higher and higher, it got foggier and foggier. As we crossed the continental divide, the sky turned blue and the sun came out, and it got hotter. If we looked back at the mountains, they were still cloaked in clouds.
At the continental divide, looking back at the east, Carib side--fog and rain.
Standing on the same spot as above and turning around to the west, the Pacific side is warm and sunny.
We flew Sansa Airline to Drake Bay Airport, DRK, which took about 30 minutes. The prop plane seats about 18 passengers, we were pleased that there was a co-pilot. DRK has a small terminal. We grabbed our stuff and were met by a driver from the hotel, who drove us for a few miles along the coast on a rough, dirt road to a small town beach where we were met by a boat from the hotel, Copa de Arbol Resort, which has no usable road access. It’s on the beach, about ten cabinos and a big central hall, very beautiful setting and architecture. The boat ride was about 10 minutes.
Approaching DRK.
The only hitch was a drenching rain for about 20 minutes, just as we were transferring from the van to the boat. The luggage stayed dry, but we were soaked. There was no dock, so we had to take off our shoes and roll up the pants and wade out to the boat through the rain. The clothes are hanging up to dry.
After we changed into dry stuff, we had lunch and did a short walk on the beach. The dark brown sand is punctuated by formations of basalt. The ocean temp must be 85°. Tropical vegetation starts at the high water mark. The surf is gentle.
The waterfront at Arbol.
Dining room at Arbol. No shoes are allowed above the ground floor. I guess they want to keep those beautiful wood floors unscratched by sandy shoes.
The beach--sand and basalt.
The view from our room.
1-29-19 OSA, COSTA RICA: This morning we were taken to Isla del Caño by boat, a ten-passenger skiff with a big outboard. The island is about 10 miles off the coast and is a National Park and nature preserve that permits visitors for snorkeling and diving, but not exploring in the forest.
We left the hotel at 8 AM and stopped part way out to watch a flock of birds and dolphin feeding on a school of fish. The dolphins turned out to be Spotted Dolphins. We saw a few mother-child pairs. The birds were a mix of Boobys—several Brown, some Red-Footed and, perhaps, a few Blue-Footed.
Brown booby.
Mixed bunch of boobys.
Spotted dolphin momma and baby.
When we arrived, we snorkeled from the boat. The water clarity was excellent, 30-40 feet, the bottom was partly sandy and had basalt deposits in places with attached coral formations. The fish were a mix of reef fish with some larger tuna and mahi-mahi. We saw one sea turtle on the second snorkel session. The sea surface was almost calm.
Between the snorkel sessions we were on the beach for a snack and a visit to the ranger station for a glimpse of some pre-Columbian artifacts. There were hundreds of tiny hermit crabs on the beach, mostly crawling away from the ocean. I saw a Yellow-headed Caracara on the beach. Naturalist Julian led the snorkeling and land activities.
Approaching Isla del Caño, the basalt extends off-shore and hosts the corals.
The beach at Isla del Caño, classic tropical isle.
Yellow-headed caracara on the beach.
Back at the hotel, we cleaned up, lunched and later napped before dinner.
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