Kendall's & Shelley's Central America Trip
Day 2 - 160 Mile Journey all over Costa Rica
September 4, 2007
I woke up today at 5:10 while Shelley slept. I went across the street and booked a tour I thought would start at 7:00 AM. The agent made some calls and then informed me a bus would pick us up in a half hour. I woke a slightly less than happy Shelley up and told her the news, luckily the cold shower in our shared bathroom put her in a better mood (I am just kidding, she was a pretty good sport). We got ready and hopped on our tour bus to begin our epic 13 hour adventure. I snapped over 300 photos today and some of the better ones are included on this page with some comments from our adventure. I am happy to post these photos, unfortunately this took nearly 3 hours to do. I have now learned the Spanish Windows software. I will probably post again in 4 or 5 days. We miss you all.

The Central Valley. Home to the capital San Jose

Our first stop on the tour. A coffee plantation.

¿Can you tell which bean is ripe¿

Our next stop, Poas Volcano National Park at 8,884 feet above sea level. That´s us above one of the craters. The last eruption was last September (it was minor)

The volcano is located in a cloud forest, probably one of the neatest environments I have ever seen.

One of the hundred bromeliads I looked into today looking for a poison dart frog. No luck yet.


My favorite plant (Alocasia) comes in purple here.

Next we headed to butterfly garden. Here is Shelley with one of the residents.

These next few photos are from a bird garden we visited (La Paz waterfalls). The hummingbirds were wild ones attracted by a hummingbird feeder.



My wonderful wife with some Scarlet Macaws (if you know Shelley´s fear of birds this is actually an amazing photo).

There was no supervision in the bird garden and when I held out my hand, this Blue & Gold Macaw climbed right up. He held my fingers still with his beak as he licked the salt off them. This is the first macaw I have ever held.

We also did a jungle cruise where we saw the wildlife in the next few photos. This first photos is of several small bats perched on a tree trunk.

Bug, River Otter, and Howler Monkey in Sarapiqui River.


Jungle near La Paz waterfall.

La Paz waterfall (I think)

Sarapiqui River. The trees near the river are up to 200 feet tall. Just beyond them is chopped down rainforest with cattle grazing.

Me on the boat.

Maybe this one is La Paz waterfall

This rainforest trail ended in a gift shop! This shop was in the thick of the jungle. It is amusing to watch people walk through the rainforest, become inspired, and then buy a frog t-shirt for $20.00.
Day Three
Please Note: During these updates the link to following day will not work until I add the next day.